NIH Policies, Notices and Updates:

Updated Guidance for Videos Submitted as NIH Application Materials

Notice Number: NOT-OD-20-061 and referenced in the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 2.3.7

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-061.html

This is a revision to Policy Notice:

Interim Guidance for Videos Submitted as NIH Application Materials

Notice Number: NOT-OD-12-141

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not-od-12-141.html

Policy

What Has Changed:

• Effective immediately, post-submission videos do not need to be embedded in .pdf files.
• Acceptable formats for videos are .mp4, .mov, .avi, and .wmv.

What Will Not Change:

• Videos may only be submitted as post-submission materials and not embedded in or linked from the application materials unless expressly instructed to do so in the funding opportunity announcement instructions.

• If multiple videos are submitted for the same application, the aggregate length must not exceed 2 minutes for single-project applications and 5 minutes for multi-component applications.

• The file size limit remains at 25 MB

Please click on link for full notice. 

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Notice of Fiscal Policies in Effect for FY 2020

Notice Number: NOT-OD-20-068

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-068.html

In accordance with The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, NIH received a 5.9 percent increase over FY 2019 Enacted, for a total of $41.64 billion in program level funding including $492,000,000 authorized under the 21st Century Cures Act and specific increases for Alzheimer’s disease, All of Us, the BRAIN Initiative, and the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative. The mandatory funding for Type 1 Diabetes provided in PL 116-94 through May 22, 2020, is $96.58 million.

The following NIH fiscal policies are instituted in FY 2020:

FY 2020 Funding Levels: Non-competing continuation awards made in FY 2020 will generally be issued at the commitment level indicated on the Notice of Award. Any exceptions will be posted at the site listed under "Additional Information" below. Subsequent budget periods are funded based on the availability of appropriations, satisfactory performance, compliance with the terms and conditions of the award, and the continued best interest of the Federal government .The NIH awarding Institutes/Centers (IC) will develop and post their fiscal policies consistent with overall NIH goals and available FY 2020 funds.

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA): Consistent with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee to the Director regarding the Biomedical Research Workforce, the NIH will increase NRSA stipends by approximately 2 percent for predocs and 4-5 percent on average for postdocs. The full range of stipend adjustments for FY 2020 will be published in a separate notice that will be released soon.

Next Generation Researchers Initiative Policy: NIH will prioritize meritorious R01- equivalent applications from (Early Stage Investigator) ESI PD/PIs. By providing funding priority for ESIs, NIH intends to encourage funding applications that involve researchers earlier in their career in accordance with the policy established in FY 2017 and described at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-17-101.html

.

Salary Limits: Section 202 of The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 prohibits payments for salaries under grants and other extramural mechanisms in excess of Executive Level II currently set at $197,300.

Other Legislative Mandates: Other statutory requirements are described in NOT-OD-20-066

Please click on link for full notice. 

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Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2020

Notice Number: NOT-OD-20-070

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-070.html

This Notice establishes stipend levels for fiscal year (FY) 2020 Kirschstein-NRSA awards for undergraduate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral trainees and fellows, as shown in the tables below.  In addition, the Training Related Expenses and the Institutional Allowance for postdoctoral trainees and fellows have been increased.  The Training Related Expenses and Institutional Allowances for predoctoral trainees and fellows and the Tuition and Fees for all educational levels remain unchanged.  This Notice reflects the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 1865), signed into law on December 20, 2019.

Stipends

Effective with all Kirschstein-NRSA awards made on or after October 1, 2019, the following annual stipend levels apply to all individuals receiving support through institutional research training grants or individual fellowships, including the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) and Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) programs.

Undergraduates:  For institutional training grants supporting undergraduate trainees (T34, TL4), appointments for undergraduate candidates will continue to be made by distinct category (i.e., Freshmen/Sophomores and Juniors/Seniors), but the stipend levels for the categories will be the same: 

Predoctoral Trainees and Fellows:  For institutional training grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1) and individual fellowships (F30, F31), one stipend level is used for all predoctoral candidates, regardless of the level of experience.

Postdoctoral Trainees and Fellows:  For institutional training grants, (T32, T90, TL1) and individual fellowships (F32), the stipend level for the entire first year of support is determined by the number of full years of relevant postdoctoral experience when the award is issued. Relevant experience may include research experience (including industrial), teaching assistantship, internship, residency, clinical duties, or other time spent in a health-related field beyond that of the qualifying doctoral degree.  Once the appropriate stipend level has been determined, the trainee or fellow must be paid at that level for the entire grant year.  The stipend for each additional year of Kirschstein-NRSA support is the next level in the stipend structure and does not change mid-year.

