Commerce RI’s STAC Opens Call for Proposals in 2015 Collaborative Research Grant Program

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announces the next round of funding of approximately $800,000 through its Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) Collaborative Research Grant Program to support multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary projects that increase Rhode Island’s competitiveness as an international leader in marine ecosystem research.

This call for proposals is in support of STAC’s partnership with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and seeks projects that address any of the three EPSCoR research questions related to the overarching question: “What are the impacts of climate change on marine life?”

·What are the stress responses and evolutionary potentials of marine organisms in response to climate change?

·How are the structure and function of coastal marine food-webs and biogeochemical cycling being redirected in response to climate change?

·How will global climate change affect the ecology of marine pathogens and parasites?

Proposals are preferred if they include use of core research facilities in Proteomics, Genomics and Sequencing at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island (URI), and in Marine Life Sciences at URI’s Bay Campus.

The deadline for pre-proposals is September 26, 2014, and invited full proposals will be due October 20, 2014. For more information, visit http://www.stac.ri.gov or contact Christine Smith at (401) 278-9197.

To date, STAC has invested $9.8 million in collaborative research projects that have yielded a return of over $36 million back to the state in the form of grants for continued research, new federal programs, infrastructure improvements, commercialization of new products and venture funding for new companies.

About the Collaborative Research Awards Program

With the inception of the Rhode Island Research Alliance in 2007, STAC created a competitive, merit-based award program to support projects that promote inter-organizational, multi-disciplinary collaboration, which are positioned to attract follow-on funding from out-of-state sources — the Collaborative Research Awards program. With follow-on funding, Rhode Island has the potential of increasing its competitive research capacity, advancing technological development and boosting commercialization potential within the state.

To administer the program, STAC uses a competitive application process similar to that used by the National Science Foundation. Peer reviewers who are scientific experts familiar with a proposal’s area of focus evaluate the proposal on the basis of scientific merit and broader impacts in the community. A subcommittee also reviews the proposals based on how well the proposal meets the objectives of the program. Awardees represent the most exciting proposals that combine high scientific merit with opportunity for significant follow-on funding or substantial commercial potential, such as valuable licensing prospects or the creation of new companies, at the completion of the one-year grant cycle.

About the Rhode Island Science & Technology Advisory Council (STAC)

The Rhode Island Science & Technology Advisory Council (STAC) is a coalition of leaders in the field of science and technology representing business, medicine, higher education and government. STAC was formed in 2006 and is charged with advising state leadership on strategic investments that drive economic development and job creation by maximizing the economic impact of research, technology and innovation. STAC policies and programs support the state’s research and development activity and promote collaboration across institutions, encourage entrepreneurship and new company creation through the transfer of new technologies and discoveries into the marketplace, and create an environment that enables innovation to flourish. STAC serves as governing committee for the $20 million Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR grant.

About Rhode Island Commerce Corporation

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation is the full-service, official economic development organization for the state of Rhode Island. A quasi-public agency, the corporation serves as a government and community resource to help streamline the business expansion in, and relocation to, Rhode Island. The agency assists companies with commercial real estate, business financing, workforce training and other relevant issues.
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