I am writing to request your assistance in identifying outstanding undergraduates who might be interested in, and qualified for, the ACS sponsored Nuclear and Radiochemistry Summer School Program.  We are seeking curious and highly motivated students with strong science backgrounds. If selected, these students receive an all-expense paid opportunity to complete a 6 week summer course in Nuclear and Radiochemistry in either California or New York. They also earn hours (tuition paid) of undergraduate chemistry credit through either San Jose State University or SUNY-Stony Brook.  Selected students also receive a stipend of $4,000.

An announcement for the Nuclear and Radiochemistry Summer Schools that can be posted is attached to this request. It describes the application procedure and the background we hope applicants will have when applying. This information and an on-line application form can also be found on the web at:

http://chemistry.missouri.edu/nucsummer/index.shtml

The deadline for applications is February 1, 2013. Please distribute this announcement to your undergraduate students and encourage them to consider this unique opportunity! If you or your students have any questions about the ACS sponsored program, please do not hesitate to contact me using the information below.

Thanks, in advance, for your assistance.

Sincerely yours,

J. David Robertson

National Director,

ACS Summer Schools in Nuclear and Radiochemistry

Department of Chemistry

University of Missouri

Columbia, MO 65211

573-882-5346

robertsonjo@missouri.edu

As faculty who have agreed to have the libraries deposit articles to the ScholarsArchive@OSU institutional repository on their behalf, we thought you might be interested in attending a lecture sponsored by the OSU Libraries & Press, Teaching Across the Curriculum, Information Sciences and ECampus.

OSU Libraries & Press celebrates International Open Access week and invites you to participate in an exciting lecture by Dr. Cable Green on the topic of “Expanding the open agenda: From open access to an open education” on Friday, October 26th, from 1:30pm-3pm in the library Main Rotunda. 

Dr. Cable Green is the Director of Global Learning for Creative Commons and an expert in Open Educational Resources and Open Policy. He holds a BS in International Affairs from Lewis and Clark College, MPC from Westminster College, and an MA in communication and PhD in educational psychology from Ohio State University. As the Director of Global Learning at Creative Commons, Cable is responsible for setting strategic direction and priorities to build a global movement that will enable robust and vibrant practices and policies for free sharing of education and learning assets. He is a strong advocate for open policies that ensure publicly funded education materials are freely and openly available to the public that paid for them.

As part of this program OSU Libraries & Press will also announce our 2012 Open Access Hall of Fame inductees.

This message was imbedded in the communication from the faculty senate but I want be sure you see thisopportunity to provide comment on current Travel Agencies and Policy. You can provide comments on-line; I encourage you to provide your experiences and suggestions in either the open forum or via the survey.

Stella

Travel Agencies and Policy Forum and Survey

All OSU faculty and staff are invited to participate in an open forum discussing performance of the contracted travel agencies (Teel’s and Azumano) and of OSU travel policy. The forum will be on October 29 from 9:00-10:00 AM in the MU Journey Room. Feedback may also be submitted through October 31 via a brief on-line survey athttps://surveys.bus.oregonstate.edu/main.aspx?SurveyID=5202.

From The newsletter of APLU (American Public Land-Grant Universities) is a succinct note on upcoming changes for proposal submissions to NSF. I want to be sure our faculty are aware of these upcoming changes, especially given the pre-proposal requirement within some programs.Please share this information with them. Thank you.

Stella

NSF Issues New Proposal and Award Policies

October 8, 2012—The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released new guidelines changing the way proposals are submitted and the administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the foundation. The new Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) goes into effect forproposals due on or after January 14, 2013. The current PAPPG will remain in effect until then.