Senior Fellows (F33 only):  The stipend level must be commensurate with the base salary or remuneration that would have been paid by the institution with which the individual is permanently affiliated when the award is issued, but cannot exceed the current Kirschstein-NRSA stipend limit set by the NIH for those with 7 or more years of experience.  The level of Kirschstein-NRSA support will take into account concurrent salary support provided by the institution and the policy of the sponsoring institution.  NIH support does not provide fringe benefits for senior fellows.

For full details on the FY 2020 Kirschstein-NRSA update(s), please refer to https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-070.html

Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Can you sew? Interested in a great paid on-campus position? The UMBC Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering is seeking a student who is experienced in sewing for an immediate opening.

Position: Sewist (On-Campus)

Hours: 15-20 per week

Compensation: Hourly (negotiable)

Description:
Seeking an experienced sewist who can help us build wearable sensors for our lab in the UMBC Computer Science & Electrical Engineering Department. We are looking for a creative person with experience in embroidery/machine sewing and hand sewing.

HOW TO APPLY:
Submit your resume in UMBCworks by searching for the job ID 9313810. The application deadline is extended to Monday, February 17.

Need Resume Approval?
If you have never uploaded a resume in UMBCworks, you may need initial approval from Career Center staff. Please email Kacie Lawrence (klawrence@umbc.edu) for assistance.

The UMBC Career Center
careers.umbc.edu
410-455-2216

To apply:

URCAD.umbc.edu

(200-word abstract required)

Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) features research, scholarship, and creative work carried out by UMBC undergraduates. Student work is shared through oral presentations, posters, artistic exhibits, performances, and film. URCAD is April 22, 2020!

All current undergraduates who have conducted research, scholarship or creative work in the last year may apply to present their results at URCAD. 

Application Deadline: 2/14/20

To apply:

URCAD.umbc.edu

(200-word abstract required)

Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) features research, scholarship, and creative work carried out by UMBC undergraduates. Student work is shared through oral presentations, posters, artistic exhibits, performances, and film. URCAD is April 22, 2020!

All current undergraduates who have conducted research, scholarship or creative work in the last year may apply to present their results at URCAD. 

Application Deadline: 2/14/20

Wind turbines are massive, with a single turbine blade measuring up to 350 feet (about 110 meters), longer than the wingspan of some commercial airplanes. At its highest point, a blade can be 850 feet (260 meters) off the ground, almost reaching the height of Eiffel Tower. When UMBC engineer Soobum Lee looks up at these turbines, generating energy in fields and even offshore, he thinks about their size as an enormous opportunity, and also a challenge.

Lee, associate professor of mechanical engineering, studies energy harvesting, but not in a way that most casual observers would connect with wind turbines. He researches how vibrations can power portable devices on a very small scale, and he develops devices that convert those subtle vibrations into energy.

A few years ago, Lee began exploring how to harvest energy from the rotation of vehicle tires. This led him to begin looking at the spinning motion of wind turbines, and the additional small vibrations that turbines make as they spin continuously. He came up with a novel idea: using these small vibrations—not previously harnessed for energy—to power transmitters that could send sensor data to a wind turbine’s operation and maintenance systems.

Lee explains that wind turbines have sensors on their blades to alert their operators if the blade gets damaged, such as by birds or lightning, or if there is a malfunction or maintenance issue. For example, icicles can form on turbine blades, changing their aerodynamics. Or, the blade could be vibrating abnormally, indicating a more serious mechanical or structural issue in the blade.

Until now, these sensors have been powered by batteries that need to be changed every two years or so. Changing the batteries is time-consuming and can be dangerous for people maintaining the turbines, as they need to climb up the turbines, hundreds of feet in the air, to access multiple sensors on one blade.

“The sensors are to help with maintenance,” says Lee. “If they also create a maintenance need, it’s a problem.” He wondered, what if you could design a sensor that wouldn’t require new batteries?

Bringing research to consumers

Over the past 7 years, UMBC faculty from engineering and the sciences to the arts have worked to commercialize their research, to bring innovative technologies to companies and consumers. Knowing that this can be a challenging transition, UMBC and the State of Maryland have created a range of initiatives to help faculty pursue entrepreneurship opportunities. One core opportunity is the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), established by the state and five research institutions, including UMBC, to promote research commercialization.

