Vice President for Research - News

10 tips for successful NSF proposals revealed at workshop

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

USU faculty learned from their colleagues’ successes and pitfalls at a panel discussion on NSF funding opportunities, held during Research Week last month.

“Attendees were engaged and enlivened by the candid and frank interaction of the panel members, and they received numerous pointers and tips from USU’s successfully-funded researchers,” said Mark McLellan, vice president for research and dean of the School of Graduate Studies. “We applaud Rita Teutonico, program manager, for putting this together.”

Panel members included Todd Crowl (watershed sciences), Claudia Radel (environment and society), Mimi Recker (instructional technology and learning sciences), Tammy Rittenour (geology), Dave Tarboton (civil and environmental engineering) and Shane Larson (physics).

Some of the tips they gave for successful NSF proposals included:

Research should lead to new understanding that is general or “translational.”
The likelihood of success depends on the novelty of the questions.
Questions → Hypotheses → Methods → Expected results.
Include a diagram that conveys the key idea of the proposal.
Read and follow the RFP.
First impression counts! The project summary is critical.
Make sure everyone’s expertise covers the requirements.
Use all 15 pages (single-spaced), and utilize a lot of references early on.
Take advantage of friendly critical review.
Ask NSF program managers anything!

Panel members also recommended additional reading materials, including “What to Say-and Not Say-to Program Officers” by Michael J. Spires, Robert Porter’s “Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Proposals” and Jeff McDonnell’s “McDonnell’s Ideas on How to Write a Successfull NSF or USDA Proposal.”

In addition, panelists gave a few more tips on resources for becoming a successfully-funded researcher:

Program Officers (PO)

Since Program Officers aim for portfolio balance, it is beneficial to indicate if a researcher is a new PI and/or from an EPSCoR state.
Get to know the PO by attending workshops for the specific program at national meetings.
Call the PO to talk about the idea for a proposal and prepare an “elevator” speech.
Call soon after, if the proposal has been declined so the PO can provide details about panel discussion that are not evident in the reviews.
PO contact is crucial. After funded, send updates on successes such as a slide of interesting accomplishments.

Proposals

Some common reasons for being declined include poor grantwriting, not responding directly to the solicitation, poor logic of inquiry, too ambitious or not ambitious enough, too parochial and a lack of expertise needed for the project.
Read the solicitation!
Collaborate to make the proposal stronger.
Read successful proposals from colleagues and be strategic when choosing which proposal to submit.
Don’t discard prior proposals; they can be used in later writing. Use input from previous declines to revise proposal for resubmission.
In the project description, describe why research is innovative and transformative, provide evidence to prove capable of doing research and include preliminary results.
In the project summary, the beginning sentence should explain overall project and why the project should be conducted, the expected outcomes as well as provide broader impact details.
Integrate research and education in the proposal by specifically mentioning where students are included, tying curriculum development into research goals, infusing research results into course teaching and utilizing College of Education resources.
Make proposals easy to read by carefully using white spaces, including figures and informative captions.
Include timeline for proposed research and give yourself enough time to write!

NSF

Sign up for NSF news (including press releases) by email about new awards.
Search the awards database for any program of interest to see what they recently funded.
Volunteer to be a reviewer for NSF to learn about the process and identify what panelists think are crucial to success.

- Nadiah Johari

16 graduating Research Fellows 2012

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

As part of USU’s commencement exercises on Saturday, 16 Undergraduate Research Fellows will graduate from Utah State University. They include:

Jessop Boden, wildlife science
Candace Clark, biomedical engineering
Erin Fleming Jones, watershed sciences
Natalie Hatch, english
Nikelle Holbrook-Hunsaker, exercise science
Tamra Luke, biology composite teaching
Camilla Lyman Snow, environmental engineering
Cole Peterson, biological engineering
Lynsey Talbot, mechanical engineering
Jylisa Doney, social work
Rachel Porter Jackson, biochemical engineering
Rebecca Tanner, music therapy
Daniel Clark, accounting
Aaron Fronk, biology
Brandon Martin, biological engineering
Benjamin Carroll, engineering

“USU’s Undergraduate Research Fellows represent our top students at Utah State,” said Scott Bates, associate vice president for graduate and undergraduate research. “They were identified as exceptional students before even setting foot on the USU campus as freshmen. Throughout their undergraduate careers, they have excelled in their classes, and they have also engaged in independent research projects.”

