SRA International - eConnections

SRA International eConnections
November 2010 Issue

Table of Contents

Educational Meetings & Events

o NSF Cost Sharing Policy Webinar on December 7th
o Call for Presentations for the 2011 Annual Meeting in Montreal, October 22-26
o Conference on "The Basics of Research Administration" Coming to Charleston, SC January 24-25
o Western/Midwest Section Meeting to be Held in Long Beach, CA May 14-18
o SRA 2010 Annual Meeting Live Webinar Recordings Now Available

SRA Section News

o Midwest Section News
               o Midwest Section Awards Call for Nominations
               o Midwest and Southern Section Members - Vote for your 2012 Meeting Location
               o Midwest Section Business Meeting Recap
o Northeast Section News
o Western Section News

SRA News and Announcements

o Check out Photos From the Highly Rated 2010 Annual Meeting
o 2010 SRA Symposium Winners Announced
o SRA Staff Change Announcement
o Are You Outdated? Update your Member Profile Today

The Career Center

o Open Positions Listed on SRA's Career Center

News in the Field of Research Administration

o John (Terry) Manns Retires
o U.S. Scientists Commit Most Research Fraud: Study
o Mining for Trial Participants
o Doctors and Drug Companies: Still Cozy after All These Years
o Examining Core Elements of International Research Collaborations
o Canada Urged to Tackle Research Misconduct
o Auditing Federal Grants - Duke Looks to Help Faculty Comply With Federal Research Grant Rules
o eSRS - FPDS Real Time Interface
o NOAA Taps Riverside for Research
o PSU, OHSU To Form Alliance For Research, Teaching And Administration
o A Conversation With The New NSF Director
o Applications Invited for New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease
o Huron's Acquisition Targets Research
o 2010 Life Sciences Salary Survey

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http://www.effortadministrator.com

NSF Cost Sharing Policy Webinar on December 7th

The SRA National Science Foundation Webinar Series continues on Tuesday, December 7, with National Science Foundation Cost Sharing Policy. NSF representatives will explain significant changes which have been implemented with the newest version of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 11-1), and will go into effect for proposals submitted or due on or after January 18, 2011. Webinar attendees receive 1.5 hours educational credit.

Call for Presentations for the 2011 Annual Meeting in Montreal, October 22-26

2011 Society of Research Administrators International Annual Meeting
Portal to Research: Navigating International Waters
Montreal, Canada - Fairmont, The Queen Elizabeth
October 22-26

Share your experience and knowledge by speaking at the 2011 SRA Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada, October 22-26. Speaking proposals are being accepted for 75-minute concurrent sessions, and half-day and full-day workshops, for the following tracks. International presenters and groups representing collaborations between and among U.S. and international partners are encouraged to submit:

Financial Management
Global Research
Management & Operations
Professional Development
SRA Executive Institute
Research Ethics
Research Law
Sponsors & Agencies

Click here for track descriptions.

To meet the needs of members from the various fields and components in research administration, we are asking presenters to indicate which thread component identifies with their topic. We are increasingly looking for topics/dimensions with an international component. Click here for a list of thread descriptions.

Prior to submitting an abstract, please review the submission instructions and required fields. Doing so will help you collect the required information prior to beginning the submission process. Items denoted by an asterisk (*) are required.

To submit an abstract, please go to:
http://precis.preciscentral.com/User/UserLogin.asp?EventID=eed5af6a

To review submission instructions, please go to:
http://www.srainternational.org/sra03/template/tntbAM11.cfm?id=3919

Once you connect to the abstract submission page, you will be prompted to register. Please register as a new user by noting your email address and creating a password. This system is not connected to SRA's database, so you may enter any 6-16 character password of your choosing. (If you submitted a proposal for the 2008 or 2010 Annual Meeting, you might find that a password has already been selected for you.)

To submit a proposal, click on "Enter New Submission" under the Manage Submissions heading.