A unique feature of the MII program is the introduction of university “site miners” to facilitate the application process for faculty inventors. These commercialization experts support faculty with preparing proposals and advocate for projects in the review process. UMBC site miner David Fink, entrepreneur in residence, says, “The MII program is the most significant factor in the increased commercialization of UMBC-owned intellectual property.” Sixteen companies have been formed by UMBC faculty since the start of MII.

Since 2013, Lee has applied for three MII grants. His first two attempts were not successful but helped him grow his proposal. On his third try, he received a phase one grant to develop his vibration-powered sensor technology.

Through bwtech@UMBC, UMBC’s research and technology park, Lee connected with Pranay Kohli, an energy sector executive with experience working with companies and clients around the world. In 2018, Lee and Kohli founded ACTIVEcharge, LLC, a startup that develops solutions to autonomously monitor wind turbines.

“Soobum and I have benefited tremendously from the MII program. Although we had the technology and the business skills, what MII and bwtech provided us was the ecosystem of professionals who have guided us along the way,” says Kohli, CEO of ACTIVEcharge. “That has opened up so many doors for us as we move forward to commercializing the solution.”

Technology with an impact

Lee’s work has continued to move forward since he received the MII grant. In the lab, he and his students have developed a power management circuit and have integrated it with a power source, sensor, and data transmitter that is about six inches tall and weighs about two pounds.

The sensor provides the signal to the transmitter, and the transmitter sends the data to a receiver. This process uses the energy produced by the attached mechanical generator, powered by vibrations from turbine blades. No external source of energy is needed. It is also designed to sit inside the blades, so it is completely protected from the elements and does not interfere with the blade aerodynamics.

Lee and Kohli hope that, in the next two to four years, their integrated solution will be installed on turbine blades across the country and internationally. Their goal is to provide turbine maintenance crews with near-real-time data that can support their work in a way that doesn’t create additional labor or physical risk and prevents potential catastrophic events.

Sustainable energy projects are growing in the U.S., and now is an important moment to make technology improvements that will boost that growth further, Lee notes. He shares, “I want to make things even better than they are now.”

Banner image: Wind turbines. Photo by Kam Abbott, used under CC BY 2.0.

The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC) and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) are pleased to announce our 2020 Saving Endangered Species College Student Art Contest, which is open to current college students, ages 17 to 30. The contest is an integral part of the 15th annual Endangered Species Day on May 15, 2020. College students are encouraged to share their art by entering the contest and also take action for wildlife on campus and in their community. Learn more about Endangered Species Day and get ideas to take action on campus.

Contest Guidelines

Please review and follow contest guidelines carefully

• Only U.S or Canadian residents are eligible to enter.
• All entries are to be submitted electronically at www.endangered.org/saving-endangered-species-college-art-contest.
• All artwork must depict species chosen from one of the lists as noted in “Subject Matter” (below). We will make no exceptions to this rule.
• Entries must be received by February 16, 2020. Late entries will not be judged.
• All entries become the property of the Endangered Species Coalition and National Wildlife Federation.

Subject Matter

• To be eligible, students’ artwork must depict a land or ocean-dwelling species or a plant/flower that has been placed on the threatened/endangered species list or is considered a recovered species or a candidate species (proposed to receive protection). You can choose a species from one of these groups.
• Threatened/endangered vertebrate animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes), invertebrate animals (clams, snails, insects, arachnids, crustaceans), flowering plants, and non-flowering plants (conifers and cycads, ferns and allies, lichens).

• Recovered/delisted species

Ideas on how to choose a species:

• Is your campus mascot threatened or endangered?
• Do you have any threatened or endangered wildlife on your campus or in your community?

If you choose a species not included on one of these lists, it will not be accepted.

• We strongly encourage participants to have their pieces tell a story of hope. An example of this could be a painting of an endangered marine species with people in the background cleaning up a beach.
• Judges particularly appreciate artwork showing species in their habitats. Don’t forget about the plants that support all life!

Artwork

• Students’ artwork must be original. Computer-generated images and traced images will not be judged. It is critical that submitted artwork not be overly derivative of images found on the Internet, in print media, or elsewhere.
• Media: We accept artwork done in crayon, ink, acrylics, oil paint, pastels, water color, colored pencils, scratchboard, color marker, chalk, pastels, charcoal, or paper collage. We cannot accept artwork done using plain black pencil or weak colored pencil.
• No lettering, words, signatures or any other markings may appear on the front of the artwork. This includes labeling the depicted species, writing one’s name, or a signature. Lettering that is creatively incorporated into the art (such as a posted sign) is allowed. If you are submitting artwork with accepted writing, please check the appropriate box on the entry form.  Submissions that include prohibited writing will not be judged.
• Photograph your artwork on a neutral background without a frame; center the artwork as much as possible.

