News & Notices
Feds Launch Major Reform of Grants Policy
On February 28, 2012, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the beginning of one of the most comprehensive reforms of federal grants policy in the last four decades. In response, The Grantsmanship Center has produced two new articles on this historic initiative. These articles are free for the benefit and use of public and nonprofit organizations. They’re intended to keep you informed, provide useful resources, and help you spread the word to those who should be aware of the proposed reforms.
-What Might a Unified Guidance Document on Grant Administration Look Like?
NETWORK SCIENCE
Coming in Spring 2013
Published by Cambridge University Press
EDITORS:
Lada Adamic, University of Michigan, USA; Ulrik Brandes, University of Konstanz, Germany; Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University, USA; Sanjeev Goyal, University of Cambridge, UK; Garry Robins, University of Melbourne, Australia; Thomas Valente, University of Southern California, USA; Alessandro Vespignani, Northeastern University, USA; Stanley Wasserman, Indiana University USA
AIMS AND SCOPE:
The discipline is ready for a comprehensive journal, open to papers from all relevant areas. Network Science is a defining work, shaping this new discipline. The journal welcomes contributions from researchers in all areas working on network theory, methods, and data. Network Science is a new journal for a new discipline — one using the network paradigm, focusing on actors and relational linkages, to inform research, methodology, and applications from many fields across the natural, social, engineering and informational sciences. Given growing understanding of the interconnectedness and globalization of the world, network methods are an increasingly recognized way to research aspects of modern society along with the individuals, organizations, and other actors within it. For information about submitting your manuscript for publication, please see our website.
TANF Evaluation Reports Released
(From the Children’s Bureau Express)
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released two reports centered on evaluations of programs utilizing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. One report highlights the ongoing evaluation of the Tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOGs), and the other presents findings from the first phase of the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) project. The HPOG program is funded by the Affordable Care Act and administered by ACF’s Office of Family Assistance. The program funded 32 5-year health workforce training programs to increase the number of health professionals in underserved areas. The program specifically targets TANF recipients. Five of the 32 demonstration projects were awarded to Tribal organizations that will integrate culturally informed practice models. Four of the five sites are Tribal community colleges, and the fifth is the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, a human and social services organization in Alaska. Click here for more information.
NICHD Invites Comments on Proposed Reorganization
After undertaking the Vision Process last year to help identify scientific opportunities for the coming decade, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Director Alan Guttmacher announced at the January Advisory Council meeting that he would also like to streamline the organization of the institute itself. Under the proposed reorganization, seven of the current ten extramural research branches would be renamed to more clearly identify for the research community what research the branch funds and two additional branches are proposed to be added. One of the new branches will focus on pediatric injury prevention and critical care, in recognition that childhood injuries are the leading cause of childhood mortality. Notably, the Child Development and Behavior branch and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities branches would remain unchanged, while the Demographic and Behavioral Science Branch would be changed to the Demography and Population Sciences Branch. Under the proposed reorganization, no research portfolios or research programs have been moved or eliminated, although there will be a review at the staff level to determine if adjustments in portfolios are needed. Comments on the proposed reorganization can be sent to NICHD at: NICHDDirectorsOffice@mail.nih.gov.
Request for Information (RFI): A Call to Identify Key Methodological Roadblocks and Propose New Paradigms in Suicide Prevention Research
Response Date: April 27, 2012
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) are seeking input to identify the types of research tools needed to support rapid advancement in suicide prevention research. Specifically, this request asks interested parties to provide input on the following topics: a) the key methodological roadblocks that currently exist in suicide prevention research, and b) new paradigms and theoretical models with the potential to spark innovative research. A methodological roadblock is defined as a critical, unresolved challenge that is clearly limiting progress along an important suicide prevention research pathway. New research paradigms and theoretical models are novel ways of thinking about suicidal behavior and avenues for its prevention. This Request for Information (RFI) is issued as an invitation to interested parties to contribute these specific methodological challenges and new conceptual paradigms for inclusion in a compendium of ways to facilitate suicide prevention research progress. Click here for more information.