“I've had a great experience at USU and am very grateful for the opportunities that I've had as a URF,” said Brandon Martin who has been accepted to New York Medical College.

“Last week I got the news that I was selected for a University Library Associate position which will give me full funding and a stipend in exchange for working in the library,” said 2011 graduate Lydia Howes, who will be heading to the University of Michigan this fall for her master’s in library and information science. “The research fellow program definitely helped me to get competitive for opportunities like that and I'm glad I was a part of it.”

“I am very proud of the achievements of our Research Fellows and very excited about the great things that they will do in the future,” said Bates.

- Nadiah Johari

Christopher Fawson named International Professor of the Year

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

Economics professor Christopher Fawson was named USU’s International Professor of the Year for his involvement in international education.

“He spearheaded efforts to promote vision as well as the visibility of international education on this campus,” said Mary Hubbard, vice provost for global engagement.

Fawson’s entrepreneurial approach has resulted in the development of diverse international opportunities for USU students. Some of the programs that he has developed include service learning in developing countries, semester and year-long study abroad programs, as well as visits to global corporations around the world.

For the past five years, 344 USU students have participated in the international summer programs offered by the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. In addition to that, all MBA students have participated in the global learning experience program. Nearly 200 loans have been made through the SEED (Small Enterprise Education and Development) program, where students have worked in developing countries to train and assist in the development of small businesses.

At USU, Fawson has held positions as director of international programs, vice provost for academic and international affairs and senior associate dean for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

“Through these positions, he led the development of new programs to provide USU students with meaningful experiences in international settings,” said Hubbard. “USU students are stepping through the doors that he has opened.”

- Nadiah Johari

Donor profile: Martin Luther King Graduate Fellowship founders

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

Allen and Alice Stokes established the Martin Luther King Graduate Fellowship Endowment Fund for African Americans at Utah State University in 1968 to assist deserving African American students to pursue graduate degrees at USU. In establishing this endowment, Dr. and Mrs. Stokes endeavored to provide the opportunity for African American students to work for advanced degrees, as well as to provide further opportunities for the university faculty, students, and staff to become better acquainted with African American scholars.

Allen Woodruff Stokes attended Harvard University in the 1940s before moving to the University of Wisconsin to study with Professor Aldo Leopold in the Department of Wildlife Management. Alice Harper Stokes graduated from the University of Wisconson-Madison in 1929 with a BA in sociology and she became secretary to Leopold. Here, she met Allen, and they were married on June 23, 1945 in the First Congregational Church of Madison, Wis.

They went to Baltimore, Md. the first year after they were married where Allen conducted research at Johns Hopkins University. After that, they returned to Madison, where both their children were born. They moved to Pelee Island in Lake Erie for three years when Allen worked on a ring-necked pheasant study for his Ph.D. After receiving his doctorate in wildlife management at the University of Wisconsin in June 1952, the family moved to Logan, Utah.

At USU, Allen became professor of wildlife in the agricultural college and went on to teach for 24 years. He was also involved in organizations on campus and the community at large, including United Way, Friends of the Cache Libraries, Hospice of Cache Valley, Planned Parenthood, and the Gay Lesbian Alliance. Besides serving on the board of the National Audubon Society, he helped found the Logan Friends Meeting, Society of Friends in 1965. Allen and Alice were active members of the Bridgerland Audubon Society and went on several trips with that group.

At the same time, Alice earned her MS from the Department of Communicative Disorders at USU in 1974. She taught deaf children in Logan schools and the Utah School for the Deaf in Ogden. Along with other parents of deaf children and with help from USU and Edith Bowen Elementary, Alice started classes in Logan for deaf children so they could remain at home rather than traveling to distant schools. She played violin with the Cache Chamber Orchestra for 22 years. In her early years in Logan, she was active in the Women's Faculty League, American Association of University Women, Forestry Wives, Cosmopolitan Club for international students, the American Field Service, and was a Cub Scouts den mother. Alice received the Women Over 65 Achievement Award in 1989 from the USU Women’s Center.

