National Science Foundation Links

When starting as a new PI, if you didn't have the training before, you'll probably be learning as much as I can about different funding agencies, applications, and procedures. It can seem a little overwhelming to know where to start. 

Here is a set of links I've come across, with some information, about applying for NSF funding:

About the National Science Foundation

• NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov/index.jsp
• FastLane: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/jsp/homepage/prop_review.jsp 
• Quick Guide to Working with NSF’s FastLane: http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/guide/fastlanequick.html
• Federal R&D Funding Budget: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/fedbudget/

Finding funding opportunities

• Active Funding Opportunities: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=NSF&ord=rcnt 
• Funding Opportunities by Subject Concentration: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/azindex.jsp 
• All NSF – Funding Search: http://nsf.gov/funding/ 

Advice for writing proposals

• Grant Policy Manual: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/manuals/gpm05_131/index.jsp 
• How to Prepare Your Proposal: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/preparing/
• Advice on Writing NSF Proposals: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sfinger/advice/advice.html
• A Guide for Proposal Writing: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg
• NSF Career Proposal Writing Tips: http://www.clarku.edu/offices/research/pdfs/NSFProposalWritingTips.pdf 
• Significant 2011 Revisions: http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/papp/papp11_1/progdesc.jsp
• Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR): http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/rcr.jsp

Now that you have it

• Prospective New Awardee Guide: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pnag
• Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=papp
• Award and Administration Guide: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=aag
• Policy and Guidance: http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/guidance.jsp

Year two begins.

Dear Journal,

In the midst of teaching, getting new research projects started, writing grants, meeting collaborators, and getting the lab set up, I find that the second year of my tenure track position has begun.

And it's awesome.

I have a fantastic group of people working with me: https://sites.google.com/site/mwilsonsayres/lab/lab_members

Seriously, they're wonderful. I cannot express to you how inspiring it is to interact with everyone in lab. Their ideas and discussions make it a joy to come in to lab.

We're making headway on new projects. Papers are being written. Grants are... well, they're being applied for.

Science is happening.

And on this morning, I find myself unusually optimistic about the future.

Yours,
new PI

We have a review and evolutionary analysis of the role of microchimerism in maternal health. It's open access for all to read and please share your thoughts on. My personal take-home, after completing this paper, is that there is still so much biology to understand. Perhaps my favorite part of the whole paper is that we start by stating how little we know:

The function of fetal cells in maternal tissues is unknown

Certainly there are associations, and many labs are focused on understanding the role of fetal cells in the pregnant body, and after pregnancy. At the minimum, microchimerism appears to have been present since placentation first evolved, with advances in sensitivity and specificity of techniques, we are understanding that microchimerism is likely common across eutherian (placental) mammals, and especially in our favorite eutherian, humans. But it is fantastic to me that there is no answer (and in my opinion will never be) to, "Are microchimeric cells good?" At the best, we can say that it depends. And for the pregnant body and post-pregnant body, the role of fetal cells likely depends heavily on the specific interaction of the fetal cells with the immune system.

Levels of explanation	Definition	Explanations for fetal microchimerism
Proximate	The immediate cause of the pathology	Placentation allows for the transfer of small numbers of cells between the fetus and the mother
Developmental	How the pathology arose as a result of events during an individual's life	Evidence suggests that fetal cell microchimerism begins before the placental is completely formed, likely beginning with the initiation of placentation itself [26, 111]
Evolutionary	How natural selection and other mechanisms of evolution (drift, migration) have left the body vulnerable to the pathology	Maternal-fetal genomic conflict, through genetic imprinting may have allowed for selection of higher proportions of fetal cell microchimerism
Phylogenetic	When, in evolutionary history, did the vulnerability to the pathology arise?	Microchimerism has thus far only been detected in eutherian mammals [14, 27-29], suggesting it arose at least in the common ancestor of eutherian mammals, approximately 93 million years ago [112]

With some very talented help, we made the video abstract below:

Fetal microchimerism and maternal health: A review and evolutionary analysis of cooperation and conflict beyond the womb

1. Amy M. Boddy^1,2,*, 
2. Angelo Fortunato², 
3. Melissa Wilson Sayres^3,4,† and
4. Athena Aktipis^1,2,3,†

Article first published online: 28 AUG 2015

DOI: 10.1002/bies.201500059

The presence of fetal cells has been associated with both positive and negative effects on maternal health. These paradoxical effects may be due to the fact that maternal and offspring fitness interests are aligned in certain domains and conflicting in others, which may have led to the evolution of fetal microchimeric phenotypes that can manipulate maternal tissues. We use cooperation and conflict theory to generate testable predictions about domains in which fetal microchimerism may enhance maternal health and those in which it may be detrimental. This framework suggests that fetal cells may function both to contribute to maternal somatic maintenance (e.g. wound healing) and to manipulate maternal physiology to enhance resource transmission to offspring (e.g. enhancing milk production). In this review, we use an evolutionary framework to make testable predictions about the role of fetal microchimerism in lactation, thyroid function, autoimmune disease, cancer and maternal emotional, and psychological health.

Popular coverage:

Arizona State University: https://biodesign.asu.edu/news/alien-within-fetal-cells-influence-maternal-health-during-pregnancy-and-long-after

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/science/a-pregnancy-souvenir-cells-that-are-not-your-own.html
National Geographic: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/07/foetal-cells-hide-out-in-mums-body-but-what-do-they-do/
Smithsonian Magazine: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/babys-cells-can-manipulate-moms-body-decades-180956493/
Scicasts: https://scicasts.com/stem-cells/9959-scientists-describe-how-fetal-cells-migrate-into-maternal-body-and-affect-mother-s-health/
Medical Daily: http://www.medicaldaily.com/fetal-cells-can-be-found-new-mothers-body-and-will-effect-her-health-even-after-350234