Submit your session ideas through Friday, December 17 or forward this to someone you'd like to see present.

For assistance, please contact SRA's Education Coordinator, Nora Potter at 703-741-0140, ext. 221, or npotter@srainternational.org

Conference on "The Basics of Research Administration" Coming to Charleston, SC January 24-25

January 24-25
Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC

Just getting started in Research Administration? Research administration has many facets that sometimes are confusing. The purpose of this program is to provide participants with a broad overview of the various pieces involved in research administration, from A-Z. The two-day intensive conference will discuss all aspects of research administration with a special dual focus on pre and post award activities.

Click here for a preliminary agenda.

After completing this program, participants will be able to:

Describe the differences among various research administration positions;
Describe the responsibilities for various research administration positions;
Understand the research administration process from beginning to end;
Identify and learn the purpose of the governing federal regulations;
Distinguish between allowable and unallowable costs;
Distinguish between direct and F&A (indirect) costs;
Learn how to assist an investigator in finding funding sources;
Describe the various components of a proposal budget;
Describe the difference type of award instruments;
Understand procurement, financial records and property management;
Describe the closeout process;
Identify the major compliance issues.

For more information about the conference program, hotel information and registration, visit the conference Web site or www.srainternational.org

We hope to see you in Charleston!

Western/Midwest Section Meeting to be Held in Long Beach, CA May 14-18

The Western/Midwest Section meeting to be held in Long Beach, CA May 14 -18, 2011 is really coming together. Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to volunteer on the program committee, it really does "take a village" to plan a meeting!

Thank you to everyone who submitted proposals; the response has been fantastic and we anticipate a draft program and meeting agenda to be available before the holidays. In addition to offering three certificates (Financial Administration, Grantsmanship, and The Practice of Research Administration) in their entirety, we expect that at least 10 workshops, 40 concurrent sessions and a leadership practicum will be offered. Surely, there will be something for everyone at the meeting.

In addition to a wonderful program, the Long Beach area is filled with countless things to do and see. The Westin Long Beach, set along Ocean Boulevard, is surrounded by palm trees and is just a short (5 min) walk from the Pacific Ocean. It's a perfect place to lace up your sneakers, get a good walk or run in or just sit back and enjoy the sounds of the Pacific.

For more information about the meeting, be sure to visit the website at http://www.srainternational.org/sra03/template/tntbWsa11.cfm?id=3643 and keep in mind you can reserve your sleeping room now. They're a great deal at $144 per night!

Finally, congratulations to our first place winner, Tricia Callahan, Miami University Ohio and honorable mention to Julie Decker, Saginaw Valley State University for submitting the theme for our meeting. "From the Heartland to the Western Seaboard: Diving into Research Administration" encompasses the spirit of the two sections coming together in California to offer a comprehensive program that covers the many facets of research administration.
We look forward to seeing you in Long Beach!

Regards,

Jennie Amison
President, Western Section
San Diego State University Research Foundation

Dara Little
President, Midwest Section
Northern Illinois University

SRA 2010 Annual Meeting Live Webinar Recordings Now Available

Missed SRA's Annual Meeting? Catch a glimpse of the sessions offered. Recordings of the following three live sessions presented in Chicago are now available:

What Goes on During Grant and Contract Negotiations
Speakers: Marcia Landen, Director, Grant Services Bloomington, Indiana University
Mike McCallister, PhD, Assistant Director, Research Ethics, Education and Policy, Indiana University

Ethical Issues in International Human Research Protections
Speaker: Daniel Vasgird, Director, Office of Research Compliance, West Virginia University

Revising and Resubmitting Unsuccessful Proposals
Speakers: Marjorie Piechowski, PhD, Director of Research Support, and Michelle Schoenecker, Senior Technical Grant Writer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

SRA Section News

o Midwest Section News
               o Midwest Section Awards Call for Nominations
               o Midwest and Southern Section Members - Vote for your 2012 Meeting Location
               o Midwest Section Business Meeting Recap
o Northeast Section News
o Western Section News

Midwest Section News

Midwest Section Awards Call for Nominations

Dick Canaday Travel Award
Dick Canaday, a former president of Midwest Section of the Society of Research Administrators (SRA) International, was one of the Midwest's best-loved leaders. Dick died of cancer in June of 1996. To honor his memory, SRA's Midwest Section offers this award each year to an individual who would like to participate in an SRA section or annual meeting, but is financially unable to do so.

