American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes New NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research

The February 20, 2009 issue of the FASEB Washington Update newsletter includes information on the following of note for ISCB members interested in applying for new NIH grant funding availability:

NIH is designating at least $200 million of the funds it received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “stimulus bill”) in FYs 2009 - 2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research. The new program is expected to fund 200 or more grants, contingent upon the submission of a sufficient number of scientifically meritorious applications. This program will support research on 15 high priority topics within broad challenge areas that address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that will benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds. Challenge Areas, defined by the NIH, focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. The research in these areas should have a high impact in biomedical or behavioral science and/or public health. The NIH Challenge Grant information is now live on the NIH Web site at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/challenge_award/. Please note that the RFA includes the following important deadlines:

• Release/Posted Date: March 4, 2009
  
• Opening Date: March 27, 2009 (Earliest date an application may be submitted to Grants.gov)
  
  
• Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): Not applicable
  
  
• NOTE: On-time submission requires that applications be successfully submitted to Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. local time (of the applicant institution/organization).
  
  
• Application Due Date(s): April 27, 2009

• Peer Review Date(s): June/July 2009
  
  
• Council Review Date(s): August 2009
  
  
• Earliest Anticipated Start Date(s): September 30, 2009
  
  
• Additional Information To Be Available Date (Activation Date): Not Applicable
  
  
• Expiration Date: April 28, 2009

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ISCB Call for Leadership Nominations

Board Nominations Deadline: April 17, 2009                           President-Elect Nominations Deadline: July 16, 2009

 

The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) is encouraging members and affiliates to submit nominations for the Society’s Board of Directors and President-elect. Nominations are submitted at www.iscb.org/nominate (you must login to your membership record to access the nomination form - if you are a member of an affiliated regional group and do not have an ISCB membership, please encourage a leader of your regional group to submit a nomination from your region). Self nominations will not be accepted.

If you know of excellent candidates that meet the eligibility requirements below, please be sure to submit your nomination(s) right away.

• In order to be eligible for candidacy as a Director a person must be or become an ISCB member in good standing no later than May 15, 2009.
• All Director candidates must pledge to make every reasonable effort to attend the bi-monthly Board teleconference beginning with a training period in October 2009 and the annual in-person Board of Directors meeting (held at the ISMB conference) at their own expense through completion of the three year term that begins January 21, 2010.
• In order to be eligible to be a President-elect candidate a person must have served on the ISCB Board of Directors for at least one year prior to January 2010, and be an ISCB member in good standing, or renew an ISCB lapsed membership no later than July 30, 2009.
• All President-elect candidates must pledge to make every reasonable effort to attend the weekly Executive Committee teleconferences beginning with a training period in mid-October, 2009, the bi-monthly Board teleconferences beginning with a training period in December 2009, and the annual in-person Board of Directors meeting (held at the ISMB conference) at their own expense through completion of the one year President-elect term that begins January 21, 2010 and the two year President term that begins January 21, 2011.
• The elected President-elect will also serve concurrently on the Board of Directors for a term that ends January 21, 2014.

Nominations for Board of Directors will be accepted through April 17, 2009. Election of Board members will take place during the annual ISCB Board of Directors meeting in June 2009.

Nominations for President-elect will be accepted through July 16, 2009. Election of the President-elect will take place via online voting by the membership in September, 2009.

Each nomination requires the name, affiliation, and e-mail address of the nominee, along with an assurance that the nominee meets the qualifications and is willing to stand for election for the position in question. The nomination must also include a few sentences of justification that makes the strongest case possible for the nominee.

Full information regarding the 2009 nominations/elections timeline, call for nominations, and Director and Officer responsibilities can be found at www.iscb.org/iscb-leadership-a-staff-/officers-and-board-directors/nomination-election-procedures.

We are looking forward to an active participation by the ISCB membership in the nominations and election process, and I thank you in advance for your qualified nominations.

Respectfully,

Dietlind Gerloff
Chair, ISCB Nominations Committee

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