The 2 1/2 hour federal funding opportunities workshop, sponsored by the UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, will take place Tuesday, Dec. 13, in the Eppley Science Hall Auditorium from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Space is still available; contact Valerie Gunderson at 559-8321 to attend.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Officer Chris L. Greer, Ph.D., will present at the Dec. 13 workshop on research and education federal funding opportunities.
Dr. Greer received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley where he worked with Dr. Randy Schekman on cytoskeleton structure and function. Postdoctoral training was undertaken with Dr. John Abelson at CalTech and focused on RNA splicing mechanisms. Dr. Greer was a member of the faculty at the University of California at Irvine in the department of biological chemistry for approximately 18 years where his research on gene expression pathways was supported by grants from the NSF, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Heart Association. During that time, he was founding executive officer of the RNA Society, an international professional organization with more than 800 members from 21 countries worldwide.
Dr. Greer has been a rotator and, more recently a member of the permanent staff at the NSF. He has served as program director and acting deputy division director in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB). His current appointment as program director in the Division of Biological Infrastructure includes responsibility for certain of the cross-cutting activities in the Emerging Frontiers Division including Research Coordination Networks and Frontiers in Integrative Biological Chemistry. Dr. Greer recently served as executive secretary of the Long-Lived Data Collections Task Force of the National Science Board.
The MCB supports research and related activities that contribute to a fundamental understanding of life processes at the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels.
Investigator-initiated research proposals are considered in the following clusters: Biomolecular Systems, Cellular Systems, and Genes and Genome Systems. Programs in MCB also support fundamental studies leading to technological innovation, proposals with substantial computational components, and multidisciplinary and small group research. MCB programs particularly encourage submission of proposals involving microbial biology, plant biology, theoretical and computational aspects of molecular and cellular studies, and molecular evolution. Genomic approaches are encouraged in all areas.
The division also coordinates a special BIO-wide competition for microbial observatories and microbial interactions and processes. In addition, the division supports a variety of NSF-wide activities including biocomplexity in the environment, information technology research, science and technology at the nanoscale, and foundation-wide activities designed to promote integration of research and education, such as the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) and the Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) Programs.