[Office-of-research] GAANN Proposals

[Charles -Jr E Greer]

Dear department chairs and graduate program directors:

Soon, the U.S. Department of Education is expected to release its next GAANN solicitation (Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need).  Last year it was Dec. 15, with a proposal deadline in January.  Every UCR PhD-granting program in an "area of national need" is eligible.

To prepare campus to respond, VC Pazzani has scheduled a workshop for 3 p.m. December 11 in Science Library 240 for PIs and administrators in departments and programs that envision submitting GAANN proposals this time around.  If your program is in Engineering you will have received a similar invitation.

Background:  Who is eligible?  Every GAANN solicitation includes designated "areas of national need" that change slightly for each competition.

In 2011 the GAANN solicitation included these areas:


*       Area Studies

*       Biological Sciences/Life Sciences

*       Chemistry

*       Computer and Information Sciences

*       Engineering

*       Foreign Languages and Literatures

*       Mathematics

*       Nursing

*       Physics

*        Educational Evaluation, Research, and Statistics
Every GAANN to date has included Life Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Math, and Physics.  Other areas, including Earth sciences, sometimes are included, sometimes not.

If the rules don't change, each department or degree program will be eligible to submit one proposal. A department that already has an active GAANN award can submit a proposal to support graduate students in a different area. For example, EE already has a GAANN award in systems engineering for communications, computing, and controls; so this year it could propose something more on the materials side.

GAANN proposals include a great deal of pro forma material, including the Evaluation section, letters of support and cost sharing, and budgets, which staff are preparing to supply each applicant.

The challenge of the GAANN is to maximize points in every section and receive a score as close as possible to 100. Typically, one needs a score of 96 or higher to be funded. Last year, proposals with higher scores (>97) received more fellowships than those that just made the pay line.

The purpose of the workshop will be to identify what we can do to make our proposals as successful as possible.

We hope to see you at the GAANN workshop at 3 p.m. December 11 in Science Library 240.

Randy Black, Office of RED      Mitch Boretz, Bourns School      Mike Mueller, CNAS


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