Sponsored Research and Programs

If you have multiple NSF accounts linked to the same email address, you will have until 20 August 2019 to migrate all your data to ONE account.

How will I know if I have multiple accounts linked to an email address?
You will receive an error message when you login to FastLane indicating “Multiple Accounts Found” as a pop-up message.  If you do not receive the error message pop-up, no further action is required.

What do I do if I receive the message?
Contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 to merge your accounts into one.

What happens if I do not merge my accounts?
After 20 August 2019, NSF will suspend your access to their systems.  You will be unable to perform any NSF-related tasks on your proposals or awards.  It is critical that you contact the NSF Help Desk as soon as possible to clean-up your multiple accounts.

Why is NSF eliminating the ability of PIs to have multiple accounts?
NSF policy states that individual users may only have ONE NSF ID.  This allows better tracking of individual outcomes for data reporting purposes.  It also ensures that your accounts are attributed to the correct home institution.

Maria Burnatowska-Hledin, the Frederich Garrett and Helen Floor Dekker Professor of Biomedicine and Chemistry, recently received a $154,000 award from the American Heart Association for the project titled Regulation of VACM-1/CUL5 signaling in the endothelium by a novel peptide ligand.  The project runs from 1 January 2019 through 31 December 2020.

Dr. Burnatowska-Hledin’s research group will examine how an isolated, sequenced, and synthesized novel peptide will interact with the protein VACM-1/CUL5, which may be involved in the degradation of cellular proteins.  This work may lead to new therapeutic strategies for heart diseases and improve the treatment of disorders such as sepsis.  Undergraduate researchers will play a central role in this work.

Congratulations on your highly competitive award, Maria!

Paul DeYoung, the Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Physics, recently received a $240,000 award from the National Science Foundation for the project titled RUI: Nuclear Physics at Hope College with Undergraduates: New Science Enhancing the STEM Workforce.  The project will run from 1 August 2019 through 31 July 2022.

Dr. DeYoung’s research group will examine the properties of nuclei as determined by the nuclear force.  The specific subtleties of the nuclear force can be extracted from the structure of neutron-rich nuclei near the neutron dripline.  The abundance of the elements in the universe, especially those with atomic number greater than iron, depend on the nuclear properties of a wide variety of neutron-rich nuclei, many of which are formed in supernovas and neutron star mergers. Nuclear physics techniques and technology will be combined with the Hope College accelerator to characterize a wide variety of samples ranging from electro-deposited films to superconductors to environmental samples.  Undergraduate researchers will play central roles in these efforts.

Congratulations on your award, Paul!

Brent Krueger, Professor of Chemistry, recently received a $400,400 grant from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program for the project titled MRI: Acquisition of a High Performance Computing Cluster for Undergraduate Chemistry Research and Teaching by the Midwest Undergraduate Computational Chemistry Consortium (MU3C).  The project will run 1 August 2019 through 31 July 2022.

This project involves a collaborative effort among 22 investigators at 17 college and universities affiliated with MU3C.  Jason Gillmore, Professor of Chemistry here at Hope, Daniella Kohen of Carleton College, Keith Kuwata of Macalester College, and Erin Speetzen of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, all serve as co-principal investigators on the project.

This project will enable Hope College and MU3C to purchase 40 compute nodes for quantum chemical calculations and four GPU nodes for molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations.  This project will enable all MU3C faculty to tackle significant computational chemistry research that would not otherwise be possible.  During the project period, participating faculty will train over 140 undergraduates to engage in meaningful research experiences using the computer cluster.

Congratulations on your award, Brent and colleagues!

Jordan VanHemert, Assistant Professor of Music, recently received a new award from the Co-Op Press Commission Assistance Grant Program.  The award will run through 1 December 2020.

In collaboration with composer Sy Brandon, Jordan and the Hope College Saxophone Ensemble will develop and perform an original piece of music of five to ten minutes in length.  The premiere of this work is tentatively scheduled for the Hope College Saxophone Day in January 2020; additional venues may be added upon completion of the piece and as events become available.

Welcome to Hope, Jordan, and congratulations on the new award!

Jason Gillmore, Professor of Chemistry, recently received a $70,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Undergraduate Research Grant Program for the project titled Increasing Structural Diversity of Long-Wavelength Azo Dyes to Tune Wavelength and Synthetic Handles.  The project will run from 1 August 2019 through 31 August 2022.

This project will increase our fundamental understanding of the chemical synthesis from coal tar starting materials and novel azo dyes into higher value functional molecules and materials.  Since this award is provided under the Undergraduate Research Program, undergraduate students will participate in the project and play a significant role in the research.

Congratulations, Jason, on your new award!

Recently, NSF released its 2020 Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) for comment by the research community.   In the current draft PAPPG (with a tentative implementation in January 2020), NSF will require investigators to generate their biographical sketches through SciENcv.

What is SciENcv?
SciENcv stands for Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae.  The system is designed to assist researchers with assembling their professional information for biographical sketches required for grant proposals.

What is the intended purpose of SciENcv?
It’s intended to reduce the administrative burden of researchers in assembling a biographical sketch or CV for every grant proposal.  Additionally, SciENcv will assemble a file which is compliant with the various agency proposal requirements.

Are tutorials available for use of SciENcv?
Yes.  A SciENcv Tutorial is available on YouTube.

Will applicants still be able to upload a biographical sketch as a PDF directly into FastLane/Research.gov?
No.  From the PAPPG, it appears the only way to generate a biographical sketch as of January 2020 for NSF proposals will be through SciENcv.

Will additional trainings/updates be available?
Yes.  The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs plans to host a training session on SciENcv during the Fall 2019 semester.  Please watch this blog for additional details at a later date.