Should scientific presentations use emojis?

Last November, a team of scientists attended Emojicon in San Francisco and demanded that the Unicode Consortium approve a new set of scientific emojis that would better help them express themselves quickly. (See: Scientists call for emoji that represent the full spectrum of nerdom, Quartz, November 14, 2016.)

Now, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, after meeting with conference organizers to discuss efforts to increase transparency in the communication of scientific results, has released a Request for Information on developing emojis for scientific presentations such as conference posters. Use of an accepted emoji indicating, for example, randomized trials or a double-blind protocol, would allow someone viewing a poster to quickly assess the research method's rigor.

Responses are requested by December 15th. See NOT-NS-18-014, "Request for Information on Developing Experimental Design "Emoji" Symbols for Use in Scientific Presentations" for more information.

scientist emoji via Wikimedia Commons

NEH announces collaborative research grants

The NEH announces three types of collaborative research grants, for a proposal deadline of December 6, 2017. Each grant type supports groups of two or more scholars engaging in significant and sustained research in the humanities, and seeks to encourage interdisciplinary work. The three available grants are:

Type 1: Convening Grants – up to $50,000
Convening grants last one year and typically fund conferences and working group meetings to sharpen the chosen research topic and discuss and plan subsequent publication.

Type 2: Publication Grants – up to $250,000 (no more than $100,000 per year)
Publication grants last one to three years and support the project toward completion of its publication goals. Publications can appear in traditional print or in digital form. Note that costs paid to publishers and subventions are not supported.

Type 3: Archaeology Grants – up to $250,000 (no more than $100,000 per year)
Archaeology grants last one to three years and support projects that lead to publication.

Please see the Collaborative Research Grants page for more information.

Open House at CUNY's Advance Science Research Center

The City University of New York announces its second annual ASRC Open House on Thursday, November 16th from 10am to 7pm. Guests will be able to tour 10 active core facilities, talk to research faculty, and have the opportunity to become a core facility user or affiliate faculty member with access to the Center. Research Initiatives of the ASRC include photonics, nanoscience, structural biology, neuroscience and environmental sciences. To register for the tour, and get more information about the ASRC, visit this link: http://www.asrc.cuny.edu/events/open-house-2017/.

NSF wants to know what research infrastructure you need

In Dear Colleague Letter 18-013 NSF has issued a request for information about the need for Mid-scale Research Infrastructure. "Mid-scale" is defined as costs falling between the maximum you can request from their popular Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, which is $4M, and the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act's definition of a 'major multi-user research facility project', which is $100M or greater. This request for information is not a request for funding, nor should the request be interpreted as an intent to publish a new research infrastructure opportunity in the near future, but it will help the NSF identify "promising projects that remain difficult to address within program budgets due to the comparatively large investment needed in a relatively short period of time." A link to the survey can be found at the bottom of the Dear Colleague Letter linked above. It doesn't hurt to let the NSF know what the community needs!

Four NSF BIO divisions do away with pre-proposals (and deadlines!)

NSF announced on October 5th in Dear Colleague Letter 18-011 that after careful consideration of the impact of the pre-proposal pilot on reviewers, institutions and the research community, "BIO will implement a 'no-deadline,' full-proposal mechanism for receiving and reviewing proposals submitted to core programs in the Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS), the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), and to the programs in the Research Resources Cluster of the Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI)." More information on the changes to proposals can be found in these FAQ's (NSF 18-012) as well as on the division's websites.

NIH's Loan Repayment Program -- webinar coming up soon!

Interested in the NIH's Loan Repayment Program (see previous blog post here) but having some trouble figuring out how to apply? Register for the LRP Technical Assistance webinar at this link: NIH LRP Webinar.

Webinar Info:
Date and Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2017 3:00 pm, EST
Meeting number (access code): 620 964 208
Event password: LRPApp
Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 1-650-479-3208

Agenda:
1. Description of the Programs and Eligibility Requirements
2. Overview of Application Components
- Major Sections of the Application
- Research Activities and Personal Statement
- Recommendations
- Loan Information
3. Application Timeline
4. Applicant Checklist
5. Q&A

NIH's Next Generation Researchers initiative

As of August 31, 2017, the National Institutes of Health has implemented new procedures to better support early stage and early established investigators called the Next Generation Researchers Initiative. Early state investigators (ESI) are those who are within 10 years of their terminal research degree or the end of their post-graduate clinical training, who have not received a "substantial" NIH award yet. (For a list of smaller NIH grants that an investigator can hold, and still be considered early stage, click here.) An early established investigator (EEI) is within 10 years of receiving their first substantial NIH award as an early stage investigator. Both classes of investigator will be given priority, and NIH's goal is to award 200 more ESI and 200 more EEI awards this fiscal year than last year. Learn more about this initiative here: NOT-OD-17-101.