Save the Date: COE IRB Workshop
This spring the COE is planning to host a COE IRB Workshop February 2, 2021 from 11 am–12 pm. The workshop will include information specific to the College of Education.
AERA Fellows Committee Seeks Nominations for 2021 Class of Fellows: Deadline Extended to October 30
In recognition of the time demands facing nominators putting together strong Fellow submission materials, AERA is extending the nominations deadline from September 30 to October 30. AERA members are encouraged to submit nominations for education researchers who have made significant scientific or scholarly contributions to the field to be honored as an AERA Fellow.
The Call for Nominations includes the requirements for submitting a nomination and the information that the Fellows Committee seeks in reviewing nominations. Nominations should be submitted through the nomination form on the AERA website.
From the IES Director: On Learning and Loss in a Time of COVID
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is reviewing how to fund more high-quality research to identify and support ways students can learn when they are not able to attend school in person, including online and hybrid learning models. IES Director Mark Schneider discusses this topic in his September 28, 2020 blog, On Learning and Loss in a Time of COVID.
10 Things to Know About ED/IES SBIR
Excerpted from Seed Funding for the Next Generation of Education Technologies
Presented by SBIR Program Manager Dr. Edward Metz, September 3, 2020
#1 What is SBIR?
• The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is America’s Seed Fund operated by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (ED IES). Purpose: (1) Stimulate technology innovation to address critical national needs, and (2) Invest in and build the small business sector
#2 Overview of ED/IES SBIR
• Awards to for-profit firms for R&D and evaluation of commercially viable ed tech products
• ~$10M annual budget, awards made in phases:
° Phase I for $200K for 8-months for prototype R&D and pilot testing
° Phase II for $900K for 2-years for full-scale R&D and pilot testing
• Three key program elements: (1) Rapid R&D of cutting-edge solutions for education, (2) Research, and (3) Commercialization
• 2021 Timeline (anticipated): RFP release late 2020; proposals due early 2021; awards in Spring
#3 Awardees Usually Follow One of Two Tracks
• Track 1: To Industry Entrepreneurs
• Track 2: To Current or Former Academics: Awards to current or former academic researchers who start or partner with a small business to transfer research to practice
° Researchers often partner with technology developers.
° See this blog for examples.
#4 Provides a Wide Array of Technologies for Students, Teachers, & Administrators in Education and Special Education
• Some examples include: Games and simulations to personalize learning; Assessments (diagnostic, formative); Technologies to facilitate collaborative learning; Special Ed tools; Virtual and augmented reality delivered interventions
#5 A Research-Centric R&D Program
ED/IES SBIR is a “research-centric” funding program as follows:
• Every awardee has a well-qualified education researcher on the team.
• Projects have 2.5 years from start to finish, allowing the resources and time to do the research.
• All products are developed and iteratively refined with user-feedback, and tested through pilot studies in real-world implementations.
• All projects generate “Research Briefs” at the project’s end, and some publish findings.
• More research is needed after ED/IES SBIR projects. Several SBIR products are being evaluated for efficacy through IES Research Grants.
Read more →
Developing Teams for Collaborative Grant Proposals
On September 22, 2020, Hanover Research presented a webinar on Developing Teams for Collaborative Grant Proposals, discussing the differences between a traditional collaboration and an integrated research team.
In a customary collaboration, each member typically works on separate parts of the research, and then the parts are integrated. The sharing of ideas can be limited. In contrast, the integrated research team meets regularly to discuss project goals and plans. Team members share leadership responsibilities. The ideal integrated research team encourages unconventional approaches and facilitates networking among PIs from diverse fields and career levels to enhance innovation.
- For help preparing an integrated research team for a collaborative proposal, see NIH Collaboration Team Science Field Guide, including the Appendix for a Collaborative Agreement Template.
- View Hanover Research presentation slides.
- Watch the Hanover Research webinar on demand.
UF Faculty Insights Tool Helps Locate Potential Collaborators Across Campus
UF Faculty Insights is an online portal into the research portfolio of UF. This new collaboration tool is available to provide information on the research expertise of UF faculty. The tool is set up with two views: one for faculty, staff, and students and one for the public.
