It's the National Science Foundation's birthday!

Read about some of the exciting discoveries and inventions that resulted from NSF funding over the past 66 years in this article on Medium.

Experiment shows eliminating deadlines dramatically reduces submissions

" [Alex Isern, the head of the surface Earth processes section] eliminated the twice-a-year deadlines for four of her grant programs, in geobiology and low-temperature geochemistry, geomorphology and land-use dynamics, hydrological sciences, and sedimentary geology and paleobiology. NSF sent out a notice about the change at the beginning of 2015, and after a 3-month proposal hiatus, the no-deadline approach began in April 2015.

The number of proposals plummeted, from 804 in 2014 to just 327 in the 11 months from April 2015 to March... So far, she says, there have been no effects on the demographics of who is applying, such as the age of the principal investigator or the type of university they are applying from. Because of a lag in decisions, she hasn’t yet measured the expected rise in success rates."

Read the full story in Science.

Two upcoming research workshops

On May 11-13, the 2016 NIH Regional Seminar is being held in Baltimore, Maryland at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. This workshop will cover all aspects of grant-making processes with the NIH for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, from how to find a funding opportunity to how to comply with post award requirements such as the Public Access Policy. More information here: http://regionalseminars.od.nih.gov/baltimore2016/

---

The OHRP-sponsored Research Community Forum will take place June 21-22 at the Lowes Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. This year's theme is "The Changing Landscape of Research: Where do we go from here?" and will focus on recent and proposed changes to research as it pertains to human subjects. Everyone from physicians to students are invited to participate in this event. More information at this link.

Thoughts on the rules changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act and how it may affect smaller universities

David A. Armstrong, the president of Thomas More College in Kentucky, provides his opinion on the proposed increase to the federal salary threshold from the current $23,660 (which is lower than New York State's requirement) to $50,440. Read "Potentially Dire Impacts" on Inside Higher Ed's website.

NIH issues clarification on yet another new biosketch format

NOT-OD-16-080 clarifies the instructions for biosketches to be included with proposals that have application due dates on or after May 25, 2016.

Also, don't forget that for these applications, most will be using the new Forms D packages on Grants.gov. Be sure you download the correct version!

AACU announces call for proposals for the Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education conference

The Association of American Colleges & Universities and Project Kaleidoscope announces a call for proposals, due March 24, for their "Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education: Implications for 21st Century Society" conference in Boston, November 3-5, 2016. Learn more at their website: http://www.aacu.org/meetings/stem/16.

NSF Director France Cordova on Women in STEM

"Despite advances in overall STEM degrees, women are still vastly underrepresented in fields like physics and engineering; the number of women receiving a bachelor's degree in computer science has actually declined since 2002. This spills over into disparities in employment and even salary: In 2013, median salaries were highest for those with doctorates in computer and information sciences and engineering, fields in which men outnumber women substantially. To close these gaps, we must promote gender diversity in STEM education, and support women every step along their path to a science or engineering career. And we must get more girls excited about STEM. Every child has a moment when their imagination is sparked by science and engineering. Watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step onto the Moon was that moment for me -- it was a reminder of my early, innate interest in science and space.

Imagine if we could keep that spark alive and nurture it. We would have a new generation of scientists and engineers, a new STEM-savvy generation."

Read the full post, and more, in Dr. Cordova's blog, NSF Director Field Notes.