Allen retired early and eased into retirement by teaching summer courses at the University of Montana Biological Station on Flathead Lake near Bigfork, Mont. Later, he spent 17 summers teaching at the Teton Science School and was later asked to serve emeritus on the board. The nature center at Logan Canyon was named after Allen and Alice Stokes, but Allen passed away on July 28, 1996, before the center opened. Alice passed away on March 19, 2009. Both had been married for 51 years.

Selection of Martin Luther King Fellows is made by the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. Candidates may be nominated by faculty in any USU college, school, or department. Two fellowships of $7,000 for the academic year and a tuition award for either in-state or nonresident students cover up to nine credits. The fellowships are intended for African Americans who have been accepted for admission to the School of Graduate Studies, or who are currently matriculating in the same school in any chosen field. They should also maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average.

- Nadiah Johari

Pilot grant program established for undergraduate researchers

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

USU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies is launching Summer Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (SURCO), a new grant program for undergraduate students that funds summer work on research or creative projects. SURCO grants will be competitively-awarded, based on a proposal and will require 50 percent matching support from a department or other source.

“The main purpose of SURCO grants is to support undergraduate student salaries to conduct research or work on a creative project,” said Scott Bates, associate vice president for undergraduate research. “Many USU undergraduates have to go out and find summer jobs, and we’d prefer them to be paid to advance their education and research pursuits instead of tasks that aren’t related to their future careers. More students will have the opportunity to continue their research, which will in turn benefit all of us.”

The maximum request for SURCO funding is $2,000 ($1,000 from SURCO, $1,000 from another source). These funds are flexible: students could propose to work for one 40-hour week (40 x $10 = $400), for 5 weeks of full-time work (5 x 40 x $10 = $2,000), for 10 hours per week for 8 weeks (10 x 8 x $10 = $800), or any other permutation.

"We've had an incredible response to our pilot program," said Bates. "More than 60 students applied for the grants. We are extremely pleased by the interest and wish we had funding to accommodate every qualifying request."

Funding criteria include the overall value of the project as a learning experience and the level of funding request. Independent projects, projects that would not have been possible without SURCO funding and projects that align with education and career goals will be given priority.

There are three parts to the two-page proposal: a description of the proposed project, an articulation of the potential benefits to the students and a requested budget that include the total number of hours.

A letter of support from the faculty mentor containing endorsement of the student as benefitting and being capable of completing the project as well as the endorsement of the project itself being educationally valuable, agreement that the faculty mentor will serve as the advisor for the project and a specific source for the matching funds is required.

“USU’s URCO program is one of the oldest, most successful in the nation, and now that we are expanding it to include summer projects, we expect it to be even more successful in supporting our students and creating positive research outcomes,” said Bates.

- Nadiah Johari

Sunrise Session features transformation strategies for rural African communities

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

Layne Coppock, associate professor in USU’s department of environment and society, presented his research on how a USU-led project improved the lives of tens of thousands in southern Ethiopia by catalyzing a skill-development process that improved incomes, assets and well-being during USU’s spring Sunrise Session on Apr. 13.

Coppock’s team conducted a 12-year project in the rangelands of Ethiopia and Kenya and used action-oriented approaches to build capacity among poor, illiterate pastoral women to create wealth, solve problems and transform their communities to better confront risks of drought and famine.

“This project deals with poverty,” said Coppock. “The one thing I learned is poverty is a waste of human lives.”

Coppock said the rangelands are characterized according to limited public services, widespread poverty, men uneducated and tradition-bound and women burdened by menial tasks. Recurrent droughts cause repeated losses of livestock wealth. The causes of this recurrent pattern includes population growth, poverty, armed conflict and low rainfall years.

One of the main goals of Coppock’s project was to identify pathways to halt the vicious cycle of increasing human vulnerability. Their action-oriented pathway approach included working together with pastoralists to identify problems and solutions, assisting pastoralists in implementing solutions, designing research to evaluate impact of solutions and publishing papers and empowering the community.

