Research News Roundup - May 2024 

Highlights of this month’s newsletter includes announcements, new faculty highlight stories, updates, events, tips, and news from Leatherby Libraries. Be sure to read the entire newsletter to be entered into our June raffle!

If you have any questions related to grants, compliance, industry partnerships or graduate education, join the monthly office hours – see below for time and zoom links.

Stephen I. Katz Early State Investigator Funding Opportunities

Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Grant Program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has multiple opportunities a year. Next due dates May 29, 2024, and September 26, 2024.

Funding Opportunity

NSF Cyberinfrastructure for Public Access and Open Science program ( CI PAOS) aims to foster socio-technical partnerships supporting research data infrastructure ecosystems through early-stage collaborative activities. Proposals targeting competency building, capability building, and community building are encouraged, emphasizing international collaboration, and addressing interdisciplinary challenges. Full proposal accepted anytime.

National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide

NSF's Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide goes into effect on May 20, 2024. Important changes include:

• Mentoring Plan: Each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral scholars or graduate students must upload a mentoring plan describing the mentor activities that will be provided for such individuals in the supplementary documentation section of Research.gov.
• The NSTC-approved Common Forms for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support are now available in SciENcv. 
• Synergistic Activities has been removed from the biosketch. Information will now be submitted as a separate document under senior/key personnel documents in research.gov.
• The three page limit for biographical sketches has been removed. Each senior/key person must now use SciENcv for creation of their biosketch and include certifications regarding foreign involvement. For further information on biosketch requirements please visit NSF.gov.

Importance of Submitting Final Technical Reports

Agency withheld grants for an entire university after one faculty neglected to submit their final report.

Research Security and Training Modules

NSF has released a series of Research Security and Training modules, which are free for U.S. researchers and institutions.

National Institute of Health Application and Peer Review

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is implementing multiple changes that will impact the preparation and peer review of most grant applications submitted to NIH for due dates on or after January 25, 2025. 

Campus File Storage Options 

IS&T’s Research Computing department has several options available for file storage. Newly added, IS&T is now offering a bulk storage solution for $50 per TB per year for Chapman users. Contact researchcomputing@chapman.edu with questions or requests.

Faculty Highlight! Common Loons Threatened

An icon of the northern wilderness, is under threat from climate change due to reduced water clarity. Read more on Chapman news.

Kudos to Chapman Faculty Award Recipients 

Please join us in congratulating the following faculty who have received a new award in 2024. Keep up the amazing work!

Cintia Citterio for "Molecular Pathogenesis of Thyroid Cystinosis and New Therapeutic Approaches" from the AACP for 11,000.00.

Cecilia Lopez for "Using XR (Extended Reality) to Close the Equity Gap in Laboratory Training"  from NSF for 43,297.00.

Conflict of Interest Updates

Guidance on faculty startups, SBIR and STTR COI management strategies, and other external engagements have been updated on our conflict of interest page.

USPTO’s New Guidance on AI-Assisted Inventions

Do you have an invention where an AI system was used to assist in the conception of the invention and want to file a US patent application? The new USPTO Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions demand disclosure of how much the AI system has contributed to the invention. We updated our Invention Disclosure form found at the Technology Commercialization webpage with new questions to help the university determine proper inventorship for an AI-assisted invention and to address this guidance. Any questions? Contact Lawrence Lau, Director of Industry Alliances and Commercialization at lalau@chapman.edu 

IACUC Updates

The IACUC has posted revised copies of four guidelines (Reporting of Concerns, Protocol Review Process, Handling of Changes to IACUC Protocols, Overview of the Animal Use Program) with typographical errors corrected and with minor edits for greater clarity. These updates are available to animal users through the IACUC SharePoint/Teams site. 

IACUC Semiannual Inspection Successfully Completed!

A big thank you to the IACUC members, animal care and OORGE compliance staff who completed the semiannual inspection of Chapman’s animal facilities on May 3, 2024, without finding significant deficiencies. We thank all faculty and their lab groups in following laboratory guidelines; however, we remind them to be more diligent in disposing expired materials and correctly labelling and storing supplies. The semiannual inspection found minor deficiencies such as expired materials, incorrect/missing label for equipment and study supplies, use of study tools which cannot be completely sanitized, improper storage of isoflurane, and incomplete inspection record for an eyewash station.

Use of Protected Health Information (PHI)

Thank you to everyone who attended the IRB’s workshop on use of Protected Health Information (PHI) on May 2, 2024. A copy of the recording and slide deck is on our Training and Continuing Education page.Such workshop reflects the contents of the IRB’s guidance on use health data, which was recently revised to reflect the Board’s determination that studies involving PHI will not automatically need annual IRB review.

Use of Subject Recruitment Databases

PIs are now able to more easily request IRB approval for establishing a subject recruitment database via a new application form within Cayuse. Such application is part of the IRB’s new workflow regarding retaining subjects’ identifiable information to form a pool from which PIs may recruit for future studies.

Informed Consent Template Updates

The standard (i.e., mandatory for all expedited review and full board review studies) templates for informed consent was updated by the IRB on 23Apr2024 to include:

• A field to print the name of a minor (or adult without capacity to consent) for whom a parent/guardian/Legally Authorized Representative is signing.
• A second signature line for studies where the IRB requires both parents to sign on behalf of their child.
• A signature line for a witness to the consenting process. A witness (i.e., someone not affiliated with the research team) is needed to be present during the consenting process when the subject (or subject’s LAR) cannot read, write, talk or is blind, or in the rare scenario when a short form is used for consenting instead of the standard informed consent form.