The goal of the Dick Canaday Travel Award is to encourage attendance at the Midwest Section Meeting by research administrators who do not have institutional resources to pay the full cost of attending. This award will reimburse your hotel sleeping room cost up to a maximum of $500. One award will be given for an individual to attend the Midwest Section meeting held in
Spring 2011.

Midwest SRA New Member Award
This award has been established to recognize new research administrators who have contributed positively to SRA's Midwest Section. The Award will be presented annually at the Spring meeting of the Midwest Section.

Founders Award
The award has been established to recognize members of SRA's Midwest Section whose services have benefited the Section. The Award will be presented annually at the Spring meeting of the Midwest Section.

For more additional information, including the criteria for each award, please go to the
SRA International website at: http://www.srainternational.org/sra03/uploadedFiles/MWSectionAwardsb.pdf

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2011

Submit materials (email, mail or fax) to:

Domenica G. Pappas, CRA
Illinois Institute of Technology
Office of Sponsored Research & Programs
3300 S. Federal Street, MB 301H
Chicago, IL 60616-3793
Fax: 312-567-6980
pappas@iit.edu

Midwest and Southern Section Members - Vote Today for your 2012 Meeting Location

The Midwest and Southern Section will come together for a joint meeting in 2012. The leadership each nominated several cities in their section and you have until Wednesday, December 1 to cast your vote for …

Cleveland, OH
Cincinnati, OH
San Antonio, TX
Madison, WI
Kansas City, MO
Indianapolis, IN

All Midwest and Southern Section members are invited to vote for the 2012 Midwest/Southern Section Meeting location! Vote online at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VNNKXD6

Midwest Section Business Meeting Recap

It was great to see so many of you at our Section business meeting in Chicago last month. We had a very productive (and entertaining) business meeting and if you were unable to make it, here's a brief recap.

Our next Section meeting, in partnership with the Western Section will be held in Long Beach, CA May 14-18, 2011. Discussions are also underway to begin planning for the 2012 meeting and while destination still unknown, we're working to be bring the meeting home to the Midwest. President-elect Vonnetta Byington is leading this effort and working with our colleagues in the Southern section to develop meeting plans.

A few business matters were also discussed that include revising our by-laws to clarify the President-elects involvement in planning meetings and use of the Dick Canady Travel Award. The travel award will be available to help defray up to $500 of accommodation costs at the Long Beach meeting. Please be sure to read the call for nominations put forth by Domenica Pappas, Midwest Awards Chair in this edition of eConnections to learn how to pursue this award and to nominate your fellow SRA colleagues for either the Newcomers or Founders award.

Regards,

Dara C. Little, CRA
President, Midwest Section
Assistant Director
Northern Illinois University

Northeast Section News

The Northeast and the South will meet March 27-30, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA). Reserve your room today at the beautiful Royal Sonesta Hotel. Photos from the August site visit completed by the Presidents and President-elects of both sections can be seen by clicking here.

