Request for Proposals: Kansas NSF EPSCoR First Awards

Kansas NSF EPSCoR has announced a request for proposals for First Awards.

Download and read the full RFP at http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/funding.html.

Kansas NSF EPSCoR (KNE) helps Kansas build its research capacity and competitiveness in science and technology. The First Award program helps early career faculty become competitive for funding from the research directorates at the National Science Foundation by: 1) encouraging early career faculty to submit proposals to the NSF (or other federal funding agency) as soon as possible after their first faculty appointment, and 2) by accelerating the pace of their research and the quality of their subsequent proposals.

Only projects with research in areas that are related to the current Kansas NSF EPSCoR initiatives of Climate or Energy Research (http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/ph6.html) or Atomic/Molecular/Optical Science (http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/rii_t2_2014.html) are eligible for First Awards. Other eligibility requirements apply so please read the RFP carefully.

Submission Deadlines:
Letter of Intent Due by 5:00 PM MONDAY, September 8, 2014.
Final Proposal Due by 5:00 PM MONDAY, October 27, 2014.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) application period is now open!

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) application period is now open! NSF is soliciting applications for the GRFP until the posted deadlines in late October and early November 2014. Since 1952, GRFP has provided Fellowships to individuals selected early in their graduate careers based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. Three years of support is provided by the program for graduate study in science or engineering and leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree. The NSF expects to award 2,000 Graduate Research Fellowships under this program solicitation pending availability of funds:

Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) PROGRAM SOLICITATION (NSF 14-590)
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14590/nsf14590.pdf

GRFP is also soliciting reviewers for the GRFP applications. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary scientists and engineers, and other professionals with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduate education expertise, are invited to serve as reviewers for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). This opportunity is described in a Dear Colleague Letter:

Dear Colleague Letter - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program - Invitation for Reviewers (NSF 14-107)
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14107/nsf14107.pdf

Ultrafast laser technology research in Kansas, Nebraska receives NSF EPSCoR Track 2 grant

How light interacts with matter is one of the grand challenges of atomic, molecular and optical research. A Kansas and Nebraska consortium led by university researchers has received a three-year, $6 million award to understand ultrafast molecular processes on the order of a millionth of a billionth second, or one femtosecond. The award is divided equally between the two states.

Research activities in the two states involve 30 people and are led by Anthony Starace, professor of physics at UN-L, and Itzik Ben-Itzhak, university distinguished professor of physics at Kansas State University.

Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Image courtesy of the Communications Department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

See more at:  http://news.ku.edu/2014/08/08/ultrafast-laser-technology-research-kansas-nebraska-receives-federal-grant

and: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=132269&org=NSF&from=news

Calling all Scientists and Engineers... Announcing The Vizzies!

From NSF: Do you love animating data, creating science apps, or taking macrophotographs? In the 2014 Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Popular Science, your handiwork can receive its due glory and win you cash prizes.

For more information visit http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/scivis/index.jsp.