Submitting Artwork

• Artwork should be submitted electronically at endangered.org/saving-endangered-species-college-art-contest. It must be at least 2700×3600 pixels resolution. Accepted file types are limited to: jpeg, psd, tiff, jpg.
• Follow directions carefully and provide all information requested on the submission form.
• You must submit your artwork by February 16, 2020. Late entries will not be judged.

Judging and Prizes

All eligible entries will be part of a public vote via an online platform in late February 2020. The link for voting will be provided to all entrants to share. All entries will also be judged by a panel of judges. Prizes include:

• First Place Winner: The first place winner be featured in National Wildlife magazine, and receive an award plaque and a $100.00 gift card for Blick Art Materials.
• Second Prize Winner: The second prize winner will receive $75.00 gift card to Blick Art Materials. 
• Third Prize Winner: The third prize winner will receive a $50.00 gift card for Blick Art Materials. 
• Winner of Public Vote: The winner with the most votes will receive a $25.00 card for Blick Art Materials. 

UMBC is proud to be named a 2019 – 2020 Fulbright Top Producing Institution, an honor granted by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. Over 2,200 U.S. students are awarded Fulbright grants annually, from hundreds of colleges and universities. Only a small portion of these institutions are designated as top producers each year.

UMBC is one 45 doctoral universities nationwide and three in Maryland to receive a Fulbright Top Producing Institution designation for 2019 – 2020. Over 43% of UMBC’s Fulbright U.S. Student Program applicants earned awards. This is the third-highest proportion among all top-producing doctoral institutions, speaking to the quality of UMBC student applications.

“The Fulbright Top Producing Institution designation honors our entire UMBC community,” reflects President Freeman Hrabowski. “It recognizes how UMBC prepares students to get beyond their comfort zones and to tackle global challenges through engagement with communities around the world.”

UMBC global ambassadors

In the last decade, UMBC has received over 60 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards. In the 2019 – 2020 academic year, fourteen students and alumni earned awards to teach, conduct research, or pursue graduate studies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, South America, and Europe. 

“These Fulbrighters serve as citizen ambassadors for the United States in their host communities, and we will benefit from the skills, knowledge, and global connections they build on their exchanges long after they return home,” shares Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.

This year, 27 UMBC students and recent alumni, a record number, have been selected as Fulbright semifinalists. This selection recognizes their academic merit, leadership potential, and vision to create solutions and serve as leaders around the world. 

Support on the Fulbright journey

Each year students must complete a rigorous application process to apply for a Fulbright. They receive support from Brian Souders, M.A. ‘19, TESOL, and Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy and culture, UMBC’s Fulbright program advisor, as well as faculty and staff across campus. This process asks applicants in all majors to provide evidence of their academic excellence, commitment to global community partnerships, and a record of leadership through service. 

“Dedicated UMBC faculty and staff mentor students and alumni annually from across the campus, from film-making and anthropology to quantum physics to mechatronics,” says Souders. “They support them through the application process, and help them prepare their work to reflect their academic purpose and goals for this globally prestigious and life-changing award.” 

Study abroad as a pathway to Fulbright

Many future Fulbright recipients begin their international experience with study abroad through International Education Services. This UMBC office offers students opportunities to study and research internationally as early as the summer before their incoming year. In UMBC’s 2019 – 2020 Fulbright class, ten out of fourteen recipients had already pursued research and education abroad. For the 2018 – 2019 class, that number was six out of eight recipients. 

“Studying abroad gives students that first foundational taste of being in a new global environment,” shares Caylie Middleton, associate director of education abroad. “International academic, social, and cultural experiences help develop the curiosity and skills that prepare students for prestigious international opportunities in the future.”

Fulbrighters have also participated in other international opportunities, including with student organizations like Engineers Without Borders, class-based online international exchanges like Global Engineering, faculty-led study abroad courses, and online language exchanges, which UMBC offers in Spanish and Japanese. 

Souders is proud that so many Retrievers are accessing opportunities for international learning experiences, through Fulbright and a broad range of other UMBC international programs. The Top Producer accolade is a milestone that represents an important trend—more UMBC students and recent alumni are researching, learning, and teaching abroad each year.

“Retrievers have a deep understanding of the value of diverse experiences, identities, and cultures,” Souders says. “They know that the world they dream of can only be made possible by reaching together in mutual understanding.”

Feature image: Souders with UMBC’s 2019 – 2020 Fulbright U.S. Student recipients. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 unless otherwise noted.