We are offering 3 complete certificate programs at this meeting:

Leadership
Research Law
Introduction to Research Administration and Management

To see the full descriptions of these certificate programs, visit: http://www.srainternational.org/sra03/template/tntbcp.cfm?id=864

Have FY10 money that can still be spent - why not register early?!A record number of workshop and session proposals have been submitted and we hope to have a draft program set in time to open registration for the meeting in early-mid December 2010. Information about how to apply for a Travel Award Scholarship will be posted at that time as well. Questions? Contact: schalled@mskcc.org. Don't forget you can also follow the meeting updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SRA2011NOLA

NE in Chicago
The NE had a blast in the Windy City! From the pre-conference workshops to the Newcomers and Opening Receptions through to the very last concurrent session, the SRA 2010 annual meeting was educational, invigorating and exciting. The Northeast Section held a very productive and well-attended business meeting. Thanks to Mary Warbasse and MiChelle Pereira Lopes for stepping in as substitute recording secretaries during the meeting. Also discussed were revisions to our current By-laws. Any proposed changes will be sent to the NE membership for consideration about one month before the NOLA meeting.
The NE attendees also voted in favor of pairing with the Western Section in Spring 2012. Site selection discussions are ongoing - east or west? If you have a great (i.e., easy to travel to and reasonably priced) site suggestion, send Stephanie Endy an email at: STEPHANIE.ENDY@lehman.cuny.edu

Future Aspirations
Ever thought of running for office? You too can be an SRA leader! We will be looking for candidates for President-elect and Treasurer - term starting after the 2011 Section meeting in NOLA. Contact Kate McCormick, Past President and Nominating Committee chair at kmccormick@hms.harvard.edu for more information.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation…

Best,
Debbie
Debra Schaller-Demers, MSOM
President, Northeast Section
schalled@mskcc.org

Western Section News

Plans for the Joint Western/Midwest Section meeting are well underway! For more information, please see the related article in this issue of eConnections from Dara Little, President, Midwest section. We've got a great program forming, with educational opportunities for every level of research administrator. If you are interesting in volunteering in any way with the meeting, please contact me (jamison@foundation.sdsu.edu) or Dara (dlittle@niu.edu). Stay tuned for more information soon!

Chapter News:
The Northern California chapter bylaws have been reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors. Don Campbell, J. David Gladstone Institute, is the President of the Northern California chapter. If you are interested in activities related to the chapter, or want to discuss future events, please contact Don at dcampbell@gladstone.ucsf.edu.

The Southern California chapter is in the process of being reactivated! Draft bylaws are being updated for Board review and approval. Once this is done, a steering committee of interested participants will be formed. This group will also plan the first meeting of the Chapter. During this meeting, officers are nominated and elections held.

If you are interested in participating in the reactivation of this chapter, please contact Richard Brandt, Vaccine Research Institute of San Diego, at rbrandt@vrisd.org, Kathy Broker, March of Dimes, at kbroher@marchofdimes.com, or me (jamison@foundation.sdsu.edu).

Jennie Amison,
President, Western Section

SRA News and Announcements

o Check out Photos From the Highly Rated 2010 Annual Meeting
o 2010 SRA Symposium Winners Announced
o SRA Staff Change Announcement
o Are You Outdated? Update your Member Profile Today

Check out Photos from the Highly Rated 2010 Annual Meeting

SRA International's Annual Meeting was held October 16-20, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. With some Chicago "flair," we captured the very essence of our theme, Flawless Execution in a New Era of Innovation. The meeting opened up with an exciting Opening Reception at "Easy Eddy's."

In a post conference survey, 96 percent of attendees who responded said they would recommend attending the SRA International Annual Meeting to a fellow research administrator. Nearly 94 percent of respondents also indicated that the meeting fulfilled their goals and objective for attending the meeting.

The Annual Meeting hosted over 100 concurrent sessions and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Mark Stephen Wrighton, Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis.

Following are some photographs highlighting what you missed if you did not attend the meeting this year. We hope to see you in Montreal, October 22-26 at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth!

2010 SRA Symposium Winners Announced

SRA is excited to announce the 2010 Symposium Winners! Thanks goes out to all authors for sharing their knowledge of research administration, and helping to advance the profession. All awardees will be recognized at the 2011 SRA Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada.