You can select a research topic, an individual scholar, a department, or a doctoral program. You can also “Browse UF Academic Units” to help you locate potential collaborators across campus. With proxy edit access, tool developers can work with departments on research summaries for faculty. Faculty can also edit their profile and add additional scholarly content.
Access the tool on the UF Institutional Planning and Research website:
https://ir.aa.ufl.edu/data-applications/faculty-research-exp/
Awarded Projects for September 2020
Congratulations to Alice Kaye Emery for her award from the Florida Department of Education; Lynda Hayes for her award from the Florida Department of Education; Maya Israel for her award from the National Science Foundation; Maya Israel for her subcontract award U.S. Department of Education/OESE:EIR Flow Through from the Technical Education Research Center; Justin Ortagus for his subcontract award Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Flow Through from Pennsylvania State University; Philip Poekert and Thomasenia Lott Adams for their subcontract award NSF Flow Through from the Technical Education Research Center; and Philip Poekert for his award from the Alachua County School Board.
For more details, see the Awarded Projects table. Read more →
Submitted Projects for September 2020
Best wishes to Pasha Antonenko, Kara Dawson, and Andreas Keil for their proposal to the National Science Foundation; Hannah Bayne, Lindsey Chapman, Gage Jeter, and Joni Splett for their proposal to UF Research; Julie Brown for her subcontract proposal NSF Flow Through from the University of North Carolina; Chris Curran and Mark Pacheco for their proposal to the National Science Foundation; Chris Curran for his proposal to UF Research; Hyunyi Jung for her proposal to the National Science Foundation; Wei Li for his subcontract proposal NSF Flow Through from the University of North Carolina; Erica McCray, Kakali Bhattacharya, Nicole Jones, Taryrn Brown, and Latoya Haynes-Thoby for their proposal to UF Research; Jennifer Park-Jadotte and Philip Poekert for their subcontract proposal Vinik Foundation Flow Through from the UF Foundation; Jennifer Park-Jadotte for her proposals to Episcopal Children’s Services; Jennifer Park-Jadotte for her proposal to the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida; Philip Poekert for his subcontract proposal Schmidt Futures Action Network Flow Through from the UF Foundation; Philip Poekert, Catherine Cavanaugh, and Pengfei Zhao for their proposal to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Paige Pullen and Philip Poekert for their proposal to the Florida Department of Education; Paige Pullen for her proposal to Monroe County; Matthew Schmidt for his subcontract proposal NIH Flow Through from Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center; Travis Smith, Lane Washington, and Jerri-Ann Danso for their proposal to UF Research; Wanli Xing and Kara Dawson for their subcontract proposal US Department of Education/OESE-EIR Flow Through from Texas Tech University; Wanli Xing for his proposal to the National Science Foundation; Wanli Xing and Elizabeth Washington for their proposal to the National Science Foundation; and Wanli Xing and Basim Gul for their proposal to UF Research.
For more details, see the Submitted Projects table. Read more →
OER Annual Report of Accomplishments for Fiscal Year 2019
The Office of Educational Research (OER) completed its annual report outlining data on externally funded projects and grant activities in the College of Education (COE). Faculty productivity and efforts toward securing external funding remain high and have surpassed fiscal year (FY) 2018 in (a) number of currently funded projects, (b) dollar amount of research funding by faculty member, (c) number of collaborative proposal submissions, (d) dollar amount of collaborative proposal submissions, (e) number of collaborative currently funded projects, (f) number of proposal submissions, and (g) dollar amount of proposal submissions. The following represents a summary of external funding activities for FY 2019.
Congratulations to COE Researchers
The College of Education (COE) received exceptional news from UF Research. The COE enjoyed a +12% ($3 million) increase in funded research expenditures from $24.6 million to $27.6 million over the past year. This is the largest increase of any of UF’s large or mid-size colleges. The COE also increased the funding received during the past year by +3%.
