An Update from the Office of Research: October 2022

External Awards Received

The Office of Research is pleased to announce and would like to congratulate our Dearborn faculty members on receipt of the following external funding:

U-M Principal Investigator: Jaerock Kwon
Project Title:  MRI: Acquisition of Autonomous Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle Platform for Multidisciplinary Research and Education at the University of Michigan-Dearborn
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award amount: $244,610.00

This award supports the acquisition of a high-performance Autonomous electric Vehicle Platform that will advance fundamental science and engineering research and education at UM-Dearborn. The project will enable acceleration of the development of critical algorithms in machine learning and analysis methods tailored to the safety and stability of autonomous vehicles while enabling transformative research on cybersecurity by providing real-world scenarios, and will substantially enhance the current capabilities at UM-Dearborn.
 

U-M Principal Investigator: Doohyun Kim
Project Title: Electrical and Thermal Modeling of a Battery Pack for Analysis of Electric Vehicles
Sponsor: Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc.
Award amount: $53,570

Market penetration of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) has been rapidly growing primarily due to reduced battery cost and increasing charging infrastructure. Efficiency of BEV strongly depends on thermal condition of the battery during operation, which significantly varies depending on ambient conditions, vehicle speed, and thermal management strategies. This project aims to develop a battery pack model capable of accurately capturing the electrical and thermal dynamics of a battery pack of BEV. The model will be used to design improved battery control methods for higher efficiency and performance.

U-M Principal Investigator: Carmel Price
Project Title:  Collaborative Planning for Clean Air in Detroit and Wayne County
Sponsor: Ecology Center Inc.
Award Amount: $4,000.00

This project will support youth outreach and engagement in community-wide planning for the Collaborative Planning for Clean Air in Detroit and Wayne County project. Youth participants will receive a stipend for their participation in project planning meetings, work group meetings, meetings of the Air Quality Sensor Learning Collaborative, and other community-wide meetings.

U-M Principal Investigator: Lara Rusch
Project Title:  Organizing and Mobilizing Student Engagement
Sponsor: Menlo College
Award Amount: $15,000.00

This project supports activities that will advance the goals of the Student Vote Research Network through two paths: first by engaging students as grassroots leaders, embedded in campus and community networks, and second, by supporting student activities staff in civic engagement planning and programming through faculty involvement.

Announcements

Professional Writer Support Available for Research Proposals
(Application Required)

The Office of Research, through a third party service provider, offers support with the writing and submission of (collaborative) research proposals. The professional writer service is limited and requires an application and prior approval. If approved, the professional writer will work collaboratively with a PI and team to write the project description/narrative with consideration of the funder’s requirements.

Teams and individual PIs with interesting and fundable proposal ideas and meet the eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply. The service will be offered free of charge to approved applicants. Please read the complete eligibility and application instructions below.

Eligibility

• The team leader/s (PIs) must be members of the tenured or tenure-track faculty of UM-Dearborn
• Proposals with budgets above $600K are encouraged but proposals with budgets in the $200- $600K range will also be considered
• The team/PI applying for support should have a clear idea of the research they would like to propose and a specific funding opportunity to pursue
• Applicants can list funding opportunities of interest with dues dates at least 3 months from the time of their application. Before confirmation of the writing service, the PI will have a discussion with the service provider about the project details to determine readiness, scope and timing. 

How to Apply
Faculty must submit this application form to be considered for a professional writer. For more information and other services available, please visit our Consultation & Writing Services webpage.

Competitive Campus Grants Fall Cycle Applications Due Oct. 17

As a reminder, the application deadline for the first cycle of Competitive Campus Grant programs for fiscal year 2023 is 5 p.m., Oct. 17, 2022. Applications are open for the following grants:

• Research Initiation and Development (RID) Grants provide financial support of up to $25,000 for research projects. This program supports projects designed to lead to a proposal for external funding with a strong potential of being awarded.
  • Budget floor: $10,000; Budget ceiling: $25,000.
• UM-Dearborn Scholars (SCH) Grants are intended to support research and scholarship, including creative activities in the arts. This program is primarily for projects with funding needs not addressed by other support programs within or outside the University.
  • Budget floor: $8,000; Budget ceiling: $15,000.
• Thematic Research Planning (TRP) Grants will support the development of collaborative cross-disciplinary research proposals that address the FY 23 priority research areas:
  • • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Sustainability
    • Biomedical, Health and Healthcare
  • Budget floor: $15,000; Budget ceiling: $30,000.

More information about the campus grants program and eligibility can be found on our Campus Grants webpage or you can email [email protected] with questions.

Research Events in October and November:

• Teaching and Technology Collaborative, “Introduction to Deep Blue Documents and Data” -  Wednesday, Oct. 12, noon-1 p.m., virtual
• Teaching and Technology Collaborative, “Digital Scholarship 101: Planning Your Digital Project” -  Monday, Oct. 17, 2-3:30 p.m., virtual
• College of Arts, Sciences, & Letters “Eighth Annual CASL Faculty Research Slam” - Thursday, Oct. 20, 3-4:30 p.m., virtual
• Teaching and Technology Collaborative, “The new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy: what does it mean for me?” -  Wednesday, Nov. 16, noon-1 p.m., virtual

The Office of Research website is also updated regularly with research-related events and announcements, so we would encourage you to bookmark our landing page and subscribe to our Research News email list. The Office of Research looks forward to assisting you on your future research endeavors!

Research Resource Highlight: Foundation Relations

Every month, the Office of Research will feature a resource and/or tool that is available for researchers. This month we are featuring the University of Michigan Foundation Relations website & services.

The mission of the U-M Foundation Relations (FR) team is to serve as trusted colleagues who bridge campus and foundation partners to secure grant support for projects, programs and research that create social and economic impact in society, advance innovation, serve communities and patients, and tackle wicked problems.

Foundation Relations can help faculty:

• Edit and review proposals with a focus on foundation readers Identify potential foundation funders for projects
• Develop strategies for approaching foundations
• Share insights on particular foundation funders
• Make initial introductions to foundations and program officers

The U-M FR website is a great resource for faculty. The website was redesigned last fall for the research community, with a focus on helping faculty identify and apply for foundation funding. It includes a sortable database of foundation grant opportunities and a Grantwriter’s Toolkit that provides resources for documents commonly needed for grant applications and general advice on writing proposals using foundation-friendly language.

Dearborn faculty interested in foundation funding should contact Blythe Murphy, the Director of Foundation Relations for UM-Dearborn, at [email protected]. Blythe works to connect faculty and programs in all four colleges and centers of the campus with private foundation funding opportunities.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

The Office of Research publishes a list of selected funding opportunities, organized by college, every month on our website under Announcements. In addition, yearly grant calendars organized by subject area provided by Hanover Research are available there as well. Contact the UM-Dearborn Office of Research if you would like more information about submitting a proposal to any of the programs.