In this Issue:

National Office News:

CUR 2008 National Conference: Frontiers and Challenges in Undergraduate Research
CUR Biology Division Spring Travel Awards
CUR Welcomes New Institutional Members

CUR Institutes:

CUR Regional Workshop Program on Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research
Beginning a Research Program in the Natural Sciences at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution
Mentorship, Collaboration and Undergraduate Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities
Proposal Writing Institute
Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research

Ongoing CUR Offerings:

Undergraduate Researcher's Graduate School Registry
Developing and Sustaining a Research - Supportive Curriculum: A Compendium of Successful Practices
Newswise Press Release Subscription Service

Washington Partners News:

February 15, 2008 Column

Budget Information:

NSF Budget
NIH Budget

Opportunities:

LI-COR Biosciences Announces $1.75 Million Genomics Education Matching Fund Program for Undergraduate Institutions

National Office News:

CUR 2008 National Conference: Frontiers and Challenges in Undergraduate Research:

Academic investigation lives, by definition, on the frontiers of knowledge.  New information and advances in technology change our research questions and methods; new theoretical perspectives challenge our assumptions; increased interdisciplinary collaboration brings us new partners and opens new avenues of study; and new political and pedagogical contexts demand that we offer expanded research opportunities to more of our students.  And yet, with all that is new, we have many of the same old devils on our tail: time, money, institutional politics, student preparedness.  The theme of this conference is the exploration of current conditions and future possibilities in undergraduate research, but we invite all of the presenters to be explicit about the ways that they encounter and address the real logistical challenges entailed in their projects.  

Registration is available by visiting http://www.cur.org/register.html

For more information, please visit http://www.cur.org/conferences/csb/cur08natconf.asp

CUR Institutes:

CUR Regional Workshop Program on Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research:

The application for the CUR Regional Workshop Program on Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research, funded by the National Science Foundation, is available online at http://www.cur.org/grants/ccliworkshops.asp

For more information, please visit http://www.cur.org/ccli.html

Remaining Regional Workshops:

Northeast Buffalo State College (NY), September 26-28, 2008	Application Deadline: August 15, 2008
Midwest  Hope College (MI), October 10-12, 2008	Application Deadline: September 1, 2008
Central Truman State University (MO), October 24-26, 2008	Application Deadline: September 15, 2008

Beginning a Research Program in the Natural Sciences at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution:  

This CUR Institute will be held June 6-8, 2008 at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.  

Starting a successful research program and doing scholarly work at a predominantly undergraduate institution poses unique challenges for a beginning faculty member. The overall goal of the institute is to give pre-tenured faculty the opportunity to learn from and discuss with experienced faculty how to establish and manage a research program with undergraduates. A range of topics will be covered during the institute, and the specific goals include ways to achieve career success in undergraduate research by learning how to:

• select undergraduate researchers
• mentor student researchers to develop and use their research skills
• mentor students in their writing of research reports and theses
• develop and select research projects appropriate for undergraduates
• adapt to an undergraduate research environment vs. that in graduate school
• link research to the classroom
• develop grantsmanship skills related to gaining external and institutional research support

Registration is available by visiting: http://www.cur.org/institutes/newfaculty.html

This CUR Institute will be held June 5-7, 2008 at Malaspina University - College in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.  

This workshop will bring together teams of three to five faculty members and administrators from institutions that are interested either in initiating an undergraduate research program or in institutionalizing existing research activities.  The three days will consist of plenary lectures presented by facilitators associated with CUR interspersed with individual team meetings with CUR facilitators.  The teams will begin the workshop by meeting with their facilitator and reflecting on the current status of undergraduate research on their campuses.  This inventory will include the examination of institutional strengths, as well as the obstacles currently preventing achievement of desired results.  After this assessment, the teams will begin formulating mission statements, goals, and action plans for their own institutions.  The event will conclude with the teams discussing their plans with the entire community.

Registration is now available by visiting: http://www.cur.org/institutes/malaspina.html.  

Ongoing CUR Offerings:

Undergraduate Researcher's Graduate School Registry:

Please encourage your students to sign up for the Undergraduate Researcher's Graduate School Registry.  The purpose of this registry is to facilitate connections between undergraduates and graduate schools seeking high quality students who are well prepared for research.  More information and the submission form are available at:  http://www.cur.org/ugreg/

Graduate Schools that are interested in purchasing a subscription to the registry should contact Robin Potochnik at robin@cur.org

Newswise is an academic news distribution service that provides media with news leads from our member institutions.  Journalists receive this news by subscribing to an emailed Daily Wire.  From the wire, they review news releases and decide whether or not to follow up on any leads and contacts. 

CUR Institutional Members may submit releases to Nancy Hensel at nancy@cur.org.  For more information, please refer to the following document:  http://www.cur.org/pdf/newswise%20flyer.pdf

Washington Partners News:

The appropriations and budget season in Washington, DC, begins each year with the release of the President's budget request. This year, on February 4th, President Bush submitted his final budget request. The proposal would spend $3 trillion overall and largely freeze spending for domestic programs.

Total federal R&D spending in the proposed budget is $147 billion. The Administration asserts that this recommendation, if met, would achieve record R&D spending in real terms and an increase of $3.9 billion over last year. The National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive $6.85 billion in the budget request, a 13 percent increase over its actual FY 2008 budget. The additional $822.10 million would increase funding for agency programs "that advance the frontiers of research and education in science and engineering." While the Department of Education would see level funding ($59.3 billion), a number of program eliminations and proposed reductions support increases in other programs. The biggest increase is reserved for the Pell Grant program, which would see more than $2 billion over FY 2008 spending.

