Grants and Contracts News

Study Shows Recent College Graduates Are Better Protected Against the Recession

Analysis of federal data by the Pew Charitable Trust shows young adults with bachelor's degrees are faring much better than their less-educated counterparts. Read the full Pew Charitable Trust report here.

NSF unveils new reporting system

As of Feb. 1, 2013 investigators are advised to stop using the NSF FastLane Project Reporting System and instead log in to NSF's new Research.gov reporting system tool. Investigators will use the new system for all annual, final and interim reports for NSF funded projects.

Investigators will lose access to the FastLane reporting system and will be required to submit all reports using Research.gov by March 18,02013.

According to a Dear Colleague Letter released by NSF, the new platform offers:

• A more consolidated project reporting dashboard that includes the Annual, Final, Interim and Project Outcomes Reports;
• A more structured collection of the project reports data for enhanced NSF use; and
• The adoption of a federal-wide data dictionary to increase the consistency of implementation across federal research agencies.

For the full announcement, read the NSF Dear Colleague Letter.

See NSF FAQs for quick information and answers to questions about NSF funding opportunities, proposal submission and other topics.

Ottem's biology students get hands-on experience, make gains in ALS research

When it comes to neuromuscular disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, finding the root cause of the disease is the first step to developing effective treatment or cure.

ALS is a nerve cell disease that affects lower motor neurons of the spinal cord and upper motor neurons of the cortex of the brain. As the disease progresses, motor neurons, which control muscle movement, deteriorate and can no longer send messages to muscles; this leads to muscle atrophy or the wasting away of muscles. ALS patients lose the ability to move their arms, legs and eventually other parts of their body.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 out of every 10 cases of ALS is due to a specific genetic mutation; for all other cases the cause is unknown. Erich Ottem, biology professor at NMU, said those other 9-of-10 cases are considered “sporadic,” and the currently accepted wisdom is that a variety of factors, genetic and environmental, lead to the onset of sporadic cases. The causal factors can pile up, so to speak, and one trigger can “push that first domino” to set the disease process in motion. more

NMU Receives Department of Education Funding for McNair Scholars Program

NMU McNair Scholar Brittney Dodge presents her research at a recent conference.

The Department of Education approved five years of funding for NMU’s Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. The McNair Program is one of three federally-funded TRIO programs offered at NMU.  Each year NMU receives over $1 million in federal grants for TRIO programming. Click here for more info.

The TRIO programs at NMU:

1) Student Support Services
2) McNair Scholars Program
3) Upward Bound Math-Science