The COE was noted for having five principal investigators (PIs) who received funding awards of $1 million or greater during the past year: Julie Brown, Mary Brownell, Holly Lane, Phil Poekert, and Pat Snyder. Additionally, Phil Poekert was identified as UF’s #5 PI, having received $12.6 million in funding. This summer, COE faculty submitted 17 proposals/subcontract proposals to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) having a total value of nearly $18 million.
Overall, UF faculty have earned a record $900.7 million in research funding. A major reason for UF’s growth is its success at earning federal research grants, which increased 21% over last year to a record $639.2 million. Funding from the Department of Health and Human Services — UF’s largest sponsor — was up nearly 31% to $321.8 million. UF saw increased funding from most of the federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, up 60% to $61.3 million and the Department of Education, up 63% to $39.9 million. Funding from the National Science Foundation held steady at $62.9 million.
From the IES Director: The Value of Cost Analysis
Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Director Mark Schneider recently commented that among the IES Standards for Excellence in Education Research, SEER Principals, cost analysis arguably presents the greatest challenge to a field in which economists are few and far between and cost analysis training is rare.
IES had been increasing its emphasis on cost analysis for several years before making it a required component for most grants in 2020. The reason behind this requirement is simple: IES believes it is not sufficient to recommend an effective intervention to educators without also informing them about the resources required to implement the intervention.
IES recognizes its responsibility for providing technical assistance to support high-quality cost analysis. In his recent blog The Value of Cost Analysis, Dr. Schneider outlines some of the resources IES has funded to assist with this year’s competitions and requests feedback on these resources and how to plan for next year’s competitions.
OER Cost Analysis Seminar Resources
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), among other agencies, is now requiring a cost analysis for funded projects. On July 29, 2020, the COE Office of Educational Research (OER) offered a workshop on cost analysis.
Using the IES Cost Analysis Starter Kit as the basis of this webinar, Elite Research, LLC reviewed the objectives, purpose, and elements of cost analysis; how cost analysis may differ between program types; and considerations that must be taken when working though calculations.
View the seminar PowerPoint presentation and the Zoom recording on the OER Research Support Resources website.
COE faculty member Wei Li also shared his paper Power Analysis for Two-Level Multisite
Randomized Cost-Effectiveness Trials (Li, Dong, & Maynard, 2020) on methods of designing cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/1076998620911916
His team also developed a statistical tool PowerUp! (Li, Dong, & Maynard, 2020), which is free to download. https://www.causalevaluation.org/power-analysis.html
UF DSP Research.gov and Biosketch/Current & Pending Forms Seminar Resources
On August 25, 2020, the UF Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) offered a workshop to help principal investigators (PIs) transition from Fastlane to Research.gov for National Science Foundation (NSF) proposal submissions. The workshop provided a review of preparing a proposal in Research.gov and demonstrated how to create a bioksetch and current and pending document in SciENcv. The requirement to use an NSF-approved format for preparation of the biosketch and current and pending documents will go into effect for new proposals submitted or due on or after October 5, 2020.
Resources from the DSP training can be found here:
Research.gov Resources: https://research.ufl.edu/dsp/proposals/research-gov.html
NSF Updates: https://research.ufl.edu/dsp/proposals/nsf-updates.html
Workshop Recording: https://mediasite.video.ufl.edu/Mediasite/Play/6d232ebc488b466fa305813f2a10c1891d
UF Research Development Offers Grant Writing Training for New Faculty
UF Research Development will be hosting the following grant writing session for faculty at the Assistant Professor (tenure track) level hired in 2017 or later.
Title: Budget Basics
When: Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Place: Virtual Meeting
Follow this link to register: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cJ8FDCDiAT4DIxv
Save the Date: Fall 2020 NIH Virtual Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration
Reprinted from Save the Date: Fall 2020 NIH Virtual Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration posted on the NIH Extramural Nexus webpage
If you are new to working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants process as an investigator or administrator, then mark your calendar for Tuesday, October 27 – Friday, October 30 for a unique opportunity to learn, share, and meet virtually with NIH and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) experts.
For updates on the latest registration and agenda information, see the NIH Regional Seminar Home Page. Registration is free and opens September 9, 2020.
The following are some seminar highlights:
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