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September 6, 2007

This Month in Research Update:

OVPRANL News

$225,000 awarded for joint University-Fermilab Strategic Collaborative Initiatives projects
Researchers and scientists at the University, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory have been awarded $225,000 ($75,000 each) for new joint research projects through the University’s new Strategic Collaborative Initiatives (SCI) program for Fermilab.  The research projects cover a broad range of studies from chemistry to high energy particle physics to computational cosmology. Proposals for collaborative projects that included researchers from Argonne National Laboratory were also considered and one was selected for funding.
 
New proposals receiving SCI grants and their principal investigators are:

The University-Fermilab SCI program was developed by the University as part of the laboratory management contract for Fermilab.  A similar program for Argonne was also developed by the University as part of the management contract for Argonne.

The University has committed $1.5 million per year, and $7.5 million, collectively, over the contracts’ five-year period, toward the establishment of SCIs that include collaborative research projects, strategic joint appointments, and joint institutes. The purpose of the SCIs is to provide Laboratory Directors with flexibility in developing or expediting progress in promising programmatic areas in support of Department of Energy missions.  They also benefit the scientific and educational missions of the University and the Laboratories.

The collaborative research grant program was announced in May, 2007 for Fermilab and in June, 2007 for Argonne. The recipients of the University-Argonne SCI grant awards will be announced next month.

“We are very pleased to provide these additional opportunities for collaboration between University researchers and scientists at Argonne and Fermilab,” said Donald Levy, Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories at the University.  “Through shared efforts, we hope to create more powerful research programs in areas that support the scientific priorities of both laboratories.”

University of Chicago Strategic Laboratory Leadership Program kicks off this week
On September 4th, twenty-five Argonne and Fermilab management employees kicked off their participation in the inaugural session of the University of Chicago Strategic Laboratory Leadership Program (SLLP) for Argonne and Fermilab, a non-degreed, executive education leadership program developed and led by the University’s Office of the Vice President for Research and National Laboratories and University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB).

“One of the purposes of the program is to invest in the development of the next generation of high performance leaders at Argonne and Fermilab,” says Michelle Terry, Director, Operations and Education Programs, Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories.  “During the program, faculty will introduce concepts of strategic leadership, make frameworks and theories explicit to increase leadership effectiveness, and create a learning environment that challenges participants to apply the knowledge they gain.  Another program goal is for participants to continue to interact as a cohort that shares ideas beyond completion of the program.”

The curriculum, conducted by GSB faculty, will center on effective leadership, strategic thinking, and leading change and innovation.  The class, or “cohort,” will participate in three intensive sessions spread out over the course of a year.  The sessions will take place September 4-7, 2007, January 22-23, 2008, and April 21-22, 2008.

The University of Chicago has committed to this program as part of the laboratory management contract for both Argonne and Fermilab and will provide resources to support this program for five years beginning in September 2007. Fifteen Argonne employees and ten Fermi employees were selected to participate in the program.

‘The Strategic Laboratory Leadership Program is the first of its kind," says Bob Rosner, Director, Argonne National Laboratory. "Those of us from academic backgrounds often stumble into leadership without any kind of formal professional development. This program will bring experienced Lab Managers together and teach them how to think more strategically about the "business" of national laboratories.  It will also focus on the importance of forming collaborative partnerships across disciplines and laboratories to ensure that science and engineering research conducted there meets the needs of the nation."

“We were impressed with the generosity of Harry [Harry Davis, the Roger L. and Rachel M. Goetz Distinguished Service Professor of Creative Management for the University of Chicago's GSB and faculty director of the Strategic Laboratory Leadership Program] who has contributed a great deal of time,” says Geralyn Becker, Manager, Performance Development, Human Resources at .Argonne.  “The GSB faculty came out to both Argonne and Fermilab, spoke with directors there, and created a curriculum that matched the needs of both laboratories.”

The Argonne employees selected to participate in this year’s program are:

Applied Science and Technology:

Computing and Life Sciences:

Operations and Business Management, Office of the Directorate:

Physical Sciences:

Scientific User Facilities

“My expectations are to come away with a better understanding of how scientific leadership and strategy are developed,” says John Mitchell, Chemist, Materials Science Division.  “When we come up through the ranks here, we learn how to manage programs through trial and error.  I’m expecting this program to help give me some perspective on how to better manage those who work for me, provide a better idea of the big picture, and how to identify and execute new scientific directions.”

