Welcome to UTSA

From the Vice President for Research

The mission of the Office of Vice President for Research (VPR) at the University of Texas at San Antonio is to promote all aspects of research and other creative endeavors among all colleges, research institutes and collaborating partners. This includes strategic planning and implementation of research thrusts, building infrastructures to support research, creating policies to provide an environment conducive to collaborative scholarship, and promoting the importance and visibility of the institution's research activities. [more]

Robert W. Gracy, Ph.D.

News & Events

Limited Submission Announcement from the National Science Foundation

The primary purpose of the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI program) is to facilitate scientific and engineering research and research training through the acquisition or development of research instrumentation.  Therefore, the MRI program will not support the acquisition or development of instrumentation used primarily for standard science and engineering courses, or for general purpose instrumentation that does not have a common or specific research focus. Other uses of the instrumentation may serve to facilitate the broader impacts of the project.

Proposals to the MRI program should conform to one or more of its goals:

• Supporting the acquisition of major state-of-the-art instrumentation, thereby improving access to, and increased use of, modern research and research training instrumentation by scientists, engineers, and graduate and undergraduate students;
• Fostering the development of the next generation of instrumentation, resulting in new instruments that are more widely used, and/or open up new areas of research and research training;
• Enabling academic departments, disciplinary and cross-disciplinary units, and multi-organization collaborations to create well-equipped research environments that integrate research with education;
• Supporting the acquisition and development of instrumentation that contributes to, or takes advantage of, existing investments in cyberinfrastructure, while avoiding duplication of services already provisioned by NSF investments. Please consult the NSF document, "Cyberinfrastructure Vision for the 21st Century" (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf0728/index.jsp) for further information;
• Promoting substantive and meaningful partnerships for instrument development between the academic and private sectors.  Such partnerships have the potential to build capacity for instrument development in academic settings and to create new products with wide scientific and commercial impact.

More information can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09502/nsf09502.htm

Instructions for UTSA PI's

AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF)
AGENCY PROGRAM TITLE: Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) (NSF 09-502)
(Suggested) COLLEGE DEADLINE: DECEMBER 10, 2008
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH DEADLINE TO OSP: DECEMBER 15, 2008
NOMINEE(S) SELECTED TO ADVANCE ANNOUNCEMENT DEADLINE: DECEMBER 19, 2008
AGENCY PROGRAM DEADLINE: JANUARY 22, 2009
LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PROPOSALS: 3 - At least one must be for Instrument Development

PI's are to submit the Limited Submission Form, including all required pre-proposal documents to the College. Please click on the link below to download the Limited Submission Form: Limited Submission Form

The Associate Dean for Research will need to prioritize the submitted pre-proposals to The Office of Sponsored Programs by DECEMBER 15, 2008.

The Office of Sponsored Programs will only except pre-proposals forwarded by the Associate Dean for Research for final submission.

UTSA Discovery magazine 2008 Vol. 2 Available Online! This annual publication was created to share news about the exciting research and creative endeavors being conducted at The University of Texas at San Antonio . Click on the image or here to read the complete issue.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Summer Faculty Research Opportunities

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the nation's largest U.S. Department of Energy science laboratory, is hosting a live videoconference on December 2 and December 3, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. EST, to provide information about summer faculty research opportunities at the laboratory.

Application deadlines are fast approaching, and this is a great way to learn more about the research programs that are available to university faculty.

Click on the link below to see the event flyer for more information.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Summer Faculty Research Opportunities

We look forward to your participation on December 2 or December 3. Please RSVP no later than December 1.

Winners of the FY 09/10 TRAC Program and CRSGP Program

VPR is proud to announce and congratulate the winners of the FY 09/10 Tenure-Track Research Award Competition and the Collaborative Research Seed Grant Program. The competition was extremely close and all the winners had exceptional write-ups describing projects with outstanding potential.

