University of Rhode Island - Division of Research and Economic Development

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Also known as the “Federal Stimulus Package” and “H.R. 1.”)

Status Report #2 April 3, 2009

Developments this week:

Department of Commerce

Overview of department’s plans for using Recovery Act funds:
http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/PressReleases_FactSheets/PROD01_007789

Economic Development Administration

http://www.eda.gov/InvestmentsGrants/FFON.xml

Opportunities include the EDA American Recovery Program, which provides support for public works and economic development facilities, as well s economic adjustment assistance.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
http://www.nist.gov/recovery/recov_qs_and_as.html

Funding includes:
$220 million for NIST lab research, competitive grants, research fellowships and advanced research and measurement equipment.

$360 million for construction of research facilities, half of which will be used for research facilities outside of NIST. Details will be posted to Grants.gov when available.

$20 million from DHHS for standards-related research for development of electronic medical records.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090303_recoveryact.html

Receives $830 milllion from the Recovery Act. The agency’s website indicates $230 million will be used for habitat restoration (see opportunity below); $430 million for construction and repair of NOAA facilities; and $170 million for climate modeling activities, including supercomputer procurement and research on climate change.

Coastal & Marine Habitat Restoration Grants (due April 6)
NOAA expects to award up to $170 million, with typical grants ranging from $1.5 million to $10 million. Projects must be “shovel ready,” as they say.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/recovery/

Department of Defense

http://www.defenselink.mil/recovery/

Click on “Department of Defense Expenditure Plans;” then go to the pages numbered 154 to 161 in the body of the PDF text.

Defense will spend $300 million for research, development, testing and evaluation of near-term energy efficiency, alternative energy supply and tactical energy/power systems. No specific program announcements have been released yet.

Specific areas of interest:

Fuel optimization for mobility platforms (testing materials such as ceramics in engines; demonstrate fuel efficiency of subsonic and small-scale propulsion systems.

Facility energy initiatives (develop or review off-the-shelf enterprise energy auditing programs; whole-building energy modeling and monitoring systems; reduce power consumption in tactical heating and air conditioning systems)

Operational efficiencies/Commercial practices (develop or review off-the-shelf enterprise energy auditing programs; whole-building energy modeling and monitoring systems; water management programs)

Domestic energy supply/Distribution (waste-to-energy and waste-to-fuel technology; biomass and algae fuel production; multi-junction voltaics for cells and sensor; wave and thermal energy from oceans; wind power)

Tactical power systems/Generators (methanol-based fuel cells with improved energy densities; waste heading to cooling using absorption environmental control systems)

Department of Energy

http://www.energy.gov/news2009/print2009/7083.htm

Office of Science plans for Recovery Act funds include $227 million for competitively awarded Energy Frontier Research Centers; $90 million for other core research, providing support for graduate students, postdocs and Ph.D. scientists; and upgrades to numerous DOE scientific facilities.

Department of Health & Human Services

National Institutes of Health:

Programs with upcoming deadlines:

Competitive Revision Applications (due April 21)
Announcement: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-058.html

These grants are for investigators with active NIH research grants. They can submit revised applications that would expand the scope or research protocol of the original project. Such revisions can include hiring students and purchase equipment. Proposers are advised to see specific institute and center grants for details. http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/ic_supp.html

Challenge Grants (due April 27)
These two-year grants are intended to jumpstart high-impact science and health research challenges. Request for applications: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-003.html

Challenge Grant FAQs:
http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/faqs_challenge.html

High-end Instrumentation Grant Program (due May 6)
Announcement: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-09-118.html

This program supports the purpose of a single major item of equipment costing between $600,000 and $8 million. Awardees are expected to spend the money within 18 to 24 months.

National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
http://www.nasa.gov/recovery/piecharttextonly.html

Recovery Act funds include $400 million for the Tier 1 set of earth science climate research missions and $150 million for systems-level research, development and demonstration of aeronautics issues, including aviation safety and environmental impact mitigation.

National Science Foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/recovery/

NSF released “Important Notice 131,” which briefly describes how it plans to spend funding it received under the Recovery Act. Its priorities are new investigators and high-risk, high-return research projects. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/issuances/in131.jsp

NSF plans to post solicitations for the Academic Research Infrastructure Program (ASI), funded at $200 million, and for the Science Masters Program, funded at $15 million, this spring. Also this spring, NSF will post a solicitation for the Major Instrumentation Program, which is now funded at $300 million. NSF does not expect to post any other solicitations that are specifically in response to the Recovery Act.