DHS Summer Research Team Program

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The following information is posted for information purposes only. It reflects the program benefits and conditions for the previous competition cycle. Updated information for the upcoming competition cycle will be posted at this same web address in the fall.

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A. Program Description

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, Office of University Programs is seeking applications for summer research appointments for faculty and student research teams to participate in the DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions to conduct research at the DHS Centers of Excellence (DHS Centers). These Teams must be from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Universities. The intent of the DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions is to provide research opportunities to diverse and highly talented individuals in order to increase and enhance the scientific leadership at Minority Serving Institutions in research areas that support the mission and goals of DHS. In addition, the Program is designed to engage early career faculty, along with undergraduate and graduate students, in research that will provide them opportunities to understand the mission and research needs of DHS and advance research areas of importance to DHS, while strengthening the talent pool of scientists and engineers.

Summer research opportunities will be awarded to qualified faculty members and students to work on collaborative research of mutual interest to the Team, the DHS Center, and DHS. Faculty members and students must be studying in a homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) field with an interest in one of the homeland security research areas listed below:

Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
Risk and Decision Sciences
Human Factors Aspects of Technology
Chemical Threats and Countermeasures
Biological Threats and Countermeasures
Food and Agriculture Security
Transportation Security
Border Security
Immigration Studies
Maritime and Port Security
Infrastructure Protection
Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Communications and Interoperability
Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization

There may be funding for follow-on collaborative research between the DHS Center and the Minority Serving Institution during the 2008-2009 academic year.

B. Expectations

Each team member completes a 10 to 12 week full-time research experience at one of the DHS Centers.
Each Team co-authors a research proposal with the DHS Center, during the summer, that identifies a potential collaborative research opportunity between the Team’s institution and the DHS Center. DHS will review the proposal and consider follow-on funding for the MSI.
Each Team conducts a research briefing at the DHS Center near the completion of the summer research experience and may be invited to conduct a briefing at the DHS S&T Directorate in Washington, DC.
Each team member completes a final DHS feedback form.
Each team member submits a five-page summary report of his or her research experience to be submitted to DHS through ORISE.
Each faculty team member submits a 1-2 page plan that addresses how they will integrate the DHS summer research experience into classroom teaching.

C. Awards and Duration

Faculty and student summer research opportunities are conducted at DHS Centers of Excellence.

The awards are: $1,200 a week for full-time faculty members, $600 a week for rising and full-time graduate students, and $500 a week for full-time undergraduate students (rising juniors and seniors) for 10 to 12 weeks (May through August 2008). The maximum stipend for faculty is $14,400; for graduate students $7,200; and for undergraduates $6,000. Students that participant at a DHS Center that is located in an area designated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as a locality pay area may request a locality supplement. If approved, a supplement to the stipend will be determined by adding the OPM locality payment percentage increase to the stipend. Areas that may qualify include Washington/Baltimore, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and New York City.

A relocation allowance of $1,500 will be provided to full-time faculty members who are employed by an institution more than fifty miles, one-way, from their assigned DHS Center. Limited travel expenses for one round-trip will be reimbursed for faculty members who receive the relocation allowance. Maximum combined allowance is $2,000 for both relocation and travel. Travel by the faculty member and/or student team members during the summer in support of the Team’s research may be approved for expense reimbursement by DHS/ORISE according to government travel policies. Travel plans must be approved by DHS/ORISE before travel begins. Travel that has not been approved before travel begins will not be reimbursed by DHS/ORISE.

Limited travel expenses for one round-trip will be reimbursed for graduate and undergraduate students attending an institution more than fifty miles, one-way, from their assigned DHS Center. Maximum travel reimbursement is $500 round trip.

All living expenses including local transportation, room, board and entertainment are the responsibility of the faculty and student participants. Participants are responsible for securing their own living space and determining their means of local transportation prior to arriving at the designated institution. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Program participants to pay all bills associated with living expenses by the departure date from the DHS Center.

The DHS Center will be responsible for providing the research equipment and supplies required for the Team’s project.

