OARS funding Management

We are pleased to announce that the new OARS website is up and running (although the new Research Compliance and Undergraduate Research sections are still in development).   If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, we hope you will soon.  Once you've visited, we'd be grateful if you'd give us five minutes of your time to let us know how we're doing by completing a brief eight-question survey at https://miamioh.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_erhRsEFwwWVP6m1 Finally, don't forget to update any bookmarks you may have to material on our old website!

Indiana University's African Studies Program invites applications for a short-term residency to conduct research in IU's Libraries/African Studies Collections. Indiana University's African Studies Collection ranks among the top tier of such collections in the U.S. It comprises more than 150,000 volumes of monographs and over 700 serial subscriptions as well as materials in other formats (e.g. posters, slides, film/video, audio tapes, etc). The focus of the collection is on the humanities and social sciences, supporting a wide range of students and faculty in such departments as history, anthropology, fine arts, theatre & drama, literature, folklore, ethnomusicology, communication and culture, linguistics, religious studies, education, political science, business, economics, journalism, and applied health science. This residency is intended for faculty members at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or at other U.S. colleges / universities with limited Africa collections, to conduct research in Indiana University's libraries and special collections in support of curriculum development or publications. The successful applicant will receive an award that covers domestic travel, accommodations in Bloomington, and a modest per diem for up to two weeks of research. The award will cover expenses up to a maximum of $2,000 and must be used before August 01, 2014. The recipient is expected to reside in Bloomington during the period of her/his award.

The study of adult offender decision-making and desistance to commit crime typically has been approached from a rational choice perspective and a life-course perspective, respectively. With this solicitation NIJ seeks to expand the existing research by examining the process of adult offender decision-making. NIJ requests proposals that either expand the rational choice model and/or life-course model, use other theories to explain either the choice to commit crime or to desist from committing crime (e.g., behavioral economics, business models, psychology, or cognitive models), or any combination of these. Proposed research also should consider issues such as social context, emotions, default choices, or possibly environmental context to gain a better understanding of the overall decision-making process to commit or desist from committing crimes.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is accepting applications for Round 14 of its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, an accelerated grant program that encourages bold approaches aimed at improving the lives of the world's poorest people. Anyone - students, scientists, entrepreneurs - with a transformative idea is invited to apply.

In September, Miami received notice from the government that our new F&A rates are: 44.5% for On Campus Organized Research 44.0% On Campus Sponsored Instruction 39.0% On Campus Other Sponsored Activities 26.0% Off Campus All Programs These rates are effective beginning September 1, 2014. Awards received beginning in September and all proposal submissions going forward will be required to use the new rates.

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) is pleased to offer a limited number of conference grants. These grants will be used to subsidize the cost of attendance for individuals to attend either CUR Dialogues 2015: Climbing the Ladder to Funding Success: Diverse Sources, Diverse Pathways or Undergraduate Research Programs: Building, Enhancing, Sustaining. Nominees are asked to provide contact and demographic information, a statement of expenses, a statement describing financial need, and a statement on expected outcomes from attending the conference. Historically under-represented groups and first-time attendees will be given priority. The review committee will work to ensure awardees represent a diverse subset of the applicants, specifically across discipline/CUR Division and geographic location. Awardees will receive the conference grant as a rebate after their confirmed participation in the conference, and the submission of reimbursement paperwork.

The SES program supports research on strategic decision making, design, planning, and operation of commercial, nonprofit, and institutional service enterprises with the goal of improving their overall effectiveness and cost reduction. The program has a particular focus on healthcare and other similar public service institutions, and emphasizes research topics leading to more effective systems modeling and analysis as a means to improved planning, resource allocation, and policy development.

The Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS) program supports research leading to the engineering of infrastructure systems for resilience and sustainability without excluding other key performance issues. Areas of interest include intra- and inter-physical, information and behavioral dependencies of infrastructure systems, infrastructure management, construction engineering, and transportation systems. Special emphasis is on the design, construction, operation, and improvement of infrastructure networks with a focus on systems engineering and design, performance management, risk analysis, life-cycle analysis, modeling and simulation, behavioral and social considerations not excluding other methodological areas or the integration of methods.This program does not encourage research proposals primarily focused on structural engineering, materials or sensors that support infrastructure system design, extreme event modeling, hydrological engineering, and climate modeling, since they do not fall within the scope of the CIS program. Researchers focused in these areas are encouraged to contact the Infrastructure Management and Extreme Events (IMEE), Geotechnical Engineering (GTE), Hazard Mitigation and Structural Engineering (HSME), Structural Materials and Mechanics (SMM), or the Sensors and Sensing Systems (SSS) program within CMMI. Additionally, researchers may consider contacting the Hydrologic Sciences program in the Earth Sciences Division (EAR) or the Physical and Dynamic Meteorology (PDM) program in the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division (AGS) of the Directorate for Geosciences.

