Remember those researchers at Lehigh University who were accused of defrauding NASA? They were convicted last week. One of the most important things about this case, in my opinion, is the fact that these were not “bad guys.” They just did not think through their decisions and the implications thereof.
“[A] juror said the panel believed there was no scheme or intent to defraud the government — two key elements of the crime of wire fraud — until ArkLight submitted a proposal for the second round of funding. It included a description of Zotova’s role identical to that in the original proposal, even though she had not followed through on the commitment to supervise researchers at Lehigh.”
In related news, a researcher at UCSD has likewise been charged with fraud. In this case, the issues were related to effort:
“Karimabadi also failed to disclose all of his and SciberQuest’s current and pending grants and contracts, overstating the time he could commit to the projects he applied for. In one proposal to the National Science Foundation, Karimabadi left out 10 current and five pending grants, claiming he had only committed to three months of work per year. In reality, he had committed over 19 months of work per year to various agencies.”
Yes, our funding agencies ARE paying attention, and these details DO matter!
NIH News (because there’s always NIH news!): FAPIIS takes effect on February 16. FAPIIS stands for Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System, and data in this system is now going to be used by NIH when making awards. Awardees will also have to report information in FAPIIS. Click here to learn more.
NIH Fiscal Policy for Grant Awards for FY16 has been released.
NRSA Stipend levels are increasing this year. You can find the new stipend levels here.
Clarification has also been released about K08 and K23 Career Awards. More information is available here.
Title IX News: There is interest in Congress right now in cases involving university scientists and sexual harassment. The discussion involves potentially requiring universities to disclose sexual harassment claims or Title IX violations to an individual’s possible future employers. This is generating quite a bit of Sturm und Drang. Read all about it.
One thing is clear, however: The National Science Foundation is serious about preventing sexual harassment at its grantee institutions!
“NSF may terminate funding to any institution found to be in noncompliance with Title IX regulations and that does not voluntarily come into compliance.”
