Office of the Vice President for Research

E-Newsletter

Summer 2022

To view archived newsletters, click  here

Letter from the Vice President for Research

 

Our research metrics ended on a very positive note for FY22 (ending June 30), with sponsored research expenditures up by more than 20% over the previous year. This is the single largest, annual increase in more than a decade by a wide margin, and it defines a transformational change that we must strive to maintain. This past year saw a significant increase in the number of awards as well as the average budgeted amount. Less apparent is the benefit of record indirect cost recovery to the campus, which will allow greater returns for research. These gains have been realized because of the exceptional efforts of our faculty stepping up their games across all areas of the university. But it’s also clear that faculty success in sponsored research has benefitted greatly from the major investments made possible by President McInnis’s strategic commitment to growing research. This has come in several forms, including expanded support for proposal development, increased seed funding initiatives, streamlined postdoc hiring, and other procedural changes that facilitate research administration. Improvements have also been introduced to support clinical research. Faculty investigators and scholars in arts, humanities, and social sciences have also benefitted from new investments made by the Provost’s Office and OVPR, including several seed funding initiatives. Congratulations to all of you who played a role in advancing our research efforts.

By now, all of you are aware of the activities of the Tiger Teams that were created jointly by OVPR and the Office of the Provost to enable faculty to prepare for new funding opportunities. After preparing final reports, individual town-hall style meetings were hosted for each of the initial ten Tiger Teams. These well-attended Zoom meetings provided an opportunity to share the findings and recommendations, and allowed faculty to assemble teams across multiple topical areas to consider funding opportunities. With funds provided through the Provosts Venture Fund (ProFund), six teams of researchers were selected to receive funding to develop proposals for large, center-scale initiatives. Successful teams will be eligible to receive additional funding following notification from federal sponsors. We’re looking forward to finalizing the membership for the next set of Tiger Teams, which will be focusing on biomedical topics. The Office of the Provost and OVPR will launch these new teams in September.

In Washington, efforts to find common ground for increasing investments in the nation’s R&D capacity remain stalled as reconciliation of the USICA and America COMPETES acts remains in conference as of this writing. While there is still optimism, the compromises needed to achieve bipartisan support will likely diminish the appropriations that federal funding agencies will see.

For those who missed the June 23 email announcing revised salary ranges for postdoctoral associates and research scientists, please review the announcement here. The modest increases for these titles resulted from a careful study of salaries at competing universities throughout the Northeast, and should help faculty to attract young researchers in an increasingly competitive market. We also encourage PIs and supervisors of postdocs and research scientists to review salaries annually to ensure adequate stipends for these important members of our community.

I will mention another announcement from March 29 regarding a change in application of off-campus facilities and administration (F&A, indirect costs) rates for sponsored research awards. This announcement explained the revised campus methodology for determining the F&A rate for projects conducted at off-campus locations. This change was required to comply with the updated F&A rate agreement approved by HHS, and detailed guidance was provided for investigators [link?]. Additional information can be found in the updates below for the Office of Grants Management.

Like other research universities, we continue with implementation of measures that federal funding agencies are requiring to ensure compliance with the White House security memorandum NSPM-33, intended to protect federal investments in research. In the last newsletter, I noted the creation of a Research Security program, which is required as part of the guidance from the OSTP. Stay tuned for the launch of a new Research Security webpage, which will provide a single point of information to help investigators understand and comply with all new requirements. You can also expect to see upcoming guidance regarding the requirement of implementing a “digital persistent identifier” for federally-funded researchers. We are currently working with Research Foundation on options for adopting an identifier already in widespread use, such as ORCID.

For investigators traveling on sponsored research funds, stay tuned for an announcement about travel credit cards for PIs. These would work with the new travel platform Concur and would also provide an expanded purpose to include P-Card functionality.

Finally, some of you may have seen that OVPR is now on Twitter.  Follow us on @SBUResearch to stay connected in real time to our latest research news and upcoming events.     

As always, I like to hear from our research community. Please let me know if you have any thoughts to share.

Regards,

Rich Reeder
Vice President for Research

 

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Table of Contents

News From:

• Office of Proposal Development
• Office of Sponsored Programs
• Office of Grants Management
• Research Security
• Office of Research Compliance
• Intellectual Property Partners
• Economic Development
• Office of Human Services

 

Office of Proposal Development News

Pivot Snippet Training Presentations

OPD held two short Pivot tutorial sessions this spring to help users better navigate the system. The presentations for each can be found on our website and are also linked below. 