Organizations -- private and public, established and entrepreneurial, designed and emergent, formal and informal, profit and nonprofit -- are critical to the well-being of nations and their citizens. They are of crucial importance for producing goods and services, creating value, providing jobs, and achieving social goals. The Science of Organizations (SoO) program funds basic research that yields a scientific evidence base for improving the design and emergence, development and deployment, and management and ultimate effectiveness of organizations of all kinds. SoO funds research that advances our fundamental understanding of how organizations develop, form and operate. Successful SoO research proposals use scientific methods to develop and refine theories, to empirically test theories and frameworks, and to develop new measures and methods. Funded research is aimed at yielding generalizable insights that are of value to the business practitioner, policy-maker and research communities. SoO welcomes any and all rigorous, scientific approaches that illuminate aspects of organizations as systems of coordination, management and governance. In considering whether a particular project might be a candidate for consideration by SoO, please note: Intellectual perspectives may involve (but are not limited to) organizational theory, behavior, sociology or economics, business policy and strategy, communication sciences, entrepreneurship, human resource management, information sciences, managerial and organizational cognition, operations management, public administration, social or industrial psychology, and technology and innovation management. Phenomena studied may include (but are not limited to) structures, routines, effectiveness, competitiveness, innovation, dynamics, change and evolution.Levels of analysis may include (but are not limited to) organizational, cross-organizational collaborations or relationships, and institutional and can address individuals, groups or tea

The Decision, Risk and Management Sciences program supports scientific research directed at increasing the understanding and effectiveness of decision making by individuals, groups, organizations, and society. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, doctoral dissertation research, and workshops are funded in the areas of judgment and decision making; decision analysis and decision aids; risk analysis, perception, and communication; societal and public policy decision making; management science and organizational design. The program also supports small grants that are time-critical and small grants that are high-risk and of a potentially transformative nature (see Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) and EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER).)Funded research must be grounded in theory and generalizable. Purely algorithmic management science proposals should be submitted to the Operations Research Program rather than to DRMS.For additional funding opportunities, we invite you to also look at the Cross-Directorate Activities program website.For program specific guidelines on the Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in DRMS, please visit: Doctoral Preparation Checklist.

Proposals are solicited to manage and operate facilities of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) through a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). NRAO is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) that conceives, designs, builds, operates, and maintains world-class radio telescopes used by scientists from around the world to study virtually all types of astronomical objects, from bodies in our own Solar System to galaxies in the distant Universe. NRAO operates the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) near Socorro, New Mexico; North American contributions to the international Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) located in Chile; and associated development laboratories, including a Central Development Laboratory (CDL) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Management and operation of two other NRAO facilities, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope and the Very Long Baseline Array, are under consideration separate from this solicitation. The Awardee will work closely with NSF and the scientific community to ensure that NRAO continues to support, sustain, and advance frontier science as enabled by unique research capabilities and as promoted through a culture of excellence. In cooperation with NSF and within available resources, the Awardee will plan and execute a viable, coherent, and inclusive program to support multi-user research and education, consistent with the objectives and priorities of the scientific community. The Awardee will manage facilities and equipment provided by NSF and by domestic and international partners, will provide additional facilities and equipment as necessary to fulfill the proposed programmatic scope, and will provide support and technical personnel to manage NRAO as a well-integrated facility to support research and education. The Observatory is a multi-user resource; as such, a significant portion of the NRAO research and education program should be carried out in collab

The Sociology Program supports basic research on all forms of human social organization -- societies, institutions, groups and demography -- and processes of individual and institutional change. The Program encourages theoretically focused empirical investigations aimed at improving the explanation of fundamental social processes. Included is research on organizations and organizational behavior, population dynamics, social movements, social groups, labor force participation, stratification and mobility, family, social networks, socialization, gender roles, and the sociology of science and technology. The Program supports both original data collections and secondary data analysis that use the full range of quantitative and qualitative methodological tools. Theoretically grounded projects that offer methodological innovations and improvements for data collection and analysis are also welcomed.

