supplemental funding

Supplemental Funding Pays

Did you know that supplemental funding awards are available to help cover unexpected costs that arise during the course of NSF-funded research? Supplements allow a Principal Investigator to accomplish the original scope of the parent award when unforeseen circumstances occur.  Read on to find out how a supplemental equipment award enabled Dr. Mechthild Pohlschröder to continue her research.

Dr Pohlschroder's graduate student in front of a microscope next to a computer with biofilm samples displayed on the screen
Dr. Pohlschröder’s graduate student Zuha Mutan using the new camera to examine biofilm samples.

As a professor and the undergraduate chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Pohlschröder’s lab investigates how archaea, specifically Haloferax volcanii, forms biofilms, a common phenomenon where microorganisms aggregate, allowing them to survive in harsh environments.

Earlier this year, when a neighboring lab moved to a new location on campus, the Pohlschröder lab lost access to shared resources, including a microscope camera used to capture high-quality images of cells and structures, an essential component of the research funded by NSF (NSF 1817518).  A supplemental award enabled the lab to purchase a Leica DFC9000 digital camera, enabling the Dr. Pohlschröder’s group to continue with their pioneering work on archaea.

The new camera will also benefit the lab’s outreach and educational activities, which have broader impacts in the surrounding community. Dr. Pohlschröder’s science education programs reach middle and high school students across the Philadelphia metro area, including in underserved schools in West Philadelphia. The lab develops microbiology experiments designed for schools with limited resources. Further strengthening its reach, the Pohlschröder lab hosts training workshops for science teachers from Philadelphia and other cities, so that good science can reach even more students. The new, state-of-the-art imaging technology will play a role in advancing all of these outreach activities.

If you currently have an award from MCB and are interested in learning more about supplemental funding, please contact a Program Director in MCB to discuss.

Summer School at NIST and DCL for collaboration with NIST
This is a logo montage that includes the NSF logo and the logo for CHRNS (the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering)

The Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) is holding a week-long course from July 22-26 at the Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) in Gaithersburg, MD. Registration for the class, titled, “CHRNS Summer School on Methods and Applications of Neutron Spectroscopy,” and other information about the course is available on line. 

To assist the research community in accessing NIST instrumentation for conducting fundamental research, NSF has created Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) 11-066. Titled “NSF-NIST Interaction in Basic and Applied Scientific Research in BIO, ENG & MPS,” the DCL provides supplemental funding to enable investigators holding active awards from NSF to conduct relevant portions of their work on-site at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Funding requests may include travel expenses and per diem as well as collaboration by principle investigators (PIs), co-PIs, post-doctoral scholars and both undergraduate and graduate students.

The DCL facilitates collaborative research and educational activities between NSF-funded investigators and science and engineering staff at NIST. In practical terms, this means that NIST provides not only access to its laboratories, but also instrument specialists. “This frees the biologist to focus on the research rather than on learning new technology,” notes Engin Serpersu, program director in the Molecular Biophysics cluster of MCB.

NIST’s half-dozen laboratories and user facilities included in the DCL align with MCB’s goal to support research that incorporates theories and concepts from physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering and computer science. For example, says Serpersu, “The opportunity to conduct research using neutron scattering technology is extremely useful for discerning the structural and dynamic properties of biological systems.”

Read the DCL for more information and contact your program director to discuss your request.

Supplemental Funding Opportunity: INTERN

Attention, Principle Investigators and graduate students! DCL 18-102 provides up to $55,000 per student in funding for up to six months to allow recipients to participate in research-based internships in STEM or STEM education research fields in non-academic settings.* The goal is to enable students to gain knowledge, skills, and experiences that prepare them for entry into non-academic careers. This opportunity is open to PIs who are supporting graduate students through any active NSF award. To be eligible, a graduate student must have completed at least one academic year in their graduate (master's or doctoral) program and be making satisfactory progress towards degree completion. For a description of the activities supported, visit the announcement page, then contact your program officer to discuss your proposal. *Principle investigators who currently hold an active award from MCB may also apply directly to MCB with a supplemental funding request.

Attention, Principal Investigators and graduate students! DCL 18-102 provides up to $55,000 per student in funding for up to six months to allow recipients to participate in research-based internships in STEM or STEM education research fields in non-academic settings.* The goal is to enable students to gain knowledge, skills, and experiences that prepare them for entry into non-academic careers.

This opportunity is open to PIs who are supporting graduate students through any active NSF award. To be eligible, a graduate student must have completed at least one academic year in their graduate (master’s or doctoral) program and be making satisfactory progress towards degree completion.

For a description of the activities supported, visit the announcement page, then contact your program officer to discuss your proposal.

*Principal investigators who currently hold an active award from MCB may also apply directly to MCB with a supplemental funding request.

Ray Bowman: Supplemental Funding Pays!

Bowman blog photoFeaturing Ray Bowman, Duquesne University, this post is the fourth of a series highlighting the experiences of Ph.D. students who have benefitted from supplemental funding awards that are intended to enhance student readiness to enter the workforce. The supplement that assisted Bowman is tied to MCB award #1553143, Dr. Allyson O’Donnell, principle investigator. Bowman is a student in Dr. O’Donnell’s lab.