“We discovered amazing women in remote Kenyan towns,” said Coppock. “They lifted themselves up from poverty, they diversified in a whole variety of small businesses as well as traditional commercial livestock activity and amazingly, they funded the primary schools, they funded the clinics and pooled their money so they could send their kids to college.”

According to Coppock, the action approach not only showed that livelihood diversification is useful, but that it is possible, sustainable and inexpensive. He also found that building human and institutional capacity is an important step in diversification and halting the vicious cycle.

“Importantly, we showed that we could have a major positive impact on people’s lives just through training, envisioning an education in the absence of technology,” he said. “One thing I learned both professionally and personally, there are people out there in rags who could be CEOs. They’re victimized by being in situations where they have no opportunity.”

- Nadiah Johari

USU celebrates graduate student commencement

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

USU’s Commencement and Hooding ceremony will be held this Friday, May 4, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on the USU campus. There will be more than 600 students participating in this year’s commencement.

“These students have worked hard and we are very proud of them,” said Mark McLellan, vice president for research and dean of the School of Graduate Studies. “We are confident that they will continue to do great things.”

The academic procession from the Nelson Fieldhouse to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum will begin at 1:00 p.m., followed by a processional into the Spectrum led by the USU Scotsman Pipe and Drum Corps.

The program will include remarks by McLellan and Stan L. Albrecht, USU president. Albrecht will also present the University Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award to Timothy Gilbertson, professor of biology. Master’s candidates will be hooded by the members of the Graduate Council, while doctoral candidates will be hooded by college dean and major professors.

Both Albrecht and Raymond T. Coward, USU provost will present diplomas. Albrecht will then confer the degrees before McLellan gives his closing remarks.

“Commencement and hooding is all about the graduate students, so we try to create a program that is enjoyable for them,” said Laura Holley, program coordinator in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. “The ceremony is kept very simple, but we make sure every student is appropriately recognized as we hood them and have them walk across the stage.”

- Nadiah Johari

USU participates in CI-WATER project

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

Utah State University researchers are participating in the CI-WATER project, a partnership among USU, the University of Wyoming, Brigham Young University, the University of Utah.

The project is supported by the NSF EPSCoR program to develop high performance computer (HPC) modeling and data storage infrastructure (cyberinfrastructure) to simulate and examine how factors such as population growth, shifting land uses and climate variability impact water storage and availability in the Intermountain West.

The members of the team from USU include David Tarboton, Jeffery Horsburgh and David Rosenberg and all faculty in the Utah Water Research Laboratory as well as Civil and Environmental Engineering.

According to David Tarboton, USU professor of civil and environmental engineering, this project has four goals. They include enhancing cyberinfrastructure facilities, enhancing access to data and computational intensive modeling, advancing high resolution multi-physics watershed modeling and promoting STEM learning and water science engagement.

“A goal of EPSCoR is to build capability and stimulate collaboration and interdisciplinary work, so USU will be participating in tasks related to all these goals,” said Tarboton. “However, USU's primary responsibility is the enhancement of access to data and computationally intensive modeling. This builds on our experience in developing the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science Inc.'s server platform for the publication of hydrologic data.”

The project is a three-year $6 million project of which $900,000 comes to USU. This will support the establishment of a development server for prototyping data system capability before it is deployed operationally at the University of Utah Data Center with high speed links to the Wyoming Supercomputer. USU funds will also support graduate students and programmers for the development of the data and computing systems needed.

As part of the CI-Water project, easy-to-use model and data interfaces that link integrated water system models running within an HPC environment to multiple data sources will be developed. The team intends to make it easier for non-HPC experts to take advantage of HPC systems by establishing easy to use web-based interfaces to configure and execute models on HPC systems and support collaboration around these models.

Also, data system capabilities will be extended to additional hydrologic, geophysical, socioeconomic and legal water rights data needed to run water resource models that reflect the developed and engineered nature of hydrologic systems in the West.

