Don Eigler
The Small Frontier

Since the early days of scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, a large family of probes have been developed that access properties with ever increasing complexity and relevance. This symposium will highlight recent advances that forward fundamental underpinning of critical interactions in energy systems and molecular and cellular biology with contributions from the foremost leaders in the field

Please click here to download a PDF of the flyer.

I. Nanotoxicology Pilot Projects:

The Penn-Nanotoxicology Alliance – a collaboration between the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET), the Targeted Therapeutics and Nanomedicine Program of the ITMAT/CTSA, the Nanotechnology Institute (NTI), and the Nano-Bio Interface Center (NBIC) announce the availability of pilot project grants  to seed 12-month efforts that address any relevant research topic related to the toxicology of nano-particles and nanostructured materials. Projects that characterize the physical and chemical properties of engineered nanoparticles, explore their basic biology and pathobiology, and provide a clear pathway to the clinical and commercial deployment of environmentally safe nanoparticles are particularly encouraged, as are projects that have the potential to generate new or develop existing intellectual property.

Any member of the Standing Faculty or Research Track Faculty in the 12 professional schools at the University of Pennsylvania, or our affiliates (CHOP and Monell) are eligible to apply.  Applications from Penn researchers who collaborate with researchers at other NTI affiliated institutions will be considered. However, the Principal Investigator on the application must be a Penn faculty member.

II. Reproductive Epigenetics

Pilot-projects in the area of reproductive epigenetics will be jointly funded by the CEET and the Center for Environmental Genetics at the University of Cincinnati. Projects must have a principal investigator from both P30 Environmental Health Science Core Centers. For a list of partner P.I.’s from the University of Cincinnati and their research interests please contact:

Elizabeth J. Kopras, 513-558-3625, koprasej@ucmail.uc.edu.

III. Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute

The Abramson Cancer Center and the CEET will fund pilot projects in the area of Tobacco and Environmental Carcinogenesis, proposals with a basic, cical and/or population science focus must include a current Abramson Cancer Center member or CEET investigator must be PI.  Collaborative research that has a high potential to lead to external funding will be given priority.

Awards of up to $25,000 will be made. The research being proposed cannot be funded by an external funding agency.   If funded, a progress report is required at the end of the funding period and awardees must present their findings at a CEET Chalk Talk. The Center grant must be acknowledged on all publications resulting from the supported research.  Use of CEET Molecular Profiling Core Services (toxicogenomics, toxicoproteomics, and biomarkers) is strongly encouraged.

The following should be submitted for the internal review by Monday, October 31:

1. State what competition you are applying for and provide the title of application;
2.  Personnel information, name, position, title, and contact information;
3.  2-page NIH Biosketch;
4.  List of Current and Pending grant support;
5.  An abstract;
6.  A statement to indicate how this project would lead to extramural funding;

Items 7 to 10 should not exceed 5 pages:
7. Specific aims;
8. Significance which must state relevance to environmental health;
9. Preliminary studies;
10. Methods;
11. References; and,
12. Budget  -  Items that can be requested include salary of support personnel, supplies and minor equipment. Investigators cannot claim salary support for themselves and requests for travel are not permitted.

Please e-mail completed applications to webster@upenn.edu by Monday, October 31.

All applications will be reviewed by a committee of senior faculty and external experts as necessary and successful applicants will be notified by December 1, 2011.  The awards will have a start date of January 1, 2012.

To learn more about this new initiative, please see the attached link: www.nsf.gov/i-corps.   The link to the solicitation is: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11560/nsf11560.htm?org=NSF

If you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact the cognizant PD in ENG for this initiative:

Rathindra (Babu) DasGupta, Ph.D
Program Director, I/UCRC
Directorate for Engineering
Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships

4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 575.07
Arlington, VA 22230
Tel: 703-292-8353
Fax: 703-292-9057

Email: rdasgupt@nsf.gov

Due Date Window: August 15, 2011 – September 15, 2011

Sponsors:

• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Directorate for Engineering (ENG)
• Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET)

The Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology program provides support to develop and test the environmental effects of nanotechnologies.

Fundamental research is sought to understand, evaluate, and mitigate the impact of nanotechnology on the environment and biological systems.  The program also supports research on the development and refinement of sensors and sensor network technologies that can be used to measure a wide variety of physical, chemical, and biological properties of interest in characterizing, monitoring, and understanding environmental impacts.

The program emphasizes engineering principles underlying the environmental health and safety impacts of nanotechnology.  Innovative methods related to production processes, waste reduction, recycling, and industrial ecology of nanotechnology are of interest.

Current areas of support include:

• Understanding and mitigating the effects of nanotechnology and biotechnology on the environment
• Nanotechnology environmental health and safety impacts and applications
• Predictive methodology for the interaction of nanoparticles with the environment and with the human body, including predictive approaches for toxicity
• Fate and transport of natural, engineered, and incidental (by-product) nanoparticles
• Risk assessment and management of the effect of nanomaterials in the environment

Current areas of support for this program do not include biomedical and nanotoxicology topics involving clinical trials.

