Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development

Rutgers sets records for sponsored research

Unfortunately, the increase in sponsored research does not make up for the decrease in state funding. The projects are focused on specific topics, ranging from A Cancer Survivor Educational Initiative for the Primary Care Workforce to ZNO/ZNS/P3HT Core-Shell Heterostructure Organic Hybrid Solar Cells. A common misconception is that the F&A costs (aka overhead) are profit that can be spent on anything. They are actually a reimbursement for the real costs of conducting sponsored projects at Rutgers.

Here are two tips for federal funding:

• Read the complete application and address all issues in your proposal. In my four years at NSF, I estimate that half of the proposals were declined because they did not address all the goals and review criteria of the funding program.
• Visiting with funding officials before submitting an application is useful in agencies that use peer review and essential in agencies that use an internal review processes (e.g., DoD agencies). My office can provide funds for agency visits. Trips to DC can be done in a single day from Rutgers.

Overlap in NIH proposals

National Endowment for the Humanities Funding Opportunities

Bridging Cultures: Humanities Scholarship in Mexico and the United States: October 28, 2010

The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Humanities Department of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Coordinación de Humanidades de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México [UNAM]) are cooperating to foster the exchange of information and advance research in the humanities. NEH is inviting applications for scholarly conferences through the Collaborative Research program. United States nonprofit institutions and organizations are encouraged to apply for funding for a conference that aims to further humanities scholarship and includes participation by scholars from the United States and UNAM. Participants may also include other scholars from Mexico and other countries who are conducting research pertinent to the topic. A conference application, for example, may focus on the current status of research in a particular humanities field or fields that are of interest to a wide scholarly audience or focus on a single issue of binational scholarly concern.

Gradfund – Resource Center for Graduate Student External Support

Video: How NIH Identifies the Most Promising Research Applications

"The video provides an inside look at the dynamic way reviewers evaluate NIH grant applications," said CSR Director Dr. Toni Scarpa. "You'll see the rigor and integrity of their efforts, which have enabled NIH to identify ground-breaking research year after year."

Research Misconduct Example

Here is an example of something that should be avoided:

Findings of Research Misconduct
Notice Number: NOT-OD-10-085
Issued by Department of Health and Human Services

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in the following case:

Emily M. Horvath, Indiana University: Based on the Respondent's own admissions in sworn testimony and as set forth below, Indiana University (IU) and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Ms. Emily M. Horvath, former graduate student, IU, engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant R01 AT001846 and Predoctoral Fellowship Award F31 AT003977-01, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), NIH, grant R01 DK082773-01.

Specifically, the Respondent admitted to falsifying the original research data when entering values into computer programs for statistical analysis with the goal of reducing the magnitude of errors within groups, thereby gaining greater statistical power. The Respondent, IU, and ORI agree that the figures identified below in specific grant applications and published papers are false and that these falsifications rise to the level of research misconduct:

Respondent admitted to falsifying Figures 6B, 18, 22, 23B, and 24 in NCCAM, NIH, grant application R01 AT001846-06, ``Chromium Enhanced Insulin & GLUT4 Action via Lipid Rafts,' Jeffery S. Elmendorf, P.I. (07/01/04-05/31/20) (application was withdrawn in May 2009).

Respondent admitted to falsifying Figures 6B, 8, 9D, 16D, and 21 in NIDDK, NIH, grant application R01 DK082773-01, ``Mechanisms of Membrane-Based Insulin Resistance & Therapeutic Reversal Strategies,' Jeffrey S. Elmendork, P.I. (3/15/09-01/31/13).

Respondent admitted to falsifying Figures 2C, 5, 6D, and 11 in the publication: Horvath, E.M., Tacket, L., McCarthy, A.M., Raman, P., Brozinick, J.T., & Elmendorf, J.S. ``Antidiabetogenic Effects of Chromium Mitigate Hyperinsulinemia-induced Cellular Insulin Resistance via Correction of Plasma Membrane Cholesterol Imbalance.' Molecular Endocrinology 22:937-950, 2008.

Respondent admitted to falsifying Figure 2C in the publication: Bhonagiri, P., Patter, G.R., Horvath, E.M., Habegger, K.M., McCarthy, A.M., Elmendorf, J.S. ``Hexosamine biosysthesis pathway flux contributes to insulin resistance via altering membrane PIP 2 and cortical F-actin.' Endocrinology 150(4):1636-1645, 2009.

Respondent also admitted to falsifying Figures 2C, 5, 6D, 11, 13C, 15A, 16A, 17A, 18, 19C, and 20A, which are included in her thesis, ``Cholesterol-dependent mechanism(s) of insulin-sensitizing therapeutics.' The Ph.D. was awarded to the Respondent on December 31, 2008. Respondent was supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship Award F31 AT003977 from 09/30/2006 to 09/29/2009.

Ms. Horvath has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement in which she has voluntarily agreed, for a period of three (3) years, beginning on March 22, 2010:

1. To exclude herself from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant;
2. That any institution that submits an application for PHS support for a research project on which the Respondent's participation is proposed or that uses her in any capacity on PHS-supported research, or that submits a report of PHS-funded research in which she is involved, must concurrently submit a plan for supervision of her duties to the funding agency for approval; the supervisory plan must be designed to ensure the scientific integrity of her research contribution; respondent agreed that she will not participate in any PHS-supported research until such a supervisory plan is submitted to ORI;
3. That any institution employing her submits, in conjunction with each application for PHS funds or report, manuscript, or abstract of PHS-funded research in which the Respondent is involved, a certification that the data provided by the Respondent are based on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived and that the data, procedures, analyses, and methodology are accurately reported in the application, report, manuscript, or abstract; the Respondent must ensure that the institution sends a copy of the certification to ORI; and
4. That she will write letters, approved by ORI, to relevant journal editors of the published papers cited above to state what she falsified/fabricated and to provide corrections if she has not already done so. These letters should state that her falsifications/fabrications were the underlying reason for the retraction/corrections.