Best Paper of the Year (Tie)
Simon P. Philbin, PhD, MBA, Programme Director
Institute of Shock Physics & Visiting Fellow, Imperial College Business School
Imperial College London

Debra S. Schaller-Demers, MSOM, Director, Research Outreach and Compliance
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Best International Poster of the Year
Anthony Ganas, MSc, MBA, PhD, Research Investigator
George Pierrakos, PhD, Assistant Professor
Sotiris Soulis, PhD, Professor
Technological Educational Institute of Athens
Michael Graveney, MB, BS, PhD, NHS Warwickshire, UK

Best North American Poster of the Year
Jim Hanlon, BA, CHRP, Manager HR & Administration,
TRIUMF (Canada's national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics research)

SRA Staff Change Announcement

As of Monday, November 1, 2010, Dr. Elliott Kulakowski of the Dark Horse Group and a past President of SRA began serving in the capacity of interim Executive Director of SRA International.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact President, Jim Hanlon, at jimh@triumf.caor Past President, Pam Miller, at plfmiller@berkeley.edu.

Are You Outdated? Update your Member Profile Today

Well not you, but your membership record. Help SRA keep you in-the-know by ensuring that your member profile is up-to-date:

Go to the SRA homepage at www.srainternational.org
Click on "Members Only" at the top,
On the left hand side of the page, Click "Login"

If you need any assistance, SRA's membership department will be glad to help. Contact us at membership@srainternational.org or direct at 703-741-0178.

The Career Center

o Open Positions Listed on SRA's Career Center

Open Positions Listed on SRA's Career Center

http://www.marshfieldclinic.jobs/

Professional opportunities abound at SRA International's online Career Center. For additional information on any of the following opportunities, visit the Career Center.

News in the Field of Research Administration

o John (Terry) Manns Retires
o U.S. Scientists Commit Most Research Fraud: Study
o Mining for Trial Participants
o Doctors and Drug Companies: Still Cozy after All These Years
o Examining Core Elements of International Research Collaborations
o Canada Urged to Tackle Research Misconduct
o Auditing Federal Grants - Duke Looks to Help Faculty Comply With Federal Research Grant Rules
o eSRS - FPDS Real Time Interface
o NOAA Taps Riverside for Research
o PSU, OHSU To Form Alliance For Research, Teaching And Administration
o A Conversation With The New NSF Director
o Applications Invited for New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease
o Huron's Acquisition Targets Research
o 2010 Life Sciences Salary Survey

John (Terry) Manns Retires

Terry Manns2.JPG John (Terry) Manns exemplifies the very best traits of a research administrator. Terry is not one to seek the limelight, but if there is hard work to be done or a difficult problem to solve, you can be that Terry will be right in the middle of the action. An active member of SRA, Terry has served in many leadership roles over the years, including being elected as Society Secretary for several terms.

Terry is a gentleman and a scholar. He is well read, well traveled, and well… everything he does he does with wit and wisdom and humility. He even almost managed to retire without any fanfare. I am glad that this did not happen, and that we in SRA International have the opportunity to express our thanks to Terry for all that he has done for SRA and all that he has done for our profession of research administration over the years.

I know that he will be greatly missed by California State University, Sacramento, but happily Terry will continue as chair of the bylaws committee of SRA. I know that we can count on Terry to help us get our new international section off the ground and headed in the right direction.

Thank you, Terry. You mean a great deal to all of us, and we wish you lots of relaxation and fun times during your retirement.

Sincerely,
Pam Miller, Past President
Society of Research Administrators International

Jim Hanlon, President
Society of Research Administrators International

U.S. Scientists Commit Most Research Fraud: Study
In total, faked, erroneous data led to retractions of nearly 800 papers over past decade

A new study finds that nearly 800 research papers were retracted by medical journals for serious errors or faked data over the past decade, many of them authored by U.S. researchers.
In fact, U.S. scientists were responsible for 169 of the papers retracted for seemingly inadvertent yet serious errors, as well as for 84 of the papers retracted for outright fraud, more than any other country.

