UA Works to Maximize Share of Federal Stimulus Funding

UA Works to Maximize Share of Federal Stimulus Funding

By Alexis BlueUniversity Communications
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Andrew Comrie, associate vice president for research
Andrew Comrie, associate vice president for research

As details begin to emerge about federal stimulus money available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Office of the Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies and Economic Development at The University of Arizona is coordinating a campuswide effort to help the University maximize its share of federal funding at a time when state financial support for higher education has been significantly reduced.

Because the University is so large and there are units on campus with overlapping interests, the VPR office aims to coordinate UA efforts to apply for stimulus funding in the most effective ways possible, said Andrew Comrie, associate vice president for research, who is helping lead the coordination.

"This is a big place with lots of assets that can be related," Comrie said. He said helping units with related interests work together could result in more holistic proposals as opposed to piecemeal requests.

Included in the federal government's nearly $800 billion stimulus package, signed into law by President Barack Obama last month, is approximately $21.5 billion in federal funds for science and research, as well as the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, of which Arizona's share is $800 million to be distributed at the state's discretion.

To help educate the UA community on accessing some of those funds, the VPR office has created a Stimulus Information Web page that provides a link to a list of federal agencies with funds available and that answers frequently asked questions about the economic stimulus package and how the UA can go after funding at the state and federal levels.

A memo sent to the campus community last week outlines three categories, or "buckets," of funds that could be available to projects at the UA. 

In the first bucket are conventional research funds, distributed through existing programs in conventional granting agencies, for projects such as standard faculty research endeavors. Faculty members are encouraged to actively pursue those funds as usual, bearing in mind that the federal stimulus package will allow certain agencies to award more grants than normal, Comrie said.

Bucket No. 2 covers more unconventional research funds, as new programs and sources of funding emerge as a result of the stimulus plan. That bucket might pertain to research proposals with special needs beyond the University's existing facilities or resources. Bucket No. 3 includes specific research infrastructure and equipment projects, such as campus construction or renovation.

It will be the more unique second and third buckets that require the most campuswide coordination, Comrie said.

"There are going to be calls for research grants that our researchers are used to dealing with all the time, basically standard procedure, but there's more money in them now," Comrie said. "But the stimulus has all these other kinds of monies in it as well, and the question was: What is the most effective way to make sure, A., we can identify what those are and, B., be really smart about going after this so we don't miss an opportunity."

The office is asking the campus community to submit one-page pre-proposals regarding potential projects that fall into the latter two categories, Comrie said.

In those pre- proposals, authors are asked to identify the name and Web site of the agency from which they intend to seek funding, the amount of funding being requested, a working title for the final proposal, a brief project description, a description of how the project fits with UA initiatives already in place and how it coordinates with other areas of campus, and specific references to space, facilities or information technology infrastructure necessary to the project.

Pre-proposals will be reviewed by the Stimulus Working Group, a team of people from the research, facilities, and federal and state relations arenas, created by Provost Meredith Hay. The team meets weekly to share information and updates and work with campus parties relevant to each pre-proposal to coordinate funding application efforts across campus. The Provost Advisory Council for Strategic Advancement, a group of leading UA researchers, also will weigh in on research-related proposals in buckets two and three to help evaluate and prioritize them.

The UA has suffered an approximate $76 million cut in state funding this year, making efforts to secure outside funding especially critical.

"This is huge," Comrie said. "It's a stimulus package and the whole notion is to stimulate the economy. One way you can create jobs is to invest in various kinds of research and infrastructure at a university because of our role in helping fuel local economies and state economies."

This Friday will mark the first in a series of rolling deadlines for one-page pre-proposals. Other deadlines will be determined as calls for proposals are announced by various agencies, Comrie said. The one-pagers can be submitted via e-mail to Nancy Preble, assistant to the vice president for research, at npreble@email.arizona.edu. More Information is available on the VPR Web site. 

The VPR office also will hold information sessions. The first will take place Friday at 12 p.m. in Arizona Health Sciences Center, Room 5403. It will be a video conference with the UA's College of Medicine-Phoenix. To attend, R.S.V.P. to

npreble@email.arizona.edu. The first 60 online viewers can watch the session via live Webcast and it will remain available online for future viewings. 

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