Category Archives: News

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Humanities Teaching Labs

Pepper Stetler, Associate Director of the Humanities Center, brought to my attention a new initiative of the center called Humanities Teaching Labs. The program would require you to partner with a faculty from the humanities on a specific theme, and provides $2,500 in professional development funds and $5,000 in project expenses. Applications are due November 30. From the call for proposals:

The Miami University Humanities Center invites applications for a new program that integrates faculty research and teaching in innovative ways. Humanities Teaching Labs aim to bring together faculty from the humanities and related disciplines in student-engaged research projects organized around a central theme. Embracing the true sense of laboratory experimentation familiar to the sciences, Humanities Teaching Labs will promote skill-building, hands-on experimentation and outcomes communicable to the Miami community and beyond

 

Honors director finalist interviews

From Carolyn Haynes, Associate Provost:

As some of you may know, David Pennock, Director of the University Honors Program, will be retiring at the end of the calendar year. So, we are in the process of searching for a new honors director. The search committee has selected two finalists for interviews. If you are interested in attending the interviews for the following candidates, please let me know.

Zeb Baker
Tuesday, October 2 from 2:30 – 3:00 pm in 202 Roudebush

Ann Elizabeth Armstrong
Thursday, October 4 from 9:30 – 10:00 am in 104 Roudebush

Congrats to our Psi Chi Junior Scientist!

Second-year graduate student Shelby Ortiz has been awarded the APAGS/Psi Chi Junior Scientist Fellowship! Shelby is working with April Smith to examine the relationship between stress, executive functioning, and overeating in those with varying levels of interoception. Please join me in congratulating Shelby for this prestigious award.

Important deadlines upcoming

There are several annual deadlines upcoming of which you should all be aware. Please plan ahead if you are considering pursuit of any of the following, and let me know of your intent as soon as possible.

Student Technology Fee (October 12 to CAS): This should also have appeared in your MyMiami, and more information can be found here. If you plan to submit a proposal for equipment, software, etc. from this annual competition, please notify me asap and plan to have it ready by October 5 to be prepared for the CAS deadline.

CFR grant proposals (October 19 to OARS): The University Senate Committee on Faculty Research (CFR) offers several funding programs for summer research, GA support, publication/presentation subsidies, etc. This deadline is particularly for the faculty research grants. Although applications are submitted directly to OARS, please let me know if you plan to submit and I can help advise (especially if you are requesting GA support).

Leave requests (November 1 to CAS): Any faculty who are considering taking a research leave next year (2019-20 AY) should let me know. This includes both one-semester (ARA) and year-long (FIL) leaves, including those from junior faculty who get an “automatic” leave but still must apply. Please have your applications to me at least a week in advance so that I can provide feedback and then provide the required ranking of applications to CAS. By the way, if you are contemplating a leave, you might want to take a look at the Cattell Sabbatical Fund which is a national competition for support to psychology faculty during leaves.

 

New departmental honors coordinator

Amy Summerville will be taking over as the new departmental honors coordinator starting with the class of 2020. Interested but non-declared students should contact Amy, although currently-declared honors students are still being supervised by Heather Claypool. Please join me in thanking Amy for taking this on and to Heather for her years of excellent service in this role!

Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) competition

From Anne Schauer, for those that might be interested in seeking major funding for research equipment:

The National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) assists in the acquisition or development of major research instrumentation. Miami University may submit up to three MRI proposals (up to two that request between $100,000 and $1 million and one that requests between $1 million and $4 million) on which we are either the lead or a partner institution. To facilitate the selection of our submissions to NSF, we have set a deadline of Monday, October 15, 2018, to receive preliminary MRI proposals for internal review. You are required to provide a preliminary proposal (3-5 pages) regardless of whether you were selected as an institutional submission in previous years.

If you are interested please see me for details.

Astronaut visit Oct. 3

Once again, it’s time for the annual visit of a NASA astronaut to present the Astronaut Scholarship to two exceptional Miami students. From Zeb Baker, National Fellowships Committee:

A veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and the first African American to command a space flight, Fred Gregory will share his experiences as an astronaut and a leader at NASA. Join us for a FREE PUBLIC TALK about Gregory’s time with NASA, followed by a presentation of the Astronaut Scholarships to students Bob Krueger and Nathan Rayens. His talk will be held Wednesday, October 3, 7:30 – 8:30 in Hall Auditorium.

Congrats to Allen for his new NIH grant!

Join me in congratulating Allen McConnell, who recently learned of NIH funding to support work with colleagues at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital on a project “Human-animal interaction to promote recovery following pediatric brain injury.” Excellent news, Allen!

Help guide the NSF future funding priorities

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces the launch of the NSF 2026 Idea Machine, a prize competition to help set the U.S. agenda for fundamental research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and STEM education. Participants can earn cash prizes and receive public recognition by suggesting the pressing research questions that need to be answered in the coming decade, the next set of “Big Ideas” for future investment by NSF. It’s an opportunity for researchers, the public and other interested stakeholders to contribute to NSF’s mission to support basic research and enable new discoveries that drive the U.S. economy, enhance national security and advance knowledge to sustain the country’s global leadership in science and engineering.

Entries will be accepted through October 26, 2018. For more information, including entry instructions, eligibility, rules, and judging criteria, please visit the NSF 2026 Idea Machine website.