Mining for Trial Participants

Fifteen academic medical centers, research institutes, and major pharmaceutical companies are collaborating to enhance the speed and quality of clinical trials by harnessing patient data emerging from the coming widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs).
The goal of the Partnership to Advance Clinical Electronic Research (PACER), announced in June, is to allow researchers to mine medical records and other clinical databases created by physicians and hospitals in New York State while giving drug manufacturers and contract research organizations the ability to identify and recruit qualified patients for clinical studies.

Doctors and Drug Companies: Still Cozy after All These Years

The relationships between doctors and drug companies are controversial and have long been scrutinized by researchers, ethicists, professional bodies, and legislators. In recent years, growing concerns about these ties, and allegations of some corrupt practices, have engendered a large amount of coverage in the media and professional journals.

In my experience, the main concerns about close ties between companies and doctors are that 1) they lead to inappropriate prescribing that can harm patients; 2) they create divided loyalties for doctors between the health system, their patients, and manufacturing companies, which is a conflict of commitment as well as a conflict of interest; 3) they lead to use of unnecessary and expensive medications with consequent costs falling on health care systems and patients; 4) they may lead to medicalisation of human variation, i.e., "disease-mongering"; and 5) they diminish the professional standing of doctors in the eyes of the public and governments, which leads to a reduced ability to advocate for the health of patients, for the public, and on behalf of the profession.

Examining Core Elements of International Research Collaborations
A National Academies Workshop

By Bob Killoren, John M. Carfora, and James Casey
The I-Group - a formal Working Group on International Research Collaborations convened by the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) at the National Academy of Sciences sponsored a workshop on international research collaborations at the National Academies on July 26-27, 2010. The purpose of the workshop was to convene subject matter experts from universities, industry, government, and professional organizations in the USA and other nations who represent core infrastructure specializations supporting international research collaborations. The workshop was very successful at meeting this goal. It brought together experts and invited participants from all over the world representing academia, the private sector, U.S. and other Governments, and a number of professional organizations around meaningful discussions and solutions.

In brief, the workshop opened around the theme of Creating an Environment for Productive Collaboration. It explored how the role of international collaborations in advancing knowledge and offering economic opportunities worldwide is growing, thanks to factors such as access to the Internet, globalization, and greater mobility of information, ideas, and people. Though international research collaborations also are growing (as measured, for example, by multinational co-authorship on publications and shared funding for international research projects), bottlenecks and frictions persist that can pose impediments to meaningful and successful international collaborations. The workshop's first plenary session broadly looked at trends and issues that pertain to fostering productive international collaboration from the point of view of governments, universities, and industry.

Recognizing that quite often cross-cultural nuances and culture-centric perspectives - grounded in one's experience or merely assumed - often cloud conversations between organizations from different countries when they are negotiating the shared negotiation of meaningful international research agreements, the second session presented practical ideas and concepts from a number of experts on cross-cultural communications, understanding, and collaborations.
The workshop's ethics panel explored issues related to safeguarding privacy, ensuring security, and maintaining confidentiality in international collaborations. The focus was on bioethical issues related to human research participants as well as on other activities with bioethical implications, from both a domestic U.S. and a global perspective.

The research integrity panel continued the discussion around professional ethics by focusing on standards and practices that promote responsible data collection and appropriate authorship attributions. This panel explored issues related to current best practices for responsible conduct of research training for data integrity and authorship, as well as considering the impact that different international Ph.D. educational standards can have on data integrity. The panel concluded with a discussion by an international team who described their experiences in negotiating authorship agreements and in building capacity to assure data integrity.