All proposed research should be driven by engineering principles, and presented in an environmental health and safety or environmental sensor context.  Proposals should include involvement of at least one engineering student.

Proposals should address the novelty of the concept being proposed, compared to previous work in the field.  Also, it is important to address why the novelty might be important in terms of engineering science, as well as to also project the potential impact on society and /or industry of success in the research.  The information requested in this paragraph should be included, as a minimum, in the Project Summary of each proposal.

The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years.  The average annual award size for the program is $100,000.  Small equipment proposals of less than $100,000 will also be considered and may be submitted during these windows.  Any proposal received outside the announced dates will be returned without review.

The duration of Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program awards is five years.  The submission deadline for Engineering CAREER proposals is in July every year.  Please see the following URL for more information:

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503214

Proposals for Conferences, Workshops, and Supplements may be submitted at any time, but must be discussed with the program director before submission.

Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) and EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) replace the SGER program.  Please note that proposals of these types must be discussed with the program director before submission.  Further details are available in the PAPPG download.

Contact:
Geoffrey A. Prentice
gprentic@nsf.gov
(703) 292-8320

The QED Proof-of-Concept Program provides commercialization advice and bridge funding to life science technologies that are still being developed within an academic setting, and that require one or more critical research steps before they are ready for transfer to the private sector. The program is open to researchers at 19 academic institutions throughout Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (please consult the Science Center website).

*If you have any questions or considering applying for this Program, please contact Michael Poisel at mpoisel@ctt.upenn.edu. Questions about the QED Program itself may also be directed to the QED Program Manager (qed@sciencecenter.org).*

The event agenda, including directions, registration information, sponsorship opportunities can be found on the DNI website – http://www.nano.drexel.edu

If you have any questions please contact Jill Buckley, the Business Coordinator for the Drexel Nanotechnology Institute at jmb368@drexel.edu

We hope to see you there!

Thank you

Nanotechnology: The Huge Challenge of Regulating Tiny Technologies
Wednesday, May 4
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

In the coming years, nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize fields ranging from health care to manufacturing. As in many other rapidly evolving fields, however, federal regulation has been unable to keep pace with the rate of evolution regarding potential issues, such as environmental or human health impacts. At this policy forum, a diverse group of experts will discuss the issues, concerns and public policies needed to maximize the benefits of this emerging technology while minimizing the risks in order to encourage further development, scientific exploration, and responsible commercialization of this technology.

Speakers include:

Michele Ostraat, PhD
Senior Director, Center for Aerosol and Nanomaterials Engineering
RTI International

Sally Tinkle, PhD
Deputy Director
National Nanotechnology Coordination Office

Jim Alwood
Toxic Substances Control Act Nanotechnology Coordinator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Cole Matson, PhD
Executive Director
Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology at Duke University
Moderator

Jim Trainham, PhD
Vice President, Strategic Energy Initiatives
RTI International
The National Press Club
The Ballroom
529 14th Street N.W.
Washington, DC

(https://www.rti.org/registrations/registrations.cfm?regid=21) RSVP by May 2, 2011 or (http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?objectid=4F1E41AF-5056-B100-31FE7BB610DB5A3C) learn more about the event.

For information, contact Lisa Bistreich-Wolfe, 919.316.3596, lbistreich@rti.org.

©2011 RTI International. RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.

Tomas Diaz De La Rubia, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
“An Alternative Approach to Sustainable, Low-Carbon Energy: Inertial Fusion Energy and its Materials Challenges”

Daniel S. Gianola, University of Pennsylvania
“Deformation at the Nanoscale: Pushing the Limits of Strength”

James S. Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Statistical Themodynamics of Materials (Extremely?) Far from Equilibrium.”

Ju Li, University of Pennsylvania
“Extremely Small Batteries”

Ian Robertson, University of Illinois
“New approaches for understanding degradation mechanisms of metals exposed to extreme environments.”

Eric Stach, Brookhaven National Laboratory
“Utilization of aberration-corrected electron microscopy in catalysis research”

Suo Zhigang , Harvard
“Lithium-ion batteries—when mechanics meets chemistry”

Krystyn Van Vliet, MIT
“Chemomechanics of far-from-equilibrium interfaces (COFFEI) in electrochemical conversion & storage”

Steven J. Zinkle, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
“Materials Science for Nuclear Energy Applications”

Krishna P. Singh, Holtec International
Lecture: TBD

Check out our website for more information AND to register for this event!

The Nano-Bio Interface Center announces a pilot project program on Physical Science inCancer Research. The fields of cancer biology and clinical oncology have been dominated byresearchers with classical training in life sciences. More recently, the field has expanded toinclude physical and engineering scientists, whose expertise is complementary to those of lifescientists. The goal of the NBIC Physical Science in Cancer Research Pilot Program is tosupport new approaches that apply emerging nanotechnology based science and engineering tocancer biology, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, and related topics.

Awards of up to $50,000 will be made with a start date of April 15, 2011.

Click here to download the full details.