For the TRAC Program
Dr Liang Tang for "Application of Biocompatible Fluorescent Nanoparticles in Real-Timel Heart Attack Diagnosis"
Dr Heather Shipley for "Environmental Fate of Metal-Containing and Carbonaceous Nanoparticles"
Dr Youngjoong Joo for "3D Stereo Vision System on a Chip"
Dr Shouhuai Xu for "Modeling Cyber Attacks"
Dr Hingjie Xie for "Remote Sensing Urban Heat-Island Phenomenon in Four Texas Cities: San Antonio, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and El Paso"
Dr John Alexander for "Architecture and Social Development in Late Sixteenth-Century Lombardy"
Dr Jianwei Niu for "Formal Analysis of Secure Information Sharing"

For the CRSGP Program
Dr Hatim Sharif for "Climate and Weather Controls on Disease: Influenza as an Example"
Dr Rama Ratnam for "Cerebellum and Auditory Function"
Dr Robert Renthal for "Single-Molecule Studies of Membrane Proteins"
Dr Drew Johnson for "Anti Microbial Coatings for Membrane Filtration of Wastewater"
Dr Hai-Chao Han for "Why do Arteries Become Tortuous?"
Dr Anand Ramasubramanain for "Chlamydia pneumonia - an Infectious Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease?"

Harvard Fellowships in Sustainability Science

The Sustainability Science Program at Harvard University's Center for International Development invites applications for resident fellowships in sustainability science for the University's academic year beginning in September 2009. The fellowship competition is open to advanced doctoral and post-doctoral students, and to mid-career professionals engaged in research or practice to facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective interventions that promote sustainable development. Applicants should describe how their work would contribute to "sustainability science," the emerging field of use-inspired research seeking understanding of the interactions between human and environmental systems as well as the application of such knowledge to sustainability challenges relating to advancing development of agriculture, habitation, energy and materials, health and water while conserving the earth's life support systems. This year we will give some preference to applicants who address the challenges related to meeting human needs for water or food/agriculture/land use in the context of sustainable development. In addition to general funds available to support this fellowship offering, special funding for the Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowships in Sustainability Science is available to support citizens of Italy or developing countries who are therefore especially encouraged to apply.

For more information on the fellowships application process, please Visit:
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci/grants/fellows/index.html. http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci/grants/fellows/09_fellows_RFP.htm

Applications are due January 15, 2009.

Scholarship for Undergraduate and Graduate Engineering Students

The DoD Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship offers funding for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in technical fields. It is a 1 for 1 payback scholarship for service, with funding from $25K to $41K to support national science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields important to our national security.

The deadline for applications is 15 December 2008, and additional information may be found at smart@asee.org or http://www.asee.org/smart.

The Army's contact for the SMART Program is Ms. JoAnn Wright at joann.wright@us.army.mil or 410/436-4594. Feel free to contact her for details about the program.

NOAA Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program

The Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Application is now available on-line. The application due date is January 30, 2009. You must be a sophomore at the time of application to be eligible. Approximately 100 undergraduate students, U.S. citizens only, who will be a junior in the fall 2009, will be selected as Hollings scholars beginning fall 2009 academic term.

Program Information and Application Materials available at:

• http://www.orau.gov/NOAA/HollingsScholarship/
• 2009 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JANUARY 30, 2009

For other undergraduate and graduate opportunities please visit our website at: http://see.orau.org/

Office of Naval Research (ONR) Summer Faculty Research Program (SFRP)

The application deadline for the 2009 Summer Faculty Research Program is one month away!!!!

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) sponsors the Summer Faculty Research Program (SFRP) for U.S. citizens who hold teaching or research appointments at U.S. colleges and universities. These programs provide an opportunity for science and engineering faculty members to participate in research of mutual interest to the faculty member and professional peers at U.S. Navy laboratories.

The Summer Faculty Research Program is a on-site, continuous 10.week program, beginning in May 2009 . Stipends range from $1400 to $1900 per week for the summer program. Each fellow will be reimbursed for his/her personal travel for an optional pre.program visit to the sponsoring laboratory. Relocation assistance is provided to qualifying fellows.

The program is residential and all work must be completed on.site at the sponsoring U.S. Navy laboratory. Faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Institutions, American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI/TCU/HSI), as designated by the U.S. Department of Education, are especially encouraged to apply.