How to Update Your Pivot Profile

• PowerPoint Presentation

How to Create a Funding Opportunity Search

• PowerPoint Presentation

OPD New Staff

Nancy Puchner is a Proposal Development Coordinator with the Office of Proposal Development. After earning a Ph.D. in Art History, Nancy taught for eight years at the University of North Carolina in Pembroke (the tribal homeland of Lumbee Indians), where she published about Lumbee art and revised curriculum and teaching practices to reflect the rich diversity of the surrounding community. Nancy relocated to Long Island in 2019, when her husband became Executive Director at Gallery North in Setauket. After working in Undergraduate Education at Stony Brook for over two years, Nancy is excited to help further research initiatives at SBU as part of the OPD team.

Kelly Hills-Muckey is a Proposal Development Coordinator with the Office of Proposal Development. She recently graduated with her PhD in genetics with an advanced graduate certificate in science communication from Stony Brook, where she studied developmental timing regulation in the model organism C. elegans. She grew up on a farm in upstate New York just outside of Ithaca, but is currently living in the Tampa Bay area with her husband Joshua, her two daughters, Thea (age 4) and Edith (age 3 months), and her two dogs, a labradoodle named Emma and a golden rottweiler named Ahmara. Kelly is an avid plant and animal lover and is also working towards her yoga teacher certification. 

Noreen Ohlrich, EdD is a Proposal Development Coordinator with the Office of Proposal Development. Her areas of expertise initially evolved from her undergraduate and graduate degrees in English and the Humanities, as well as 14 + years of experiences writing grants and developing education and human services programs for members of vulnerable populations. Noreen has lived in various countries over the years. These transnational life experiences led her to earning her doctorate in 2017 with an award of distinction for a study she conducted in Germany on the gendered migration experiences of South Asian women in STEM and other highly-qualified professions. Noreen relocated back to Long Island with her husband and began her work at Stony Brook Medicine in 2019 as Program Manager for the SUNY World Trade Center Health Program before joining the OPD team this July. 

Round 2 OVPR Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Award Winners

We are pleased to announce that the following projects were selected for funding with an award start date of May 1, 2022.

Seed Grants Award Winners	Seed Grant Project Titles
Erich Mackow, Department of Microbiology and Immunology	SARS-CoV-2 Infected Alveolar Epithelial Cells Aberrantly Activate Endothelial Cells
Leonie Huddy, Oleg Smirnov, and Katherine Sawyer, Department of Political Science	Exploring the Dynamics of Mass Violent Protest in the United States
Zhaozheng Yin and Fusheng Wang, Department of Biomedical Informatics and Department of Computer Science, Ruwen Qin, Department of Civil Engineering, and Ming Leu, Missouri University of Science and Technology	FMRG: Cyber: GOALI: Worker-Centric Manufacturing of the Future: Worker Understanding, Assistive Intelligence, and Big Data Analytics
David Matus, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology	Elucidating the invasive-proliferative switch
Shuai Mu and Michael Ferdman, Department of Computer Science, and Peter Milder, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering	Distributed Protocol Offload using FPGA SmartNICs
Wei Yin and Congwu Du, Department of Biomedical Engineering	Astrocyte iNOS regulates cocaine-induced vasoconstriction in cocaine addiction

OPD sends out a weekly newsletter on Fridays. The newsletter includes a list of active limited competitions, noteworthy funding opportunities, upcoming workshops, and other important announcements from OPD. To receive the OPD Weekly Newsletter, please visit our website to join our Google Group.

 

Office of Sponsored Programs News

NIH Updates

Gearing Up for 2023 Part II: Implementing the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

In October 2020, NIH issued its Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy with an effective date of January 25, 2023.  NIH continues to gear up for 2023 and the implementation of the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy.

To date, NIH has published a set of FAQs that they continually update.  Over the course of 2022, NIH has released a number of resources including:

• Helpful tips for developing budgets in Plans describing data management and sharing
• Updated information on principles for protecting research participant privacy and de-identification to help guide sharing of research participant data
• Educational resources including webinars and potentially sample Plans
• Plans for further harmonizing NIH’s data management and sharing expectations, particularly with reducing duplicative plan submissions

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recently launched a new website on scientific data sharing, which is a comprehensive resource detailing all NIH data sharing policies. Sharing policies encompass scientific data, genomic data, research tools, model organisms, clinical trials, and more. You can access the website here.