What he did:
Bowman attended a course in quantitative fluorescence microscopy to develop his skills in microscopy, including techniques in FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer), FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching), three-dimensional imaging of cells and whole tissues, and super resolution microscopy. He also worked with software engineers from Nikon to develop a new platform for automated quantification of cell surface and intracellular fluorescence.

In his own words:
“While this grant did not change my career plans, it did provide me with a new skill set and an opportunity to network and establish contacts in the larger cell biology field. That will undoubtedly help me in attaining my career goals.”

MCB’s commitment to helping students transition from academia to the workforce is formalized via funding announcement NSF 16-067, which describes the opportunity. Although that announcement is now closed, MCB strongly encourages principle investigators to contact their NSF program directors to discuss.Orange Dot

Kyle McElroy: Supplemental Funding Pays!

Featuring Kyle McElroy, this post is the second in a series highlighting participants in a supplemental funding opportunity to enhance students’ readiness to enter the workforce.McElroy_allThis funding was originally announced in DCL NSF 16-067 (Improving Graduate Student Preparedness for Entering the Workforce, Opportunities for Supplemental Support) and is now included in the current solicitation NSF 17-589 (see page 5 of this link). More information about supplemental support on page 81 of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide.

Check in with your students to discover their interests, then call your MCB Program Officer to discuss your supplemental funding request…today!

— MCB staff members Alexis Patullo and David Barley contributed to this post

Supplemental Funding Pays!

Attention PIs! Supplemental funding for enhancing students’ readiness to enter the workforce is not only available – it’s been a big hit with participants, too. Read our blog highlights over the next several weeks to hear what they have to say about the positive (more…)

2016 Top 6: Our Most Popular Blog Posts of the Year

We greatly appreciate your continued support of the MCB Blog! In 2016, we were very pleased to see MORE visitors, an INCREASE in views per post and total blog views, and 104 NEW followers who read our blog weekly!

Meet the Editors who craft and edit MCB blog posts. Read our blog policies. Share Your Science with our readers. Tell us what you like to read most and provide feedback on how we can continue to improve. You can also contact us online or reach out to program staff from MCB at Your Meeting.

Here is a quick look at our top 6 most popular blog posts of 2016.

(1) IN HONOR OF DR. KAMAL SHUKLA

This grouping of photographs shows Dr. Kamal Shukla smiling with NSF and MCB staff during work events.

(2) EXPLORING NON-ACADEMIC SCIENCE CAREERS: ASSISTANT DEAN FOR DIVERSITY INITATIVES IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES IN PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

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(3) EXPLORING NON-ACADEMIC SCIENCE CAREERS: SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT

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(4) MEET THE SUMMER 2016 INTERNS AT MCB!

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(5) EXPLORING NON-ACADEMIC SCIENCE CAREERS: PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP

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(6) NSF FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

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EXPLORING NON-ACADEMIC SCIENCE CAREERS: SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Although university-driven research projects provide a rich academic research experience for PhD candidates, a variety of recent studies indicate that many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career options for current Ph.D. graduates will be outside academia. Recognizing the impact of these trends in employment opportunities  for Ph.D. holders, NSF has made improving graduate student preparedness a priority for FY 16-17.

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The graph above indicates that the percentage of doctoral candidates in the life sciences with a “definite commitment for employment or a postdoc position” as they approached graduation declined to the lowest point of the previous 20 years. Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. 2015. Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2014. Special Report NSF 16-300. Arlington, VA. Available at https://goo.gl/pb7hMA

Hosting a new supplementary funding opportunity is one way MCB supports this agency priority goal. The “Improving Graduate Student Preparedness for Entering the Workforce, Opportunities for Supplemental Support” (NSF 16-067) supplemental funding opportunity was announced in June 2015.

“There is very little formal training [for graduate students] in even recognizing the diverse career options available” to them, observes Dr. Linda Hyman, Division Director of MCB. “The bio-sciences community needs a change in training that hasn’t happened in many years.” The decision to provide this opportunity for supplemental funding is data-driven, adds Dr. Hyman, based on information in a published by the National Institutes of Health in 2012.

NSF 16-067 was intentionally written in broad terms to encourage junior scientists and senior students confronting the urgency of addressing “what’s next.” The supplement provides PIs with an avenue for encouraging their students to explore careers outside academia. The funding may be used to attend professional development courses, serve in an internship in the private sector, or build specialized skills that could help them be more competitive in the job market in arenas such as public policy, communications, industry, and technology transfer.

“This supplement helps PIs provide professional development opportunities for their students  in areas that may be outside their comfort zone,” says Dr. Hyman. “Our hope is that the community will use the supplement to expand awareness of and increase preparedness for the many career options available to new graduates.”

Principle Investigators who are current MCB awardees are encouraged to explore non-academic career development and NSF 16-067 with their students. Supplemental requests will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. Requests should be made no later than April 3, 2017 for FY 2017 consideration.