Risk management is a continuous process designed to proactively identify and mitigate risks to help promote the achievement of the organization's objectives, strategy, and mission. Risk management also drives accountability and the integrity of the organization's work, helping ensure individuals within the organization see it as their individual responsibility to reduce risk as part of their daily jobs. The experts on this panel explored specific examples relating to risk management in the international setting.

Intellectual Property (IP) is always a central issue in any collaborative research, but is especially challenging in international collaborations. What is the balance between the facilitation of research and the protection of IP? How do international laws affect negotiations? The members of this IP track discussed and outlined the major issues, challenges, and paths to success affecting IP on the international level, including such topics as background intellectual property, the connection between IP and export control, the management of IP at the university, industry, and governmental levels, and emerging issues for the coming years (such as managing IP given the increasing transportation of large data sets and research across national borders). The IP team paid particular attention to practices and models of IP used in individual countries concerning inclusion of IP as project deliverables.

Export control regulation presents special challenges when working with international collaborators and when conducting research overseas. Researchers who are used to open academic environments are often surprised to learn that certain areas of collaboration, especially in science and engineering, may be more difficult with certain international partners. In addition, trade embargoes and sanctions, reflecting foreign policy concerns of different nations, can affect a researcher's ability to travel to certain countries and transport certain research equipment. The Export control panel discussed the various issues raised by these regulations, their effect on international research collaborations, and compliance strategies used by various institutions to meet these challenges.

Conducting research can involve complex legal issues with foreign partners and can take a wide variety of forms. Sometimes collaboration involves conducting research in the U.S. with foreign partners; other times it may involve field research abroad, setting up limited business operations or even establishment of a new campus overseas. A panel of experts discussed the legal issues related to these various scenarios. The speakers looked at government required registrations, establishing memoranda of understanding with foreign governments, and obtaining governmental approvals. It also covered legal agreements and documents used to facilitate particular types of business activities, such as payment of taxes, real estate issues, and employment requirements. This panel also covered the various methods used by institutions to incorporate legal review into ongoing operations, especially with remote sites. Finally, this panel discussed the research funding opportunities and challenges presented by the European Union's 7th Framework Programme.

Over the coming year, I-Group will be quite busy preparing publications, developing web-based resources on international research collaborations, and convening additional workshops and conferences. We will keep you updated, but in the meantime you can explore the July workshop's initial report on proceedings at: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/guirr/PGA_058064

Canada Urged to Tackle Research Misconduct
More education, advice and transparency needed to improve integrity.

A panel chaired by Paul Davenport has called for a new organisation to help prevent research misconduct in Canada.University of Western Ontario

As cases of questionable conduct among scientists stack up around the globe, a report commissioned by the Canadian government calls for a rethink of the country's research system to boost honesty and curb misconduct.

The recommendations, if implemented, would relax privacy laws that hamper the identification of individuals and institutions found guilty of research misconduct, and create an independent council to promote best practices and prevent research misconduct.

Auditing Federal Grants - Duke Looks to Help Faculty Comply With Federal Research Grant Rules

For several years, Jim Siedow has fielded complaints from faculty members about an onerous increase in the amount of paperwork involved in running research funded by federal grants.

As a researcher and vice provost, Siedow is sympathetic, but the concerns are overridden by a basic reality: Any day now, auditors from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will walk through Duke University's doors to review the research administration books, and the numbers need to add up and comply with federal rules.

eSRS - FPDS Real Time Interface

On June 1, 2007 the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) implemented a real time contract retrieval interface with the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The interface permits contractors to enter their contract number into eSRS and have the data retrieved from FPDS and immediately made available for reporting in the eSRS.

http://www.esrs.gov/#top

This is the OFFICIAL Site for the new electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS). The new eSRS has launched, promising to create higher visibility and introduce a more transparency into the process of gathering information on Federal subcontracting accomplishments.

