Grantopedia

A Tale of Two Servers

Winning research funding is hard work. Sometimes, there are additional hurdles, beyond the complexities of the science, that make the process even harder. The Cayuse mission is to eliminate those hurdles, where we can.

A case in point is this "little" notice that ends up having large impact on an increasingly large audience of researchers and research administrators in the US research community. It's technical and you probably don't need to know the details. In short, the Adobe forms conversion is likely to cause some real headaches in the printing process. (You need an NIH Listserv account to view this link.)

..the image generated for those applications will look different than any that come in S2S from the 2007 system - even for the same Funding Opportunity Announcement...

Cayuse engineers went to work on this, because we knew it would cause problems. The end result is that we are going to make an adjustment in Cayuse424 that will insulate our customers from this. I point this out in part to thank the Cayuse technical and support staff for knowing how to solve this before it's a problem for our customers. I also want to illustrate a small example of what customers have come to expect from us.

Ohio State University Takes Research Seriously

15 Ohio State University (OSU) faculty members were recognized by the AAAS as fellows this year, the most out of any other university in the country. These 15 bring OSU 's total number of AAAS fellows to 142.

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/2007%20aaas%20fellows.htm

Cayuse is proud to work with such dedicated and recognized scientists.

Where federal research funding goes

The folks at Research Crossroads have created a highly accessible and interesting view into the distribution of federal research funding from the NIH and the NSF. Take a look at their state-by-state breakdown of funding. You can also drill into detail about what research was awarded, to which institution, and to whom. A very useful and interesting portal into public research award data. From their press release:

“ResearchCrossroads connects academia, research foundations and the pharmaceutical industry in ways never before possible,” says Kyle Brown, Founder of ResearchCrossroads. “Often, scientists are conducting research that may be useful in other diseases, but there is little information sharing today. For example, many neurological disease foundations are struggling with how to deliver treatments effectively to the brain. ResearchCrossroads connects those scientists and organizations working on similar research, speeding discovery.”

Congrats to Bob Killoren on his NCURA Award

I've watched Bob work on FDP and NCURA matters for several years and have always been impressed by his integrity. More recently, he has become an influential supporter of Cayuse and I'm pleased to see him receive this well-deserved award. His lively and witty acceptance speech was an early-morning bonus for those of us who were there. On The Ohio State University Research Foundation page:

Robert Killoren, Associate Vice President for Research Administration, was honored by the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) with its most prestigious award. Bob received the Outstanding Achievement in Research Administration Award at the organization’s annual meeting on November 5 in Washington, D.C., in recognition for his work with the National Academies in promoting university-industry research collaborations and streamlining federal grants management processes.

Science Research and Thanksgiving

What do you get when you Google "Thanksgiving science research"? You find this:

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8341

UC Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons has made a science out of Thanksgiving. In the past decade, his research has shown that people who count their blessings -- not just on the fourth Thursday of November each year, but in daily gratitude journals -- exercise more regularly, complain of fewer illness symptoms and feel better about their lives overall.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Cayuse Customers on the Top 40

Congratulations to the Cayuse customers listed on The Scientist's list of the Best Places to Work in Academia (online subscription needed):

#19: University of Wisconsin, Madison
#25: The Ohio State University
#33: National Jewish Medical & Research Center

Why it's important to get everything right in proposal development

Competition is up for federal research grant funding, as everyone in the research field will tell you.  The authors of a report entitled Why Funding Cuts At The NIH Are So Painful have assembled important information on research funding from the NIH and its impact on the US research community.

In 2003, NIH spent $2.4 billion on competing R01 grants, its principal mechanism for supporting the investigator-initiated research projects that have been the primary source of progress in the biomedical sciences. By 2006, after three years of steady declines, NIH spent $2.1 billion on competing grants, a loss of 11.1 percent before factoring in the effects of inflation. With the increased cost of research grants, this funding shortfall translates into a sizeable decline in the number of awards for new or renewed grants (figures included in source).

Against this backdrop,

Medical schools, universities, teaching hospitals and other research organizations have embarked upon major, long-term programs of expansion of biomedical research, building new laboratories and renovating existing facilities.

Science research is intrinsically important to the US in many dimensions. That's why it's important to use every advantage you have to succeed in proposal development and submission.

Research Matters

I founded Cayuse over 15 years ago to help streamline the process of applying for federal research funds. Since our founding, our two main product lines, GrantSlam and Cayuse424, have helped thousands of researchers and hundreds of research administrators pursue and win federal research dollars.

Really, though, what comes next is more important. What happens when the proposals are funded? How does funding turn into science, and how does science improve the quality of life? This blog gives us a forum to talk about the results of research. While I'm especially interested in research from scientists at Cayuse customer sites, it's not my exclusive focus. I am interested in science anywhere that has a beneficial impact on the world.

Grantopedia also provides a place for dialog about what's working and what's not in the federal research ecosystem. The first incarnation of Grantopedia focused solely on the more technical aspects of the federal granting process, and we will still present topics on that theme as they are appropriate, but our vision for this blog, and for Cayuse, is larger than just the proposal process. It's about enabling researchers with the means to do important work.

I invite you to comment. This is a moderated blog, run by me and the Cayuse marketing team. I look forward to hearing from you.