The FCC has initiated a pilot funding program to facilitate the creation of a nationwide broadband network dedicated to health care, connecting public and private non-profit health care providers in rural and urban locations.

 See the FCC page for the full annoucement.

Announcing the 2008 Biennial Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program Symposium, Wednesday, August 6 – Friday, August 8, Wardman Park Marriott Hotel, Washington, D.C.

This Symposium will bring together IDeA Program participants to showcase their accomplishments, exchange ideas, foster collaborations, encourage educational opportunities, demonstrate the Program’s progress in developing biomedical resources and research capacity in IDeA states, and participate in strategic planning sessions to further develop, improve and grow the IDeA Program.

There will be scientific sessions and poster presentations highlighting areas of research supported by IDeA’s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) and Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), as well as technical and administrative sessions and workshops.

We encourage attendance by principal investigators, program coordinators, investigators, staff, and students, from IDeA research institutes and institutions, and from partner primarily undergraduate institutions. This meeting is open to all interested parties.

The meeting will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 6, and adjourn at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 8.

Registration information and a preliminary agenda are forthcoming, and will be distributed to all mailing lists and posted on the NCRR Web site.

The goal of the Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics (UBM) activity is to enhance undergraduate education and training at the intersection of the biological and mathematical sciences. The core of the activity is jointly-conducted long-term research experiences for interdisciplinary balanced teams of at least two undergraduates from departments in the biological and mathematical sciences.

• Institutional projects: $200,000 per year for 5 years
• Group projects: $80,000 per year for 3 years

Opportunities for partnering across institutions and for developing international collaborations are welcome. The program encourages collaborations that bring together biological and mathematical scientists from associate, baccalaureate, masters, or Ph.D. granting institutions, minority serving institutions, national and regional organizations, and that may involve industrial or government laboratories.

Program announcement

More information and registration.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has published an RFA entitled "Enhancing Developmental Biology Research at Undergraduate Institutions", to be funded by an R15 mechanism.

From RFA-HD-07-021:

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to stimulate research in fundamental aspects of developmental biology at educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced degrees, but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. In order to ensure that the field of developmental biology will attract the best and brightest minds, potential students need to be exposed to the excitement of the research enterprise at an early stage in their training. These AREA grants are intended to support small-scale developmental biology research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible, domestic institutions including many small primarily undergraduate and historically minority institutions. The intention is to create research opportunities for developmental biologists who otherwise would be unlikely to participate in NIH-funded research. Goals of this FOA are to strengthen the developmental biology research environment at the grantee institutions, foster the development of novel or underutilized experimental model systems, and to motivate students through exposure and participation in research related to NICHD’s goal of understanding the etiology of structural birth defects.