Highlighted Opportunities

• National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation, ECU Limited Submission Deadline Oct. 21: This is a limited submission program. Interested applicants must complete the REDE Limited Submission approval process before Oct. 21. The NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur. MRI also provides support to develop next-generation research instruments that open new opportunities to advance the frontiers in science and engineering research. Additionally, an MRI award is expected to enhance research training of students who will become the next generation of instrument users, designers and builders. An MRI-supported instrument is intended to serve multiple users both in research and in the training of the next generation of instrument users and developers. An MRI proposal may request up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Each performing organization may submit two Track 1 and one Track 2 proposals – up to a total of three proposals per institution.
• North Carolina Biotechnology Center Innovation Impact Grant, Oct. 9: the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Innovation Impact Grant (IIG) program replaces the Institutional Development Grant (IDG) as the center’s funding program for research equipment in academic or nonprofit institution core facilities in Fiscal Year 2020. The IIG supports the purchase of the research infrastructure necessary for innovation in North Carolina’s life sciences ecosystem. Priority will be given to proposals that are most likely to have high impact at the applicant’s institution and in the broader life sciences research community. Up to $200,000 may be requested for purchase of core facility research equipment. A cash match of 20 percent of the total cost is required.
• UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Developmental Funding Program, Oct. 15: The UNC Lineberger Developmental Funding Program is open to ECU faculty. This program is intended to support the development of cancer research and to stimulate new applications for extramural funding. ECU faculty are invited to submit Tier 1 – Pilot Award applications under the special RFA to Stimulate Cancer Research at NC State and ECU. ECU faculty may also apply for the standard Tier 1 or Tier 2 awards in collaboration with a UNC faculty member.
• Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Portal, Deadline Varies: The Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research 19.3 and STTR 19.C Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) topics are now in pre-release. Researchers can now view topics, ask questions through the SITIS Q&A system, and contact topic authors directly. The BAA will officially open for proposal submission on Sept. 24.

What's Coming Up?

ORCID Unique Research Identifier: ECU’s Joyner and Laupus libraries provide support for ECU researchers to establish their unique research identifier. ORCID – a nonprofit organization – provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized. There are new requirements from NIH, AHRQ and the CDC to link ORCID identifiers to eRA profiles. Learn how to setup and develop your ORCID profile by using the library’s research guide.

eTRACS is Coming: In October, ECU will move to a new tool for sponsored program proposal development, routing, and submission – eTRACS. The new system will include many features designed to streamline the process of creating and submitting proposals:

• Profiles: Populated from Banner to autofill proposal fields.
• Direct Submission to Grants.gov: For federal proposals, eTRACS creates the submission document and delivers it to Grants.gov.
• Online Budget Creation: No more external spreadsheets and eTRACS already has salary, position, and contact info for your project personnel.

Attend an orientation session and check out the rest the changes coming with eTRACS.

Office of Faculty Excellence: The Office of Faculty Excellence offers sessions on various research platforms, including NVivo, Tableau, Qualtrics, SPSS, and others. Sign up for workshops through the OFE Calendar.

• Mixed Research Design, Oct. 3: This OFE workshop will introduce the definition of mixed methods and six major mixed methods designs. The workshop focuses on definition of each design, key points and procedure of conducting a mixed methods study, and variants of each design.

Funding Opportunities

Looking for more? Check out our funding opportunities page! In partnership with Joyner Library, we have developed search results curated by research interest – now with up-to-the-minute results updated every time you run the search. It’s the next best thing to having a SPIN account yourself (if you want one of those, contact ORA directly).

For more information, visit ORA online or send us an email. Find the latest REDE on Twitter and Facebook.