New Science.org article: Federal funding agencies say no to using AI for peer review
Neuroscientist Greg Siegle was at a conference in early April when he heard something he found “very scary.” Another scientist was gushing that ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence tool released in November 2022, had quickly become indispensable for drafting critiques of the thick research proposals he had to wade through as a peer reviewer for the National Institutes of Health. The NIH and other funding agencies, however, are putting the kibosh on the approach. In June, the NIH banned the use of online generative AI tools like ChatGPT “for analyzing and formulating peer-review critiques.” Read more.
Racial Justice and Equity Research Fund now accepting proposals
The offices of the Vice President of Research and the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, are now accepting proposals for funding through the 2023 Racial Justice and Equity Research Fund (RJERF). By empowering our world-class faculty to better understand the ways race, racism and racial prejudice function in society and make substantive advancements for racial equity, USC aims to promote real and lasting racial justice in our local community, state and nation. USC faculty in all disciplines, working on all system campuses are eligible to submit proposals in response to the 2023 RJERF Call for Proposals. Complete proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 7, 2023.
Propel Research Mentorship Program now accepting applications
The Propel Research Mentorship Program offers in-depth workshops, mentoring and other support throughout the academic year to give new and early-career faculty members an edge as they develop and finalize a grant proposal for submission to the NIH or NSF at the end of the program term. Participants in the program have reported feeling significantly more ready to prepare and submit federal grant proposals, making great connections with their assigned mentors and fellow mentees, and receiving useful feedback and suggestions that helped them sharpen their research plans and proposal writing. Propel applications for the 2023-2024 academic year are due by Friday, August 4. Complete application details are available on the Office of the Vice President for Research website.
Check out the new NSF Public Access Plan
The NSF has issued the much-anticipated new public access plan for NSF-funded research, called the “Public Access Plan 2.0.” The new document addresses new requirements for access to publications and research data, researcher responsibilities regarding research data, and research integrity. Essentially, this update to NSF policies responds to the direction provided by the Office of Science and Technology August 2022 memo (pdf). USC researchers with questions about the new plan and how it affects their own research data, are encouraged to reach out to Stacy Winchester, Research Data Librarian with University Libraries.
20 July 2023