As part of the President's Management Agenda for Electronic Government, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE), and a number of Agency partners collaborated to develop the next generation of tools to collect subcontracting accomplishments. This government-wide tool is known as the eSRS. This Internet-based tool will streamline the process of reporting on subcontracting plans and provide agencies with access to analytical data on subcontracting performance. Specifically, the eSRS eliminates the need for paper submissions and processing of the SF 294's, Individual Subcontracting Reports, and SF 295's, Summary Subcontracting Reports, and replaces the paper with an easy-to-use electronic process to collect the data. With the first generation of eSRS, contractors and their business associates will report data through their web browser of choice, visiting this site and logging on to report accomplishments using an easy data entry process. However, future plans for the full operational capability state already include the development of a back-office interface for those businesses collecting accomplishments electronically.

Ultimately, with the eSRS launch the Government will be making big strides in providing an easier process for Federal contractors and their business associates to report subcontracting activity.

NOAA Taps Riverside for Research

$550 million contract related to climate adaption, mitigation

Fort Collins-based science and engineering company has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with future research.
Riverside Technology Inc., an international science, engineering and IT firm headquartered in Fort Collins, has been selected as one of three task order contract companies awarded a $550 million contract to provide scientific and technical support services for NOAA.
The contract covers five years, and relates to a variety of issues including climate adaptation and mitigation, a weather-ready nation, healthy oceans and resilient coastal communities and ecosystems.

PSU, OHSU To Form Alliance For Research, Teaching And Administration

Plans for a strategic alliance between Portland State University and Oregon Health and Science University got a formal airing Tuesday. The idea is for the two big Portland schools to collaborate on research, teaching, and administration, but not to merge.

PSU president Wim Wievel is a veteran of a difficult merger at the University of Illinois. He says PSU and OHSU are intentionally doing something different.

A Conversation With The New NSF Director

Subra Suresh, former dean of engineering at MIT, was sworn in last month as director of the National Science Foundation, which doles out billions of dollars for basic research each year. Suresh talks about his priorities and how the NSF's budget is likely to fare with the new Congress.

Read or listen by clicking here: http://www.npr.org/2010/11/12/131274167/a-conversation-with-the-new-nsf-director

Applications Invited for New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease

A partnership program of the American Foundation for Aging Research ( http://www.afar.org/ ) with funding from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation and the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation, the New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease program supports important research in areas in which more scientific investigation is needed to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease. The program also encourages junior investigators in the United States and Israel to pursue research and academic careers in the neurosciences and Alzheimer's disease in particular.

Huron's Acquisition Targets Research

Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group Inc. has acquired Click Commerce Inc., which sells Web portal software with a variety of applications to support academic medical centers and other research institutions. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The software from Beaverton, Ore.-based Click Commerce focuses on management of research administration and compliance.

2010 Life Sciences Salary Survey

Creative and resourceful folk, scientists are making the most of their careers despite dropping salaries and rising lab costs.

For the first time in The Scientist's Salary Survey 10-year history, there has been a dip in salaries over the last year as universities cut bonuses, enforce furloughs, drag out hiring freezes, and even ask faculty members to take one for the team by accepting salary cuts. And with the rising costs of living and operating a lab, it's not welcome news for anyone.

In 2006, husband-and-wife scientific duo Gia Voeltz and Brian DeDecker moved to Boulder, Colorado, from Boston, Massachusetts, to take up faculty positions as molecular biologists at the University of Colorado. Transitioning from postdoc salaries to two faculty incomes, "I thought we'd have a lot more expendable income," laughs Voeltz, a biologist at UC. Instead, daycare for two little ones, running upwards of $2,500 per month, and a mortgage for a home in downtown Boulder sucks up most of their collective income, leaving little to stash away for future expenses like college tuition for their kids. "There are plenty of people in the country feeling a lot more pain than us," DeDecker says, "but we're not putting away a nest egg, so that's kind of unsettling."

Read more: Life Sciences Salary Survey 2010 - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/57788/#ixzz15Sw6o700&lt;/p>