DHS is the funding organization for the research experiences at the DHS Centers. DHS has partnered with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) to manage the notification and review process, and implement the Program. ORISE will work with the DHS Centers and arrange the Team placements at the DHS Centers. ORISE will create, collect and disseminate applications and manage the stipends, duration and relocation/travel arrangements. However, ORISE and DHS are not responsible for locating or providing room, board or local transportation. DHS will be responsible for the program assessment and evaluation to determine success in meeting the program goals. DHS S&T Office of University Programs will make the final selections of Teams. However ORISE will manage the application process and administer the Program on behalf of DHS.

Faculty team members are responsible for identifying one or two qualified students with whom they will work and submit a joint application. Faculty team members are expected to recruit students who have an appropriate background and skill set for the research that the Team will accomplish during their appointment, and possess a strong work ethic and appropriate level of maturity. GPA requirements for students are listed in Section E and will be strictly enforced. Faculty team members should ensure that all student team members meet the GPA requirement.

Participation in the Program is full-time, on-site at the DHS Center based on 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Team members unable to fulfill the full-time requirement may be terminated from the Program.

Faculty team members who receive awards are required to attend a mandatory one-day orientation session that will be funded by DHS S&T Office of University Programs. At the orientation session faculty team members will have the opportunity to meet DHS personnel. A copy of the Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions Policies and Procedures Handbook is available for review at http://www.orau.gov/dhsfaculty/2008pages/DHShandbook.pdf. Faculty and student team members who receive an award must review the final handbook before accepting the award.

Each Team will be expected to sign a Research Appointment Letter, which serves as the funding instrument. Receipt of all deliverables, reference Section B of this document, is required before issuance of final stipend payment. Available funds are for awards for the summer of 2008 and awards may not be deferred.

DHS is fully committed to implementing all Federal laws, regulations and guidelines related to the development of affirmative employment plans and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Therefore, we strongly encourage the participation of persons with disabilities in the Program. To facilitate the participation of individuals with targeted disabilities, DHS will provide up to $1,500 in supplemental funding for special assistance and/or equipment necessary to enable the researcher to perform the work under the award.

DHS reserves the right to make no awards or to cancel this Program. DHS assumes no liability for canceling the Program or for anyone’s failure to receive actual notification of cancellation.

D. Institution Eligibility

Eligible institutions are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Universities.

Specifically, applicants’ institutions must meet at least one of the following criteria:

Must be an accredited two- or four-year Historically Black College or University under Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1061); or
Must be an accredited two- or four-year Hispanic Serving Institution under Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)); or
Tribal colleges and universities must be cited in the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994, the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978, or the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978; or
An Alaska Native-serving institution must be cited in 20 U.S.C. 1058(b) and 20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)(2). A Native Hawaiian-serving institution must be cited in 20 U.S.C. 1058(b) and 20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)(4).

Eligible institutions under each of these categories can be found using the appropriate link on the U.S. Department of Education’s lists of postsecondary minority institutions at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.html.

E. Applicant Eligibility

Faculty team members are subject to the following criteria:

Be a United States citizen.
Be a full-time faculty member at an eligible institution as defined in Section D.
Be available to participate for 10 to 12 weeks full-time in the Program.
Have coverage under a health insurance plan before arriving at the appointment site and maintain it during the appointment.
Be early career (no more than seven years since receipt of a PhD as of the application deadline) and in a tenure-track position at an institution that meets the criteria listed in Section D above.
Having a minimum of two years full-time research and/or teaching experience is preferred.
Have a PhD in a homeland security science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (HS-STEM) field with interest in a homeland security research area. See Research Areas list.

