Have an update to share or publicize? Contact Brian-Morelli@uiowa.edu
ITI seed grants empower research
ITI (then CCAD) introduced a seed grant program in 2019 called CRISP, or CCAD Research Initiative Seed Program, to sponsor preliminary research and/or preparation activities necessary to apply for competitive medium and large scale externally-funded research programs. The CRISP program is one example of how ITI advances the University's mission of faculty-led research.
A total of $200,000 was distributed to eight projects. Principal investigators have already leveraged the seed grants to secure larger externally funded grants, and others are awaiting final confirmation of awards in the coming months.
Read more about what PIs have accomplished here.
Weigh In: ITI investing in computational resources and data storage
Data and computation are two key elements of many research projects that ITI faculty and scientists are conducting. The ITI has made and will continue to make significant investment in computational resources for different individual PIs.
ITI embraces the ever-increasing needs of computing power and the emergent research forefronts of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that are shaping nearly all research disciplines. ITI is in the planning phase to work with High Performance Computing (HPC) to establish shared computational resources and data storages for all ITI members, especially those that like to use ML and AI as their research tools but have difficulty finding resources to do so. In addition, these shared resources will be helpful to those research groups who already have their own computational facilities and still need extra resources from time-to-time to cope with various demands, such as big projects with hard deadlines and/or large-scale short-term experiments to obtain preliminary results for preparing proposals.
Provide your input for planning this shared computational resources, please contact Jun-Wang-1@uiowa.edu.
F&A funding model update
CoE Dean Harriet Nembhard announced on Sept. 23 the college in partnership with central administration is beginning a plan to realign the CoE's Facilities and Administration Revenue Model. A draft memorandum of understanding from the CoE and central administration leaders described one approach to changing the F&A funding model. ITI has concerns the draft approach would severely reduce the revenue to the centers, restrict academic freedom, interfere with faculty-led research, and erode the framework that has helped ITI compete for and win large-scale contracts and grants on a regular basis. CoE and ITI faculty and staff were not included in the development of the draft MoU. The ITI leadership team has been making the case for more transparency, collaboration, and input from faculty and staff.
ITI leaders plan to provide an update during the Fall Faculty and Staff Retreat this Friday afternoon, Oct 2. ITI will also present the concerns and alternative approaches to central administration next week. Karim will update the Faculty Senate on faculty concerns, and Travis will represent staff concerns to the UI Staff Council. We are asking they support and advocate our position with the central administration and COE leadership.
Provide input
Share your voice. How will these changes impact your work? What value does ITI add to you and your research? Feedback about the F&A budget model are being organized anonymously to share with appropriate parties on campus. Faculty should contact Karim (amalek@engineering.uiowa.edu). Staff should contact Travis Klopfenstein (Travis-Klopfenstein@uiowa.edu).
ITI News
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $1 million phase one grant earlier this month to an Iowa-led team to advance medical imaging research through artificial intelligence (AI).
IowaNow feature: Technology born out of military-funded research in the University of Iowa’s Virtual Soldier Research Program (VSR) soon may be used in schools, hospitals, stores, and other places to improve safety.
University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) researchers were recognized by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as being among the nation’s best for their "exceptional approach to solving a public health problem.”
Inside the Lab: Student Stories
Rae Corrigan is a fourth-year PhD student in biomedical engineering from Norwalk, Iowa. She works in the Michael Schnieder's lab
"I joined the Iowa Technology Institute as an undergraduate at the University of Iowa, having never done research before. I liked it so much that I decided to stay on as a graduate student, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be doing meaningful work as part of such a great group!”
Learn more about Rae, here. Explore more students featured "Inside the Lab," here.
Upcoming
October 2, 2020 from 1 to 4:30 p.m.: Fall virtual retreat for faculty and staff.
Reminders
Campus Climate Survey: Faculty, staff, and postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to complete a Campus Climate Survey. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students will not take this survey, but instead will be asked to complete the SERU survey during the spring 2021 semester.
Request updates to the ITI website (ITI.uiowa.edu) — i.e. information about labs, research, staff, etc. — by contacting brian-morelli@uiowa.edu or melanie-laverman@uiowa.edu.
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