Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Mark Aindow will serve as Executive Director for Innovation, External Engagement, and Industry Relations beginning this coming fall. In addition to introducing Dr. Aindow, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the search committee and the other members of the university community who assisted during the search process.

In this role, Dr. Aindow will serve as a catalyst for new interactions between faculty, potential commercial partners, and other research organizations to support and articulate UConn’s technology innovation and research capacity. He is tasked with identifying and promoting initiatives that provide growth opportunities for applied research through technology transfer and industry partnerships. We will also look to Dr. Aindow to develop large-scale interdisciplinary, center-level initiatives, and proposals involving multiple researchers, and to coordinate with the OVPR and Government Relations to keep state agencies and congressional offices informed as appropriate, as we seek to gain support for new federal initiatives that align with UConn’s strategic priorities.

Dr. Aindow brings with him 27 years of experience in collaborative, interdisciplinary research with industry, academic, and other partners. He understands that in order for UConn to expand our research funding portfolio, it is essential that we look beyond the boundaries of traditional opportunities and that we increase outreach in emerging areas of strength for the University.

Dr. Aindow’s research, which is often interdisciplinary and invariably includes an industrial partner or sponsor, involves the study of microstructural development in engineering materials using, primarily, electron microscopy techniques. These projects include work with companies like GE Energy, Thermo Fisher Scientific (formerly FEI), and UTC Aerospace Systems, and all are associated with broader industry partnerships with UConn including: the GE/UConn partnership, the UConn/FEI Center for Advanced Microscopy and Materials Analysis (CAMMA), and the UConn/UTAS Center for Advanced Materials.

Dr. Aindow received a BEng in Metallurgy and Materials Science in 1985 and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering in 1988 from the University of Liverpool. He joined the faculty at the University of Connecticut in 1999 and is currently a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). While at UConn, Dr. Aindow served as Director of the MSE Program from 2006-2009 and as Associate Director for the Institute of Materials Science from 2013-2017. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conference proceedings, and has graduated 29 PhDs.

We are thrilled to have someone with Dr. Aindow’s extensive experience as both an internationally recognized scientist and collaborator to lead these efforts. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Aindow on his new role!

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Radenka Maric
Vice President for Research
UConn/UConn Health

Dear Colleagues,

In the current climate of declining federal funding and impending reductions in state support, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is taking measures to provide faculty with critical additional assistance to guarantee that UConn proposals have the best chances of success. I wanted to share a few new initiatives with you as you prepare to submit new grant proposals.

Reduction of Overhead Costs

In order to provide faculty with more buying power on proposals, reduced overhead costs will be charged to grants of up to $50,000 where total costs are inclusive (i.e., direct and indirect costs capped at $50,000). This policy will be in place at UConn and UConn Health. The effective overhead rate for such grants will be capped at 20% instead of the standard 59%. This reduced rate will apply to future grant proposals, and is not applicable retroactively. Existing grants will continue to be charged the standard 59% rate. In the case where agencies, such as NSF, view a reduced F&A rate as cost share, faculty should apply the full rate and the OVPR will return the F&A back to the PI. Additional guidelines will be forthcoming on how to incorporate this lower rate on new proposals.

Faculty Grant Mentorship Incentive Program

Faculty members with a history of grant success have valuable expertise that can benefit faculty colleagues. Through this program, experienced PIs will be eligible to serve as mentors for three untenured faculty in return for a stipend of $10,000. Faculty mentors will provide untenured faculty with strategic insight and guidance to more successfully navigate the grant submission process. Activities will include introductions to program managers, review of proposals, guidance and support, help to establish individualized goals and professional development plans for each mentee, and insight on how to learn about grant solicitations that may not be announced through standard methods. In the coming weeks, we will announce an open call for senior faculty to nominate their colleagues or themselves to serve as mentors. The selection process will include an evaluation of nominees’ previous experience as a mentor for untenured faculty, as well as a review of their success winning extramural funding. Additional guidelines, mentor/mentee applications, and program requirements will be forthcoming and available on the OVPR website.

SBIR/STTR Funding

Funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs encourage domestic small businesses to engage in federal research and development that has the potential for commercialization. Each year, Federal agencies with extramural research and development budgets that exceed $100 million are required to allocate 3.2 percent (FY 2017) of their R&D budget to these programs, and agencies with research budgets over $1 billion are required to set aside a portion of these funds for STTR. SBIR/STTR grants range from $300,000 to $1 million each and can be a valuable source of non-dilutive funding for startups and eligible small companies. Under SBIR, the PI must be primarily employed with the small business at the time of award and for the duration of the project period, but subcontracts often occur with collaborating research institutions. Under the STTR program, primary employment is not stipulated, so the PI may be primarily employed by a collaborating institution.

These programs can be an effective tool for entrepreneurial faculty and the university’s efforts to boost our industry sponsored research portfolio. The OVPR is initiating several support programs to increase the number of successful SBIR/STTR awards submitted with UConn/UConn Health PIs or co-PIs.

First, we will host a series of workshops to expose faculty to the programs and how to successfully apply. The first workshop is sponsored by CTNext and will be held on November 29 & 30 at 400 Farmington Ave on the UConn Health campus. For more information and to register, visit the CTNext site.

The OVPR is also piloting an effort to connect faculty to SBIR/STTR program managers, as well as existing companies seeking R&D partnerships to support SBIR/STTR proposals. In order to do this we are developing a team able to offer assistance directly to faculty, their startups, and outside industry partners that are eligible for SBIR/STTR support. If you are interested in learning more about these support services, please contact ovpr@uconn.edu.

Collaboration with the UConn Foundation

Finally, in partnership with the UConn Foundation, we will continue to seek creative solutions and establish innovative programs and initiatives to increase philanthropic dollars for student and faculty research.

For existing and new initiatives to support research, we will establish metrics and methods to track success to ensure that our investments result in returns for our faculty and the university.

We will be in touch again soon to share additional information and more specific details about these new programs and initiatives as soon as they become available. In the meantime, this message serves to reassure faculty and students that we are dedicated to helping UConn’s world-class researchers succeed despite the fiscal challenges we are currently facing. We are committed to supporting UConn’s vibrant research community, and we thank you for your invaluable contribution to the university, the state of Connecticut, and the global scientific community.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Radenka Maric
Vice President for Research
UConn/UConn Health