Related to the release of the NSF budget, the agency's Director, Arden Bement, said that the proposed increase reflects a growing consensus that the United States needs to invest more resources in basic scientific research if it is to remain a global leader in science and technology. "More than a dozen major studies have now concluded that a substantial increase in federal funding for basic scientific research is critical to ensure the preeminence of America's scientific and technological enterprise," he said. "Increased federal investments in research and education are imperative now to sustain our comparative advantages in a flattening world. The NSF budget for 2009 reflects that commitment."

The NSF budget proposal says the following about certain efforts:

Support for Research Grants

Strong, sustained support for individual investigator and small group activities remains a priority for investments across the foundation. With the 16 percent growth in research and related activities, NSF anticipates supporting an additional 1,370 research grants. This will help to increase the funding rate to 23 percent from 21 percent, especially for unsolicited grants that potentially advance the frontiers of learning and discovery.

New Faculty and Young Investigators

The America COMPETES Act underscores the need to strengthen the nation's science and engineering workforce, placing special emphasis on improving opportunities for scientists and engineers at the beginning of their careers. In keeping with this, the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program--NSF's flagship program for young faculty--increases by over $14 million to $181.9 million. Other activities that traditionally involve young faculty--the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (REU) and Research in Undergraduate Institutions Program (RUI)--also increase.

Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF)

GRF is widely recognized as a unique fellowship grant program because it supports the broad array of science and engineering disciplines across all fields, as well as international research activities. Funding for GRF in FY 2009 increases by $28.6 million (nearly 30 percent) to $124.8 million. This will support an estimated 3,075 fellows, an increase of 700 over the FY 2008 level. The GRF program recognizes the growing significance of the changing global environment for future scientists and engineers, and is bringing more international emphasis and increased opportunities for students to expand their knowledge of research and education in other nations, and in international issues affecting science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

Last year, the House Science and Technology Committee took the lead on pushing the America COMPETES Act to enactment. In the wake of the release of President Bush's final budget request, the panel held a hearing, on February 14th, to discuss how the FY 2009 budget request might affect the programs authorized under this law.

The sole witness at the hearing was Dr. John H. Marburger, III, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and Co-chair of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. While supporting the President's FY 2009 budget request, Marburger explained that basic research programs authorized under the America COMPETES Act remain under-funded "relative to their importance for the long term strength of our Nation's economy."

Marburger also reinforced President Bush's commitment to the American Competitiveness Initiative, an Administration proposal unveiled in 2006. Part of that initiative is a doubling of the investments in key civilian federal science agencies, such as NSF, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which support basic research in the physical sciences and engineering. The budget proposal calls for a total of $12.2 billion in spending on these efforts, an overall increase of $1.6 billion. He sought support from Committee members in ensuring that these research and development programs receive adequate funds. Further, despite rumors of an appropriations process that could end in a continuing resolution until after the inauguration of a new president, he emphasized a desire for a timely appropriation this fiscal year, to prevent the loss of another year of potentially high-impact innovation and research.

While federal spending has been the focus of Congress in recent weeks, the House also managed to pass a bill (HR 4137) to reauthorize the Higher Education Act on February 7th. The House and Senate must now meet to negotiate a compromise version of their two bills before final enactment. The Senate passed its bill, S. 1642, last summer. Both bills are hundreds of pages in length and make thousands of changes to current law, but it is hoped that the House and Senate can pass a compromise bill next month.

As is often the case with such a large legislative effort, a number of education groups, and Members of Congress, took issue with certain provisions of the bill, although few found them odious enough to provoke opposition to the larger measure. Debate of the bill pointed to controversial issues in higher education policy, including rules governing the practice of student lending, efforts to control increasing tuition rates, programs to help members of the Armed Services and their families in the pursuit of postsecondary education, steps to ease the financial aid application process, and initiatives addressing textbook expenses, among other issues.

Broadly, the bill's supporters portray it as an effort to control college costs and make it easier for more people to attend college. In a press release related to the bill's passage, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) said, "Last year, by enacting a $20 billion increase in federal student aid-the largest increase since the G.I. Bill of 1944-this Congress took an historic step to help American families pay for college. Now we are redoubling our commitment to college students and parents by reining in skyrocketing tuition prices and making our whole system of higher education far more consumer-friendly."

"Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of The Environment, Health and Medicine, and Science and Technology Policy." 

More information on this effort is available at http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/.

Budget Information:

NSF Budget:

NSF Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2009

NSF Budget Comparison for Fiscal Year 2009

Opportunities:
The CUR National Office has received the following announcements:  

LI-COR Biosciences Announces $1.75 Million Genomics Education Matching Fund Program for Undergraduate Institutions:

LI-COR Biosciences is offering $1.75 million dollars in Genomics Education Matching Funds (GEMF) to high schools, colleges, and universities. The GEMF program is used to acquire LI-COR DNA sequencing systems and software for use by undergraduate students studying molecular biology and related fields. 

More than 170 undergraduate programs are currently benefiting from the GEMF program. 

"Schools tell us that the hands-on experience gained using the LI-COR system provides a distinct advantage to their students when they seek jobs and admission to post-graduate programs," says Jackie Potts, LI-COR GEMF coordinator. "GEMF is part of our ongoing commitment to help undergraduate colleges establish or enhance their programs in genomic studies." 

LI-COR genomic analysis systems are used in academic labs worldwide for a variety of research applications including sequencing, microsatellites, AFLP®, SNP discovery and reverse genetics research. 

Complete information on how schools may apply for a grant is available at www.licor.com/gemf. Deadline for submission of grant requests is April 7, 2008. For more information contact: 

Jackie Potts
GEMF Program Coordinator
LI-COR Biosciences
4647 Superior St. Lincoln, NE 68504
jackie.potts@licor.com 

AFLP is a registered trademark of Keygene, N.V.

 

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