New USC Grant Opportunity:
Provost New Strategic Directions for Research Award, 5 pm, Monday, April 20, 2020
February USC Grant Timelines:
Zumberge Interdisciplinary Large: 5 pm, Monday, February 10, 2020
Answering the Call: noon, Friday, February 14, 2020
Collaboration Fund: 5 pm, Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Research Advancement: Artificial Intelligence, quantum information processing, and Alzheimer’s disease are some examples of current high priority federal funding topics, especially with multidisciplinary approaches. For assistance in planning and preparing proposals across USC units, contact Dr. Steven Moldin (moldin@usc.edu) in the DC Office of Research Advancement.
USC Stevens Center for Innovation: A new faculty technology transfer working group is reviewing USC IP policy and practices. Additionally, to improve communication, beginning on February 19th, USC Stevens’ licensing associates will send an email status update on the first and third Wednesday on each month: 1) emails will provide updates on all license agreements currently under negotiation for each technology and will be sent to all named inventors for the technology being licensed; 2) the emails will provide updates on all pending, unlicensed patent applications and patents which have a prosecution decision due in the next 90 days, and will be sent to all named inventors.
Research Integrity: An updated version of the USC Research Misconduct Policy (drafted by Dr. Kristen Grace) has been accepted by the USC University Research Committee and is now under review by the USC Academic Senate. The updates to the policy increase transparency and impartiality regarding research misconduct allegations and investigations. The updated policy acts as a guide for the USC community regarding the processes involved during a research misconduct proceeding.
Increased Federal Scrutiny of International Appointments & Relationships: Harvard’s Chemistry Chair Charged on Alleged Undisclosed Ties to China: To protect themselves and get University help in managing risk, faculty are urged to disclose all foreign collaborations and/or appointments via USC diSClose.
OPRS/IRB: The IRB has been working on structural and workflow changes to improve efficiency and reduce review times and to enhance communication with the USC research community, effective immediately and to be finalized by June 2020. Social behavioral (SB) studies will be reviewed by the SB IRB (formerly UPC IRB) and biomedical studies will be reviewed by the Bio IRB (formerly HSC IRB).
Contracts & Grants: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released additional guidance on the Use of a Single Institutional Review Board for Multi-Site Research. NIH K and F awards are now covered under the Common Rule and exceptions granted under their sIRB Policy are only in effect until the next competing award. The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a revised Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1), effective on June 1, 2020. A significant change is the requirement to use the SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae as the NSF-approved format for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support documents.