The application closes on Friday December 5, 2008

To apply or learn more about the program please visit http://www.asee.org/summer

Research Opportunities on Cibolo Preserve

Faculty from UTSA and their students can now ask for approval for access, for research purposes only, to the Cibolo Preserve, a 600 acre tract just east of Boerne in south central Kendal County,. The land is notable for its beauty, variety of flora and fauna, geological features and areas of archeological interest. The land is bisected by a creek with sections on the floodplain of the creek and recent alluvium on adjacent terraces of the creek. The most unique geological feature is a narrow canyon through a large exposure of caprinid reef. The Office of Vice President for Research is currently working with Cibolo Preserve trustees to present suggested projects for research and learning for Spring 2009. Additional information and an approval request form, for UTSA personnel only, are available at: http://vpr.utsa.edu/cibolo/

If you have any questions, please send email to vprweb@utsa.edu

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

3-Year Fellowships available to U.S citizens and permanent residents.

The financial support includes: $30,000 annual stipend, plus
$10,500 annual cost-of-education-allowance, plus $1,000 one-time foreign travel allowance.

The application deadlines (field dependent) are in November, 2008. To apply visit: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/

Effective January 1, 2009, all proposals will be entered and routed through Cayuse, the University's on-line proposal submission and routing system. Paper applications will no longer be accepted by OSP.

• What is Cayuse?
  An on-line proposal submission and routing system. Cayuse supports applications submitted through Grants.gov for electronic submission, routing and storing. It also supports the routing and storing of non- federal applications.


• Designation of Proposal Routing Approvers
  Every Department, Dean, Center/Institute Director will need to designate a 1st approver, 2nd approver and 3rd approver by Dec. 1, 2008. These "approvers" will electronically approve grants and contracts prior to submission to a funding agency. Each approver will need to login to Cayuse and create their Professional Profile in order to electronically approve the routing of grants and contracts. Without designated approvers proposals will route directly to OSP.
  
  OSP can meet (should take less than 1 hour) with any Department, Dean, Center/Institute Director to review how to: 1) log into the system 2) create professional profiles 3) approve proposals


• How to Use Cayuse
  For those that would like a Cayuse Demo for the faculty on how to prepare, submit and route proposals, please contact Elizabeth Garcia (ext. 5195) directly to make arrangements. You can also visit the UTSA CAYUSE page at: http://vpr.utsa.edu/osp/cayuse.php

New NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

The new National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, effective January 1st 2009, is comprised of documents relating to the Foundation's proposal and award process. It has been designed for use by both NSF customer community and NSF staff and consists of two parts: "1) Part I is comprised of NSF's proposal preparation and submission guidelines 2) Part II is comprised of the documents used to guide, manage, and monitor the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the Foundation".

Website: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf09_1/index.jsp

New NSF Resource for Limited Proposal Programs

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published a web site listing their programs that limit the number of proposals that a single institution can submit. The site lists the programs with a short summary and a link to the solicitation. You can access this list at:
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_sro.jsp

Enhancing NIH Peer Review Activity Implementation Timeline

The NIH Peer Review Oversight Committee and three subgroups consisting of NIH program, review, grants management and evaluation staff have developed an initial implementation timeline for the Enhancing Peer Review activity. The NIH Director issued a memo on September 17th, 2008 re Enhancing NIH Peer Review Activity Implementation Timeline. Please click on the link below to read the memo.

From the NIH Director - subject: Enhancing NIH Peer Review Activity Implementation Timeline

Proper Stewardship of Federal Funds

In a continuous effort to promote good stewardship of extramural funds awarded to UTSA for research, instruction, and public service, and to promote understanding of Research Administration at UTSA, Dr. Marianne Woods, Senior Associate Vice President for Research Administration, presented "Proper Stewardship of Federal Funds" to a group of faculty members and research administrators on August 29th, 2008.

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation have been made available online at:

http://vpr.utsa.edu/files/PSFF.pdf

IRB Help Lab

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is offering help sessions every Tuesday & Wednesday from 3:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. at Room 4.01.84 in the Multidisciplinary Building. Bring in an electronic copy of any materials with which you need assistance. Get the answers to all your IRB questions.

IRB Help Lab Information

We want to hear from you!

In a continuous effort to better serve the UTSA research community, the Office of the Vice President for Research is soliciting feedback as an aid to provide ideas and ways for improving our website.

Please take a few minutes to fill out this short online feedback form to let us know what you think. Thank you very much for your time and support!

VPR Online Feedback Form

Streaming Videos of the Time & Effort Workshops Available Online

Please click on the links below to watch the web casts:

Time & Effort Workshop Part I

Time & Effort Workshop Part II

Note: You will need Real Player to view this presentation. To download Real Player, please click on the link below:
http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=rnwk