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of global private equity firm Blackstone Group, has announced its second annual Request for Proposals targeting organizations that focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. Each year, the foundation awards grants to entrepreneurial organizations that spread the ideals of entrepreneurship and benefit local communities through its Blackstone Organizational Grants program. Through these grants, the foundation aims to support eligible organizations as they pilot, expand, or replicate entrepreneurial projects that will catalyze the growth of successful businesses, industries, and communities. This program was launched in coordination with the foundation's $50 million, five-year Entrepreneurship Initiative.

The National Science Foundation's Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES), National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), and the SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (SMA) award grants to doctoral students to improve the quality of dissertation research. These grants provide funds for items not normally available through the student's university. Additionally, these grants allow doctoral students to undertake significant data-gathering projects and to conduct field research in settings away from their campus that would not otherwise be possible. Proposals are judged on the basis of their scientific merit, including the theoretical importance of the research question and the appropriateness of the proposed data and methodology to be used in addressing the question. In an effort to improve the quality of dissertation research, many programs in both BCS and SES, the Research on Science and Technology Surveys and Statistics program within NCSES, and the Science of Science and Innovation Policy program in SMA accept doctoral dissertation improvement grant proposals. Requirements vary across programs, so proposers are advised to consult the relevant program's webpage for specific information and contact the program director if necessary.

The study of adult offender decision-making has typically been approached from the rational choice model. With this solicitation NIJ seeks to expand the existing research by examining the process of adult offender decision-making with respect to the decision to offend. NIJ requests proposals that either expand the rational choice model or use other theories (e.g., behavioral economics, business models, psychology, or cognitive models) or both. Proposed research also should consider issues such as social context, emotions, default choices, or possibly environmental context to help the field gain a better understanding of the overall decision-making process.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is pleased to announce the availability of funds for the Refugee Microenterprise Development Project. ORR has supported microenterprise development projects since 1991 through the award of discretionary grants to a variety of public agencies, community economic development agencies, local mutual assistance associations, and voluntary agencies. The broad goals of this program are to: 1. Assist refugees in becoming economically self-sufficient by owning and managing a small business, 2. Provide seed money to refugee serving organizations to start and develop microenterprise program that will serve refugees at sustained and expanded levels, and 3. Help mainstream organizations develop the experience of serving refugee populations. In order to achieve these objectives, award recipients under this announcement will provide pre-business and post-business technical assistance as well as capital to refugee entrepreneurs.

NCIIA is pleased to announce a NEW E-Team Program, launched in fall 2012. The program provides early-stage support and funding of up to $75,000 for collegiate entrepreneurs working on market-based technology inventions.

We are particularly interested in how devices change the way lives are lived and markets operate. For example, we would like to see research that studies how mobile computing alters decision processes, whether by changing access to information, by enabling information manipulation, or by social sharing. We would be interested in the mobile device as a way for suppliers or retailers to reach consumers, as a decision-making tool, as a tool for consumers to reach out to suppliers and retailers, as a response vehicle for market research, as a device for marketplace observation and tracking, or as a medium for social influence. Without limiting the scope of possible studies, other topics that would be of interest include: Innovative uses of mobile devices and location-based services-and the data they generate-to gather and construct consumer insights How the mobile platform plays a role in shopper marketing (e.g., mobile coupons, showrooming) Mobile display advertising effects and processes Mobile paid search compared to PC-based paid search Mobile devices in measuring and motivating goal progress and setbacks Complementarity and substitution between mobile and fixed computing Comparing mobile use by children and adults

This BAA's primary objective is to attract outstanding researchers and scholars who will investigate topics of interest to the defense acquisition community. The program solicits innovative proposals for defense acquisition management and policy research to be conducted for approximately a 12-month period during the September 2013 through May 2015 timeframe. In this BAA, the phrase "defense acquisition management and policy research" refers to investigations in all disciplines, fields, and domains that (1) are involved in the acquisition of products and/or services for national defense, or (2) could potentially be brought to bear to improve defense acquisition. These include but are not limited to economics, finance, financial management, information systems, organization theory, operations management, human resources management, and marketing, as well as the "traditional" acquisition areas such as contracting, program/project management, logistics, and systems engineering management. The proposed research must provide through the dissemination of findings in a final Technical Report a public benefit beyond the potential to improve the efficiency, quality, innovation, and/or cost of DoD and DoN acquisition programs. Findings, for instance, should also be potentially applicable to improving private-sector competitiveness or effectiveness.

The Farm Business Management and Benchmarking (FBMB) Competitive Grants Program provides funds to (1) improve the farm management knowledge and skills of agricultural producers; and (2) establish and maintain a national, publicly available farm financial management database to support improved farm management.