Student team members are subject to the following criteria:

Be a United States citizen.
Have an overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale as of the application deadline and provide official transcripts to verify enrollment and GPA.
Be available to participate full-time for the same number of weeks as the faculty team member.
Have coverage under a health insurance plan before arriving at the appointment site and maintain it during the appointment.
Undergraduate students must be rising juniors and seniors by summer 2008, be at least 18 years of age at the start of the Program, and be currently enrolled full-time and planning to be enrolled full-time as of fall 2008 at an institution that meets the criteria listed in Section D above.
Rising graduate students must be currently enrolled as a senior at an institution that meets the criteria listed in Section D above, be at least 18 years of age at the start of the Program, and be accepted into graduate school and enrolled full-time as of fall 2008.
Current graduate students must be at least 18 years of age at the start of the Program and be currently enrolled full-time and planning to be enrolled full-time as of fall 2008 at an institution that meets the criteria listed in Section D above.
Be majoring in a homeland security science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (HS-STEM) field with interest in a homeland security research area. See Research Areas list.

The Teams may not conduct their 10 to 12 week research experience at their home institution. Faculty and student team members may not participate in more than two competition cycles.

F. Location

Successful applicants will be expected to conduct research full-time and contribute to the advancement of the 16 research areas of importance to DHS. Appointments are 10 to 12 weeks between the months of May and August 2008 at one of the following DHS Center locations or one of their affiliated university partners:

Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA) – Michigan State University (Lead University)
Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) – University of Southern California (Lead University)
National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) – University of Minnesota (Lead University)
National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense (FAZD) – Texas A&M University (Lead University)
National Center for the Study of Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER) – Johns Hopkins University (Lead University)
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) – University of Maryland (Lead University)
National Visualization and Analytics Center (NVAC) and Regional Visualization and Analytics Centers (RVACs) - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Lead Organization)
University Affiliate Centers to the Institute for Discrete Sciences (IDS-UACs) – Rutgers University (Lead University)

For additional information on each of these DHS Centers and a listing of all affiliated university partners in the DHS Network refer to http://www.orau.gov/dhsfaculty/2008pages/references.html.

G. Research Areas

It is imperative that all Teams communicate directly with the listed points of contact for the DHS Center they are considering prior to submitting an application. To ensure clarity on the research project, its goals, the location of the research project, and also to receive pre-approval for the project, the Teams must communicate with the DHS Center point of contact. Applications from Teams that have not contacted the DHS Centers prior to the deadline will not be considered.

Teams may select one project from up to two DHS Centers. When completing the application, Teams must list the DHS Center selections in order of preference. With pre-approval from a DHS Center before submitting an application, Teams may continue research projects that were started at their institutions or begin new projects. Funding is limited and will be directed to the highest priority research needs.

H. Submission Limitations

There is no limitation on the number of team applications from any single institution.

I. Application Requirements

The application materials for the DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions are available at: http://www.orau.gov/dhsfaculty/2008pages/applications.html.

Required items:

Completed Application Forms (both faculty and student forms) submitted by the faculty team member in one envelope to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008. To protect your personal information mark envelope “To Be Opened by Addressee Only”
Curriculum vitae submitted by the faculty team member in the same envelope as the application forms to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008. Curriculum vitae should include all items listed below within a five-page limit:
1. Colleges attended, with dates of attendance and degrees received, field, and titles of theses and dissertations;
2. Chronology of professional employment and significant academic and professional activities;
3. List of publications authored and co-authored, with refereed journal articles listed separately from reports, abstracts, papers in conference proceedings, etc.;
4. Research experience; and
5. Courses taught.
Two letters of reference for the faculty team member, one from the faculty team member’s Dean of Research and one from the faculty team member’s Department Head, submitted by the references electronically by February 1, 2008, or sent by the reference to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008.
Two letters of reference for each student team member (faculty team member cannot provide a reference) submitted by the references electronically by February 1, 2008, or sent by the reference to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008.
Official transcript(s) for each student team member sent directly from the Registrar to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008.
Documentation of application to graduate school for fall 2008 for rising graduate students (seniors at the time of application) sent by the applicant to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008.
Copy of Birth Certificate for applicants that cannot provide a current or expired U.S. Passport number on their application form sent by the applicant to ORISE via postal mail with a postmark deadline of February 1, 2008.

Discussions with the DHS Center point of contact about the proposed research topics are required before the submission of an application. Documentation of this contact will be required on the application form.

