Â鶹´«Ã½

DEAR COLLEAGUES

Welcome to the January edition of the Research and Innovation Newsletter. ORI welcomes Dr. Mark S. Hurwitz as the director of special initiatives. Hurwitz is a professor of political science at Western and recently served as a program officer in the National Science Foundation (NSF). He will develop interdisciplinary teams to seek external funding from the NSF.

Cayuse also will replace the PAF system for proposal submission today. Please avail yourself of the tutorials on using Cayuse and the virtual office hours led by ORI staff to help you transition to the new system.

In addition, Dr. Steven Weber has left ORI for a position in the industry. Please see the information below regarding how ORI is handling his departure.

As a final note, Dr. Ed Roth, professor of music therapy, will be giving an overview of his research at the next Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, Jan. 20, at 11 a.m. Please tune in to his presentation to learn about the exciting work being done at Western.

Regards,

Steven M. Carr, Ph.D.
Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation

New Cayuse research proposal system begins
Due to unexpected delays, the new start date for the Cayuse Research Proposal System is today (Jan. 18, 2022). Find more information about the Cayuse system. The former PAF system was disabled, and any proposals in the PAF system that were submitted to ORI before Jan. 18 will be completed in the PAF system. ORI will host virtual office hours to answer questions about the Cayuse system.

FRACAA proposals due
FRACAA proposals can be submitted in until Friday, Feb. 4. Find information such as a recording of the FRACAA workshop and more. This year, we have a mentors' group willing to read over proposals and make suggestions. Faculty in this group are Kristina Lemmer, Andre Venter, Lori Brown and Manuel Bautista. Contact them directly for assistance on your proposal.

New director of special initiatives starts at ORI Dr. Mark S. Hurwitz, professor of political science, is the new director of special initiatives in the Office of Research and Innovation. Previously, he served as a program officer at the National Science Foundation. While at NSF, his portfolio extended across the agency. His primary programs included learning and workforce development in the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and law and science in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. Hurwitz also had responsibility in working groups for Navigating the New Arctic, Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation, Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research, Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks, and Science of Broadening Participation. He has published his research in leading political science and law journals such as American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics and Political Research Quarterly, and is the recipient of research grants from both public and private funding agencies.

Fall ECRT confirmation period opening soon
The fall Aug. 15 through Dec. 31 ECRT pre-review period will open Tuesday, Jan. 25. Refer to Grants and Contracts website for step-by-step instructions. Before clicking the pre-review button, make sure all payroll, direct or cost share for the project is reflected and accurate. If not, contact Grants and Contracts. Pre-review will need to be completed prior to the opening of confirmation, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 8.

New chart of post-award responsibilities available
Grants and Contracts has developed a post-award responsibilities chart identifying tasks by unit to assist departments and principal investigators. View the chart to find lists of many of the processes involved with grants and contracts and which areas are responsible for the different aspects of the processes.

We’ve got you covered
Dr. Steven Weber left his position as director of technology and commercialization in early January to pursue a new career path, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.  

While we currently do not have a named replacement, be assured that we will continue to work steadfastly on intellectual property requests and their commercialization, as well as research contract administration. To do this, we've engaged our technology commercialization software vendor, Wellspring Worldwide, to provide immediate assistance with certain time-sensitive intellectual property requirements. Wellspring is a pre-eminent tech transfer solution provider that we have partnered with for nearly 20 years.

In addition, Wellspring will help support, streamline and automate current processes and procedures so we can continue moving forward with innovation. Utilize this email for correspondence.

While ORI takes active steps to fill the research contract administrator position, contracts will be covered jointly by ORI staff with assistance from Western's Office of Legal Affairs, Risk and Compliance. The first point of contact for questions relating to contracts should be your research officer.

Discovery Acceleration workshops begin this month
View information about the first virtual spring 2022 Discovery Acceleration workshop, "Getting Started: Funding for Arts and Humanities Projects," held on Monday, Jan. 24, at noon. Future workshops include "Enhancing Your Research with Secondary Data" on Monday, Feb. 28, and "Evaluation Basics for Grant Proposals" on Monday, March 21.

Mark your calendars for Spring Convocation
The second annual virtual Spring Convocation is scheduled for Friday, April 15. As the date gets closer, we will be sending out more information along with the link to attend.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER