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BACKGROUND
The Mississippi Computational Biology Consortium (MCBC) is a research thrust of the Mississippi Computational Sciences Network (MCSN). The MCSN is funded by a grant from the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The MCBC aims to stimulate competitive research that combines computation and biology by facilitating innovative collaborations among life scientists and computer scientists within institutions and across institutions in the State of Mississippi. Areas of interest include high-performance computational biology, bio-ontologies, systems biology, computational and mathematical modeling and ecoinformatics. The Seed Research Grant Program is one of the activities developed to achieve the MCBC’s aim.
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SEED RESEARCH GRANT OBJECTIVES
The MCBC Seed Research Grants are designed for faculty to develop innovative projects and gather preliminary data to increase their ability to compete for competitive extramural funding. These grants are intended to stimulate novel research with strong likelihood of attracting competitive funding. Although the budget can remain entirely at a single institution, grants which promote multidisciplinary collaborations between investigators at different MCBC institutions are strongly encouraged.
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ELIGIBILITY
In the first round, interdisciplinary groups of faculty from each of the following three Universities; Jackson State University, Mississippi State University and University of Southern Mississippi will be eligible to submit applications. Relevant research areas include high-performance computational biology, bioinformatics, bio-ontologies, system biology, computational and mathematical modeling and ecoinformatics. One proposal is expected from each university and should include a strong plan to collaborate with at least one other institution. In subsequent rounds, faculty from any research university in the State of Mississippi University System will be eligible to apply for seed research grants.
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FUNDING AMOUNT
Maximum of $25,000.00 per application.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Interested faculty should contact the following institution contacts:
Jackson State University:
Dr. Raphael D. Isokpehi
Department of Biology
Email: raphael.isokpehi@jsums.edu
Tel.: 601-979-1678Mississippi State University:
Dr. Susan Bridges
Department of Computer Science
Email: bridges@cse.msstate.edu
Tel.: 662-325-7505University of Southern Mississippi:
Dr. Frank Moore
Department of Biological Sciences
Email: frank.moore@usm.edu
Phone: 601.266.4748
Applications should be prepared with the following specifications:
Page Size: 8 x 11 inches, Spacing: Single, Font: Times New Roman or Arial, 12 point
1. Cover Page
a. Proposal Title
b. Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator(s) (Full name, Title, Primary Affiliation, Phone Numbers, Fax Number, E-mail Address)2. Abstract (Maximum of 200 words)
3. Proposal (Maximum of 5 pages)
a. Overview, Objectives and Significance (1 page)
b. Background and Review of Relevant Literature (1 page).
c. Research Plan including potential problems and alternative strategies and publication plan (2 pages).
d. Expected Results (0.5 page)
e. Potential for generating competitive funding (0.5 page)4. Budget
All budgets are to be submitted in NSF format. No overheads are allowed. Budgets may include salaries, graduate student/post doctoral stipends/salaries, travel to present research results at Mississippi EPSCoR Research Meeting, supplies, and equipment.5. Appendices
a. Literature Cited
b. Budget (NSF format, 1 page).
c. Budget Justification (1 page)
d. Curriculum Vitae of all Investigators (NSF format, 2 pages maximum for each investigator)
e. Current and Pending Funding (NSF format).
f. Plan for collaboration with other universities in the MCBC. (0.5 page)
g. Agreement Statement to provide 4 quarterly reports to the Steering Committee and to present the research at the biannual MCBC reporting meetings and at the Mississippi EPSCoR Annual Meeting.
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PROPOSAL REVIEW
Proposals from the 3 universities will be reviewed by the MCBC Steering Committee for scientific merit, relevance to MCBCs aim, multi-disciplinary collaboration, justification of budget, potential for success and subsequent submission of full proposal, and training opportunities for graduate students especially those from underrepresented groups. MCBC Steering may provide input to improve proposals.
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SUBMISSION PROCEDURE, DEADLINE AND NOTIFICATION OF AWARD
Proposal should be contained in a single PDF file and sent as an email attachment to
Dr. Raphael D. Isokpehi
Chair, Steering Committee
Mississippi Computational Biology Consortium
Email: raphael.isokpehi@jsums.edu
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