“One aspect of the vision is to reduce the complexity barriers in using supercomputers and stimulating researchers who have not been able to access or use supercomputers to think creatively about how the data-intensive capability they provide can enhance their science,” said Tarboton. “By partnering with the University of Wyoming, we hope to facilitate and ease USU researcher access to HPC capability being established in Wyoming.”

- Nadiah Johari

USU releases report on economic impact of research

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

Out-of-state research funding at Utah State University creates a total economic impact of $250 million on Utah State, as well as Utah’s overall economy, according to a report released by USU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

The report, “The Economic Impact of Utah State University Sponsored Programs on the Utah Economy,” finds that every out-of-state dollar spent on USU research ($138 million in 2011) generates an additional $0.81 in economic output, and that every USU full-time job funded by research supports an additional 1.79 jobs.

“This report confirms--and quantifies--what we already know,” said Mark McLellan, vice president for research and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Utah State. “There is a significant statewide economic benefit to the research pursuits of our faculty.”

According to the report, done by Ruby Ward, Paul Jakus, and Anne Whyte from USU’s Department of Applied Economics and Lorraine Walker from the Office of the Research and Graduate Studies, most of USU’s research funding comes from out-of-state sources; this means that USU research contributes directly to economic well-being of Utahns as “outside” research dollars are expended in the state.

“USU research programs produce jobs and income for residents, and generate tax revenues, which can then be used to provide the public services needed by residents,” said Ward.

USU sponsored programs activities in 2011 were over $211 million, which is the largest portion of USU’s total budget, exceeding state appropriations and student tuition and fees. Some 65 percent of those funds came from out-of-state sources and were spent in Utah, generating economic benefit to the state. The $138 million external funding was spent in-state on payroll, purchases of goods and services, and expenditures of tuition and fees, which created additional economic benefits. The expenditures resulting from sponsored research activity at USU also produced about $22 million in tax revenues for all levels of government.

Additionally, more than 2,300 staff and faculty, 1,300 graduate students, and 1,100 undergraduate students are paid in part from USU sponsored programs. This is equivalent to over 900 full-time jobs.

“This report conservatively reveals positive economic impacts of USU research, yet this is a relatively narrow view of the benefits of research,” said McLellan. “This report does not take into account applied research conducted at USU that has or will soon result in ‘spin-off’ firms that convert research discoveries into commercially viable operations, let alone the intangible benefits associated with our investment in education and human capital.”

The full report can be found here.

USU renews radioactive material license

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 MST

USU’s radioactive material license, which is renewed every five years, allows USU researchers to make use of radioactive material and radiation-producing devices. USU has recently renewed this license.

“The committee and program are essential to maintain USU's ability to utilize radioactive material in research,” said John Jones, USU’s radiation safety officer. “Recently authorized projects include X-ray fluoroscopy by Aaron Olsen and X-ray diffraction by Siddartha Das. We anticipate another application soon for an exciting project that will be new to USU.”

According to Jones, the new project refers to Liaohai “Leo” Chen's plans to bring PET (position emission tomography) imaging to USU. This imaging technique, common to human medical investigations, should facilitate USU’s animal research, he said.

Chen’s research team takes an interdisciplinary approach in the interface among physical sciences, life sciences, engineering and computation to intervene in biological events, with the aim to give biological systems new functions.

Utah’s Division of Radiation Control (DRC) decides which material and devices USU is allowed to use and establishes regulations for their uses. As part of the license agreement, USU has in place an operational Radiation Safety Committee, a radiation safety officer and a radiation safety program.

“We maintain communication with the DRC, and they inspect our functions and operations,” said Jones.

The radiation safety program is directed by the Radiation Safety Committee, which includes committee chair Dale Barnard, researchers from different types of radiological work, safety professionals and supporting departments. This committee approves uses of radiological material or devices in research projects.

The committee also reviews operations of the radiation safety program and officer, approves uses of radiological material or devices in research projects and publishes and revises as needed the radiation safety handbook that establishes rules and guidelines.

The program controls ordering of radioactive material and devices, ensures security of licensed items, ensures safe use of licensed items, manages radioactive waste, conducts radiation safety training, calibrates instruments, inspects for exposures and contamination, resolves compliance concerns, and implements changes developed by the committee.

- Nadiah Johari