Free NIH Webinar 

At this event on May 15th from 10am-11am NIH staff will provide a general overview of the grants process; will walk through essential aspects of applying for funding; offer information for finding the right fit for your research; and discuss peer review, NIH and applicant institution roles and responsibilities, and resources to help along the way. Registration and more information can be found on their website.  

National Endowment for the Humanities Webinar 

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is offering a webinar on their Summer 2025 Stipend program introducing the program and some changes for the new round of competition (application deadline September 18, 2024), describing the application and nomination process, and offering application-writing suggestions. Date and Time.

Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Europe and Eurasia Virtual Open House

In this interactive session on Thursday, May 16th from 1:00-2:30pm ET, representatives from 10 Fulbright Commissions across Europe and Eurasia will be available to discuss their awards and answer your questions live! Commission representatives will be in dedicated breakout rooms by country, and you can meet with as many countries as you wish during the event. You can preview the 66 U.S. Scholar awards offered by these countries on the awards section of the U.S. Scholar Program website.

IS&T Research Computing

Monthly Hands-on Workshops! Friday, May 17th. 2024 from 9:00am - 10:00am in DeMille Hall 150, bring your laptop for one-on-one support or feel free to drop in to discuss topics of your choice. For more information please contact researchcomputing@chapman.edu.

A cloud-based, secure research environment in compliance with NIST 800-171 requirements is now available. If your research requires such compliance, contact researchcomputing@chapman.edu for a consultation and additional details.

NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide Webinar Available

This webinar covers the policy behind NSF’s implementation in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 24-1) for proposals submitted on/after May 20th, 2024. The session also includes step-by-step instructions for using SciENcv to create and download the required proposal documents.

New NSF Mentoring Requirements for Graduate Students Workshop Available

This virtual workshop helps principal investigators respond to NSF’s new graduate student mentoring plan and graduate student/postdoctoral individual development plan requirements for proposals submitted on/after May 20, 2024. The recording will soon be available at the link above.

CHOC International Pediatric & Lifespan Data Science Conference May 23-24, 2024

You're invited to participate in the inaugural International Pediatric and Lifespan Data Science Conference! This two-day event will bring together experts in medicine, research, and data science from across the globe to address the most pressing challenges in pediatric and lifespan research. 

NSF Grants Conference June 3-5, 2024, in Philadelphia. In-person and virtual

Key officials representing each NSF program directorate, administrative offices, Office of the General Counsel and Office of the Inspector General will participate. The conference is designed for new faculty, researchers, educators, and administrators who want to gain insight into a wide range of important and timely issues at NSF including: the state of current funding; the proposal and award process; and current and recently updated policies and procedures.

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning’s 2024 Conference and Call for Proposals

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is now accepting proposals for their 2024 conference scheduled to take place on Wednesday August 14th from 8:30am-3:30am on the Orange campus. 

Should Researchers Use AI to Write Papers? Group Aims for Community-Driven Standards

Science  addresses the absence of uniform guidance resulting in a state of confusion among researchers, and underscores the pressing need for formal norms. The CANGARU initiative, which includes 4,000 researchers and publishers, has efforts underway to formulate extensive guidelines for the ethical utilization of text-generating AI programs such as ChatGPT in academic publishing. These guidelines are slated for release by August, with annual revisions to adapt to the swiftly evolving AI environment.

Illuminating ‘The Ugly Side of Science’: Fresh Incentives for Reporting Negative Results 

Nature is highlighting new data repositories and alternative journals and workshops offer routes for sharing negative results — which could help to solve the reproducibility crisis and give machine learning a boost.

Wiley Read-and-Publish Deal Renewed: The Leatherby Libraries is pleased to announce the continuation of our Read-and-Publish deal with Wiley from 2024-2026. We encourage Chapman authors who wish to use this agreement to take note of newly introduced procedures that will go into effect this year.

World Autism Awareness Month - A Virtual Library Display: Health Sciences Librarians Ivan Portillo and David Carson have curated a virtual exhibit in honor of World Autism Awareness Month. This virtual exhibit compiles digital resources on autism information, data, statistics, professional organizations, and advocacy groups to promote greater appreciation and acceptance of autism in society.

Connect to Knowledge - Digital Theatre+: Chapman researchers now have access to Digital Theatre+, a database containing hundreds of hours of video recordings of theatre, interviews, lectures, documentaries, teaching materials, and more.

Keeping the Rhythm of Creativity – Performing Arts and Intellectual Property Display: Our Copyright Librarian Katherine Roth has led the curation of a new display honoring intellectual property rights in the field of performing arts. This display was inspired by World Intellectual Property Day and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

SPS Pre Award & Non-Financial Post Award: The first Tuesday of every month from 11:00-12:00pm. Zoom Link.

SPS Post Award: The last Tuesday of every month from 9:30-10:30am. Zoom Link

IRB: The first Tuesday of every month from 3:00-4:00pm. Zoom Link.

IACUC/COI/Export/Import: The fourth Tuesday of every month from 3:00-4:00pm. Zoom Link.

Industry Alliance and Commercialization: The third Thursday of every month from 3:00-4:00pm. Zoom Link.

Graduate Education: The last Thursday of every month from 10:00-11:00am. Zoom Link. 

For a full schedule including quarterly and semester specific dates for additional departments and for Zoom information visit our events page.

Congratulations to Alison Oliver from the School of Communication for being our May giveaway winner!

To be entered into next months drawing email our office with your favorite academic pun!

Contact our office for in inquiries using our Jira ticketing system.