Revisions to the merit review criteria are expected to have broad repercussions for proposers, reviewers and NSF staff. Some of the significant changes include:

• Project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.
• Instructions for preparation of the Biographical Sketch have been revised to rename the “Publications” section to “Products” and amend terminology and instructions accordingly. This change makes clear that products may include, but are not limited to, publications, data sets, software, patents, and copyrights.
• Coverage on compensation of Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A) for Colleges and Universities) has been clarified to specify that, except as noted in the GPG sections on participant support and international travel grants, or as specified in an NSF program solicitation, the applicable indirect cost rate(s) negotiated by the organization with the cognizant negotiating agency must be used in computing indirect costs for a proposal.
• Modification of the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of proposals to assist proposers in complying with the NSF cost sharing policy.
• Additional proposal certifications must be submitted by the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) covering organizational support of the proposed research, tax obligations/liability and felony convictions.
• Numerous clarifications also have been made throughout the document.

A by-chapter summary of the changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide to assist with identifying the changes. Proposers can also access the revised NSF Merit Review website  or visit the resource website for the proposer communitycontaining presentations, fact sheets and other important links. A webcast will be available in early Nov. 2012.

Direct link to the NSF website (in case link does not work)

http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/index.jsp

Last month’s article focused on marinomycin, a cyclic polyketal with rather obvious symmetry – and the synthetic strategy hinged on that feature. However, symmetry in natural products isn’t always so apparent and it is uncovering such ‘hidden symmetry’ that forms the core of this month’s column.

Again, we’re plunging into the marine depths to find natural products with prodigious biological activity. The amphidinolide family comprises over 30 members, varying in architecture but (almost) all featuring a complex and highly decorated macrolactone ring at the core. Amphidinolide F was first isolated in 1991, but as yet remains unconquered territory in synthetic laboratories.^1,2However, new ground has been broken by a pair of chemists from Oregon State University, US, led by Rich Carter.³ Their key insight was that hidden symmetry exists in the complex tetrahydrofuran (THF) regions. Although these two regions are not identical, the team considered that enough chemistry was in common that a mutual precursor might be used.  More…

‘Ultramarine blue is a colour illustrious, beautiful, and most perfect, beyond all other colours’, wrote the Italian artist Cennino Cennini in the late 14th century. He and his contemporaries adored this mineral pigment for its rich, deep lustre. But they didn’t use it much, at least not unless they had a particularly wealthy client, because it was very costly. As the name implies, it came from ‘over the seas’ – all the way from what is now Afghanistan, where mines in the remote region of Badakhshan were the only known source of the parent mineral, lapis lazuli, for centuries. Not only was ultramarine expensive to import, but it was laborious to make: repeatedly grinding and washing the raw material to separate the blue colourant. Ultramarine could cost more than its weight in gold, and so painters reserved it for the most precious parts of their altarpieces, especially the robes of the Virgin Mary.  More…

Faculty Development: Applications for the L.L. Stewart Faculty Development Fund are due Oct.31. The L.L. Stewart Faculty Development Fund provides individual faculty members with grants of up to $2,200 for professional development activities that have a clear connection to the enhancement of teaching and student learning at OSU. Beginning this year, up to two grants for $4,400 may also be considered for exceptionally compelling and well-written proposals. Academic advising-related proposals are welcome. Applications and guidelines are available at: http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/grants 

General Research Fund (GRF) Fall 2012: The Research Office Incentive Programs is accepting applications for the GRF Fall 2012 solicitation. The intent of the GRF program is to enable faculty to carry out scholarly, creative work that should lead to the pursuit of other funding sources, or promote the development of scholarly activities. Complete program description and application: . http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/grf. Information contact: Debbie Delmore at debbie.delmore@oregonstate.edu or (541) 737-8390. Deadline for submission: Oct. 15.

NEW! Undergraduate Research Funding Opportunity: The Research Office is now accepting applications for the Undergraduate Research, Innovation, Scholarship and Creativity (URISC) program for Winter and/or Spring term(s) 2012-13. This program supports undergraduate research activities from all academic disciplines within the University. Program description and application: http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/urisc. Information: Debbie Delmore at debbie.delmore@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-8390. Submission Deadline: Nov. 5.

Congratulations to Professor Kevin Gable who was awarded the 2012 Lyod Carter Award for Outstanding and Inspirational Teaching at the Graduate Level!  Nice job Kevin!!