UChicago Argonne names six new members to laboratory’s board
UChicago Argonne, LLC has named Robert Cochran, Timothy Killeen, Joan MacNaughton, Eileen Murray, James Porter, Jr., and James Weyhenmeyer to its Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory.

UChicago Argonne, LLC, which operates Argonne for the U.S. Department of Energy, selects new board members from faculty, administrators and trustees of the University, as well as from other universities, national and international organizations, and from industry.

“I am very pleased to welcome these distinguished individuals to the Board of Governors for Argonne,” said Don Levy, Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories and CEO of UChicago Argonne, LLC. “Their experience, expertise and insight will ensure that Laboratory guidance remains strong and that the LLC fulfills its responsibilities to the DOE under the prime contract.”

Cochran, president of BWXT Services, Inc. has operational and management responsibility for more than 8,000 employees located at more than 15 manufacturing and research centers supported by an annual operating budget that exceeds $1.8 billion. These nuclear facilities include four national laboratories, three National Nuclear Security Administration operations and three nuclear decommissioning projects.

Killeen, director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has overall responsibility for the scientific, technical and educational activities of the center. Concurrent with his role as director, Killeen continues his research as a senior scientist at the center’s High Altitude Observatory, where his research interests include the experimental and theoretical study of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. He is a principal investigator and instrument developer for a space-borne Doppler interferometer on the NASA TIMED spacecraft, and co-principal investigator for an NSF Science and Technology Center devoted to numerical modeling of Space Weather.

MacNaughton, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, joined the Home Office of the United Kingdom, the government department responsible for the police service and the justice system in England and Wales, national security and immigration, in 1972, serving in a variety of civil service positions of increased responsibility. In 1999, she became director general of the Policy for the Lord Chancellor’s Department. She also was responsible for policy on family, civil and constitutional law as well as regulation of the legal profession.

Murray, managing director of Morgan Stanley, head of its global technology and operations division and a member of the firm’s management committee, has been a proven leader on Wall Street for the last 20 years.

She first joined Morgan Stanley in 1984 as a senior analyst in the controllers’ office. Prior to the merger of Morgan Stanley Group and Dean Witter Discover, Murray was controller and treasurer of Morgan Stanley Group. After the merger, she was controller and principal accounting officer. Murray also served as chief administrative officer of Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Group from 1999 to 2002.

Porter, chief engineer and vice president of engineering and operations for DuPont, joined the company in 1966 as a chemical engineer in the engineering service division field program at the engineering test center in Newark, Del. He left in March of 1966 for a two-year tour in the United States Army. He returned to DuPont and assumed a number of successive management positions.

In 1995, Porter was appointed director of operations. He also assumed the position of vice chairman of the DuPont corporate operations network. Porter was named vice president of engineering in 1996, and became vice president of safety, health and environment, and engineering in 2004. He began his current position in 2006.

Weyhenmeyer is the interim vice president for technology and economic development at the University of Illinois. He is the senior officer responsible for technology commercialization and economic development for the University of Illinois system. In this role, he also serves as the principal member for the university’s limited liability companies: IllinoisVENTURES, LLC and the University of Illinois Research Park, LLC, and he is director of the Research Park at the University of Illinois.

Weyhenmeyer also is a professor of cell biology, pathology and neuroscience at the University of Illinois with faculty appointments at its Urbana/Champaign and Chicago campuses.

University Research Administration reporting structure changed; Susan Boone named interim director
As of July 1, 2007, University Research Administration (URA), the group responsible for providing review and institutional endorsement of all applications, negotiation and acceptance of awards for sponsored funding, grant and contract management, information services, and training, reports to the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories as it has in the past.  Oversight of financial conflict of interest remains with the Deputy Provost for Research, Keith Moffat.  Upon the retirement of Mary Ellen Sheridan, Associate Vice President for Research and URA Director, Susan Boone, URA Deputy Director, will serve as Interim Director effective September 1.

