September 8, 2005
Dear Colleagues,
The devastating loss of life and suffering caused by
Hurricane Katrina has shocked and saddened us all. Our
thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones, homes,
and livelihood.
We are writing to you as part of the DOE Office of Science
family. Many have already begun to welcome into their
institutions colleagues in the science community who
have been displaced by the effects of the Hurricane
Katrina. The Office of Science would like to help in
the effort to ensure that faculty and students displaced
by the disaster may continue their research and studies
at other institutions.
The Office of Science has established
a temporary program to match interested displaced students
and faculty researchers—who may be eligible regardless
of current DOE funding status—with research programs
that currently receive grants from our office and that
wish to host such displaced individuals. The Office
of Science has set up a clearinghouse through DOE Oak
Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) to
match displaced individuals with host grant recipients,
and will consider on a case-by-case basis modest supplemental
funding to existing programs in order to facilitate
this process.
For grantees wishing to host displaced
individuals and grantees whose work has been affected
by issues resulting from this disaster, the Office of
Science will consider special needs requests for supplements
to ongoing grants and field work proposals (FWPs). The
fastest way to obtain information about a specific proposed
activity is to contact the DOE Office of Science Program
Manager responsible for the ongoing grant or FWP. If
there is any question about whom you should contact
at DOE Headquarters, feel free to contact Chris Yetter,
who will route your inquiry to the right person. He
can be contacted by emailing Christopher.Yetter@science.doe.gov
or by calling (301) 903-4353.
Displaced students and faculty researchers
from affected universities will be able to indicate
their interest in being hosted by a current grant recipient
and complete request for assistance forms on-line at
the clearinghouse website. Office of Science supported
Principal Investigators and Office of Science Program
Managers will be able to log-in online to sort and view
the individual requests for assistance. All contact
information for the students and faculty will be provided
on the assistance forms which will enable timely contact
with students and faculty by the potential host. We
encourage interested individuals to visit the ORISE
clearinghouse website at www.orau.gov/doeedrelief/.
Our colleagues in science have historically
been a close-knit, generous community. This has been
one of the joys of working in this community for so
many years. I know that you will now want to reach out
to those who have suffered from Hurricane Katrina and
help them rebuild their futures.
Sincerely,
Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
Director, Office of Science
United States Department of Energy
To apply for assistance under this DOE
Office of Science initiative, please click
here.
Links to
science community hurricane response
resources: |
|
Katrina
Affected Physics and Astronomy Community Bulletin
Board
(a collaboration of the American Association of
Physics Teachers, the American Institute of Physics
(AIP), the American Physical Society, the American
Astronomical Society and other AIP Member Societies) |
|