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News & Updates

Researcher Toolbox

Join us for Virtual Office Hours - We're here to answer your questions!

SPARC offers virtual office hours every Tuesday and Thursday from 1-2 p.m. At least one staff member will be available during each session. So no matter your question(s), we will have someone who can assist you in real-time.

Dedicated virtual sessions provide faculty and staff the opportunity to ask questions, discuss current events, and sponsored project opportunities.

Attend as many virtual sessions as you like simply by clicking the link below:

Typically an open Q&A format, screen-shares and/or slides may be presented as needed. For any technical issues, please send an email here.

OSPREY System Downtime

Please be advised that OSPREY, UNCW’s grant/proposal submission platform, will be unavailable from 4 p.m. on Friday, June 20 until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, so upgrades can be completed. 
  
If you have any deadlines during this period, please ensure all necessary submissions are completed before the downtime begins. Please work with SPARC (sparc@uncw.edu) or your assigned representative to ensure all deadlines are met. 

During the upgrade, the Electronic Research Administration Office will be unavailable, and all non-upgrade related functions will be paused. For assistance or to report any issues, please submit a ticket via the OSPREY Support Ticket Submission Portal. 
  
A communication will be shared once the system is available for use. Please do not attempt to access the system prior to this communication. Any potential activity will hinder the testing process. If repairs are needed in the system, we cannot guarantee that any progress or submissions will be saved or function properly.  
  
Thank you for your understanding. Please contact Brandon Stonesifer (910.962.3194) with any questions or concerns. 

PUI Status

With UNCW's success in graduating more than 20 Ph.D. students in the last two years in areas supported by the National Science Foundation, the institution is no longer considered a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) by NSF.

WHY IT MATTERS

With this change, effectively immediately, UNCW is no longer eligible to apply for funding from the "Research in Undergraduate Institutions" (RUI) program. Further, the standard 30% cost-share for non-PUI eligible institutions on awards from the NSF Major Research Instrumentation program will be waived by NSF for five-years starting in FY2023, due to the CHIPS and Science act of 2022.

UNCW currently remains eligible for the NIH Academic Research Enhancement Awards ("AREA") for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15) opportunities, as this change does not impact these opportunities.

NEXT STEPS

If you are currently writing an NSF proposal to submit using the RUI mechanism, NSF recommends submitting directly to the most relevant research program. If you are unsure about the best program, NSF further recommends conducting a keyword search in the NSF awards database to identify pervious funding for similar research efforts. The SPARC pre-award team is available to assist (proposals@uncw.edu ).