Research Communication from VPDoR for Chairs and Directors - May 13, 2024

Dear Chairs and Directors,

 

In this month’s VPDoR Letter, I am sharing information on the following topics:

  • Changes to NSF proposal and award requirements
  • A short survey to gather information on online uses of the Research Policy Handbook
  • A call for C-ShaRP Experiential Learning proposals
  • A Proofig course opportunity offered by Lane Medical Library

 

5 Changes in NSF Proposal and Award Policies

Beginning May 20, 2024, NSF is making five significant changes to its Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (NSF 24-1). To inform faculty submitting proposals, Stanford’s Office of Research Administration has a webpage outlining and explaining the changes. In summary, the changes are:

  1. Implementation of the Common Biosketch form.
  2. Implementation of the Common Current and Pending (Other) Support form, which includes the requirement for disclosing certain outside consulting activities.
  3. A requirement for a Mentoring Plan for any proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral scholars and/or graduate students.
  4. A requirement for an Individual Development Plan for each NSF award that provides substantial support to postdoc scholars and graduate students. This plan should map each individual’s educational goals, career exploration, and professional development and be updated annually.
  5. New guidance for projects involving advanced computing, data, and analysis capabilities.

 

For NSF proposals coming together in your units, please factor in time to review and address these changes and advise your Principal Investigators (PIs)  to seek support from school research administrators in the first instance. Assistance is also available from the ORA team: Michiko T. Pane, Senior Director, OSR Pre Award michiko@stanford.edu, or Megan Dietrich, Assistant Director, Client Advocacy & Education, reymar@stanford.edu.

 

Understanding How the Research Policy Handbook is used online

We are interested in learning how, if at all, members of our research community access and use the Research Policy Handbook on the DoResearch website.

To that end, we would like your feedback on a short, 3-question survey, available at this link.

It should take less than 2 minutes to complete. Please share the survey with your faculty, staff, and others involved in the research activities. 

If you would like to participate in an upcoming 30-minute faculty focus group, please register using the following link.

 

FY25 C-ShaRP Experiential Learning Proposals are now being accepted  

The Community of Shared Research Platforms (C-ShaRP) has launched the FY25 call for collaborative proposals that advance experiential education, leverage Stanford’s Shared Research Facilities, and enrich scientific learning journeys with hands-on experiences. All Stanford faculty, instructors, and shared resources staff are eligible to apply. Proposals are due Monday, June 10, 2024.

 

To apply or learn more, please visit the  C-ShaRP website. If you have questions, contact the C-ShaRP Education Working Group at csharp_education-wg@stanford.edu.

 

Proofig Course at Lane Library on May 20, 2024

Lane Medical Library is offering a pop-up class to learn about Proofig. I mentioned Proofig in an earlier letter. Stanford, via the School of Medicine, recently acquired a campus-wide license to this AI-powered tool. It helps detect issues with FACS images, offers splice detection for Western blot integrity checks, and analyzes documents for potential image plagiarism problems. 

As always, you are encouraged to share relevant parts of this letter with your faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students, who may find the information and links helpful.

 

Stay safe and be well,

 

David Studdert

Vice Provost and Dean of Research