Boone’s current responsibilities include serving as senior staff member overseeing the day-to-day activities of grant and contract administration, signing proposals and subawards for the University, overseeing Grants.gov implementation, developing and managing a University-wide training program for sponsored programs administrators, oversight of the University Research Administration website, and representing the Associate Vice President for Research in on- and off-campus activities pertaining to research administration.

Boone has a B.A. in economics, and a Masters and Ph.D. in ethics.  She is currently Co-Chair of the Subawards Task Force of the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP).  Boone worked in the past for the Treasury Department as a federal bank examiner, was a stock broker with Merrill-Lynch, and a bond trader and bond portfolio manager for a mid-size bank in New England.  After graduate work in ethics, she taught for two years at St. Bonaventure University. Boone has been with The University of Chicago for ten years.

“I am confident that Susan will do a superb job handling the reins as we continue the selection process for a permanent director, a position she has chosen not to pursue,” said Donald Levy, Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories.  “She has the experience and expertise to ensure a smooth transition and we are grateful for her willingness to take on these responsibilities.”

A nationally recognized figure in research administration, Sheridan will retire from her position on August 31 after thirteen years of service to the University. She has been a long-standing member of the Council on Government Relations (COGR), and was appointed to its Board in 1997 serving as member and Chair of the COGR Research Compliance and Administration Committee. She was the Chair of the COGR Board of Directors from 2002-2004.

“In addition to her many accomplishments in the national arena, Mary Ellen has played a key role in the University’s progress in many areas of research administration,” said Levy. “From the streamlining of grants management processes, especially between URA and BSD Office of Research Services, to helping both researchers and administrators navigate the evolving requirements for electronic research administration, her work demonstrated the tremendous value a professional staff of research administrators can bring to a university.

“Mary Ellen has done an outstanding job overseeing research administration here at the university.  I’d like to thank her for her service and wish her the very best in her retirement,” said Levy.

After August 31 Sheridan has agreed stay on as Special Assistant to the Vice President providing additional support to my office as needed.  

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Events

University September Event Highlights:

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Research in the News

Scientific showdown takes shape
Fermilab hopes to find elusive particle before Swiss site opens
Chicago Tribune 9/5/07― GENEVA, Switzerland - More than 300 feet beneath the suburbs and sunflower fields at the French-Swiss border lies a high-tech beast that may signal the doom of Fermilab. Full story.

Despite grumbling, most Americans say they are happy at work
Although some people may spend part of the Labor Day weekend complaining about their bosses or about job burnout, most Americans are satisfied with their jobs, a new University of Chicago study shows. Full story.

Monkeys use “baby talk” to interact with infants
Female rhesus monkeys use special vocalizations while interacting with infants, the way human adults use motherese, or “baby talk,” to engage babies’ attention, new research at the University of Chicago shows. Full story.

First comprehensive national survey charts sexual behavior among older adults
Survey defines "typical" for those 57 to 85
The first comprehensive national survey of sexual attitudes, behaviors and problems among older adults in the United States has found that most people ages 57 to 85 think of sexuality as an important part of life and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s. Full story.

Changes in argon on Mars prompt new observations
Mars rover scientists have launched a new long-term study on the Martian atmosphere with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, an instrument that was originally developed at Chicago.

Thanasis Economou, Senior Scientist at the University’s Enrico Fermi Institute, suggested the new study after observing that the APXS instruments aboard NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, had recorded fluctuations in the argon composition of the Martian atmosphere. “The amount of argon in the atmosphere is changing constantly,” Economou said. Full story.

'X' marks Fermilab future
A proposed $500 million particle accelerator could help it land an even bigger project
Chicago Tribune 8/20/07― Fermilab is floating plans for a new $500 million particle accelerator in hopes of paving the way for a much larger project and shoring up the lab's fragile position in the world of high-energy physics. Full story.

Clare Boothe Luce Program grant to support women graduate students in physical sciences
The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded a $230,400 grant to the University of Chicago to support four one-year Clare Boothe Luce Graduate Fellowships for women entering Ph.D. programs in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics as early as the 2008-09 academic year. Full story.

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