J. Application Compliance

All applications must comply with the general requirements of this document. Applications that do not meet the items below will be disqualified and rejected without further review:

Submission of an application by an eligible faculty member and student(s) from eligible institutions as specified in Sections D and E.
Receipt of all required items on or before the application submission due date.

K. Evaluation Process

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Relevance and intrinsic merit of the research: The relevance and quality of the proposed research project, as stated in the application, to the DHS Center’s goals and one of the 16 research areas. (40 percent)
Faculty applicant qualifications: Evidence of the researcher’s skills, experience, and past accomplishments that demonstrate their capability to participate in a DHS S&T Office of University Programs research program. (30 percent)
Academic benefit: The overall academic benefit to the faculty applicant and his/her institution as described by the applicant. (10 percent)
Student applicant qualifications: The overall qualifications of the student applicant(s). Evidence of their interest and willingness to contribute to the success of the Team based on their essay responses. (20 percent)

Applications will be evaluated on the basis of merit review. The reviewers will assess applications based on the criteria outlined in the evaluation criteria:

Adjective	Definition
Excellent	A comprehensive and thorough application of exceptional merit, with numerous strengths and no major weaknesses.
Very good	An application that demonstrates overall competence and is worthy of support. However, the application has a few minor weaknesses.
Good	An application with a reasonable sound response. There are more strengths than weaknesses.
Fair	An application with strengths and weaknesses approximately equal. However, as a whole, weaknesses are not offset by strengths.
Poor	An application with serious deficiencies and should not be supported. There are numerous weaknesses and few strengths.

Faculty and student selection recommendations will be made by the respective DHS Centers with the final selection by DHS S&T Office of University Programs.

L. Deadline for Submission of the Application

The deadline for submission of the materials is February 1, 2008, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. For those items sent via e-mail, this is a receipt deadline. For those items sent via postal mail, this is a postmark deadline.

M. Submitting Applications and Notification

Application materials that are required to be submitted electronically should be sent to:
dhsed@orau.org.

Application materials that are required to be submitted via postal mail should be sent to:

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions
ATTN: Project Manager, MS-36
PO Box 117
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0117

It is anticipated that Teams selected will be notified by email the week of February 25, 2008. Selection notification will also be made in writing to the Dean and Department Head who provided the letters of reference and to the Institution President. Additionally, selection notification will be made by email to the DHS Center or major partner. All selection notifications will be conducted by ORISE.

Teams not selected will be notified by email.

N. Contact Information

Questions	Email Address	Point of Contact Information
Questions about the application submission process	dhsed@orau.org	Martha Payne 865-576-8233
Questions about CAMRA	haas@drexel.edu	Dr. Charles Haas 215-895-2283
Questions about CREATE	imaya@usc.edu	Dr. Isaac Maya 213-740-3865
Questions about FAZD	tfpowdrill@ag.tamu.edu	Dr. Tom Powdrill 979-845-3548
Questions about IDS-UACs	froberts@dimacs.rutgers.edu	Dr. Fred Roberts 732-445-4303
Questions about NCFPD	fbusta@umn.edu	Dr. Frank Busta 612-624-2164
Questions about NVAC/RVACs	Richard.May@pnl.gov Kris.Cook@pnl.gov	Dr. Richard May (National) 509-375-6976 Dr. Kris Cook (Regional) 509-375-6347
Questions about PACER	Mthanne1@jhmi.edu	Dr. Meridith H. Thanner 410-735-6442
Questions about START	kworboys@start.umd.edu	Dr. Kate Worboys 301-405-6786

O. Application Submission Checklist

Required items for faculty team member

Completed Application Form
Curriculum vitae
Letter of Reference from Dean of Research
Letter of Reference from Department Chair
Copy of Birth Certificate for any applicant that cannot provide a current or expired U.S. Passport number on Application Form

Required items for student team member(s)

Completed Application Form (submitted by faculty team member)
Two (2) Letters of Reference (Letter of Reference cannot be written by faculty team member)
Official transcript(s)
Documentation of application to graduate school for fall 2008 for rising graduate students (seniors at the time of application)
Copy of Birth Certificate for any applicant that cannot provide a current or expired U.S. Passport number on Application Form