For more information about this new website, including a video tour of its features, check out this blog post from the NIH office of extramural research. 

NIH's Data Management Sharing Plan Upcoming Webinars

The NIH Office of Science Policy (OSP) and the Office of Extramural Research (OER) invite you to join them for engaging and interactive webinars focused on the new data management and sharing (DMS) policy on August 11, 1:30-3:30 pm ET. The second webinar will be September 22,1:30-3:30 pm ET. Registration is required. Read more

Understanding the New NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy
Description: The NIH Office of Science Policy (OSP) and the Office of Extramural Research (OER) invite you to join them for an engaging and interactive webinar focused on the new DMS policy which goes into effect on January 25, 2023. In this webinar, you will learn about DMS policy expectations, the applicability of the policy, how to prepare a Data Management and Sharing Plan, and considerations for sharing data responsibly. Don't miss this valuable opportunity to hear from policy experts and get your questions answered.

Make plans to also attend Part 2 of this DMS Webinar Series, "Diving Deeper into the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy." Register separately at https://bit.ly/Diving-Deeper-Into-DMS-Policy.

Resources: Check out the latest DMS policy information, resources, and FAQs at sharing.nih.gov.

Share your questions about the policy: Use the optional “Questions & Comments” box below if you have a DMS policy or process question that you would like answered either in the presentation or during the live Q&A.

Questions about this webinar: Email the NIH OER Communications Team at OER@od.nih.gov.

 

Updated RPPR Module and Instruction Guide

As communicated in NOT-OD-22-130, The Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Module in eRA Commons is moving to the new visual appearance being adopted by other eRA modules, because of a required technology upgrade that enhances the security and stability of the module. The upgrade includes adding the new unique entity identifier (UEI) fields where applicable and required FORMS-G changes, including updated budget forms. These upgrades were released on June 23, 2022.

Accompanying the June 23, 2022 release, NIH published an updated RPPR instruction guide incorporating the new look and feel of the module.

Correction to Stipend Levels for Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2022

NIH Notice NOT-OD-22-132 corrects previously provided annual stipend amounts for NOT-OD-22-108 issued on April 15, 2022. Training Related Expenses and Institutional Allowances for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows reflect a moderate increase and the Tuition and Fees for all educational levels remains unchanged from the prior budget year. Current stipend levels can be found by accessing NOT-OD-22-132.

DOE Updates

eXCHANGE Integration with Login.gov

The EERE Funding Opportunity Exchange (eXCHANGE) will soon be updated to integrate with Login.gov, a secure sign-in service used by the public to sign into participating government agencies. Beginning Jul. 8, 2022*, potential applicants and reviewers will be able to optionally use Login.gov to sign into eXCHANGE and apply to open opportunities. 

On Aug. 5, 2022*, the site will be updated to require the use of Login.gov to sign into eXCHANGE. This means that when you sign into eXCHANGE, you will be prompted to sign in or create an account with Login.gov before you can access your profile.

To ensure there are no delays accessing eXCHANGE and applying to EERE opportunities, we strongly encourage potential applicants to register with Login.gov as soon as possible. Learn more about Login.gov and create an account  today.

Please read the MFA Quick Guide for more important information about this change. Additionally, the MFA presentation  includes step-by-step instructions for how to log into eXCHANGE using MFA and how to register for a Login.gov account.

*Dates are tentative and subject to change.

Please visit our Webinars, Workshops, Training, Conferences webpage for the latest information regarding upcoming webinars and meetings offered by different Organizations intended to advance the administration of sponsored programs, such as NCURA, SRA, FDP, as well as Sponsoring Agencies. We especially encourage you to take advantage of the upcoming 2-part webinar series on the New NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy (effective January 25, 2023).

Office of Grants Management News

Travel 

Travelers are reminded that canceled trip costs are generally not an allowable expense to sponsored awards including but not limited to trips that are canceled due to Covid matters. For this reason all travelers are encouraged to purchase refundable tickets for future travel plans. 

As of April 15, 2022 all international travel registrations and required prior approvals for international travel using sponsored research funds must be completed using Concur Travel Request.  Airline reservations using Euro Lloyd will only be approved by OGM once the Concur Travel Request is submitted and approved by OGM.

Reminders/Information about International Travel:

International travel using sponsored research funds must comply with Research Foundation Travel policies

Information about Concur, including system registration, training sessions and login instructions, can be found here.

If you have questions regarding registration and/or prior approval for international travel on sponsored research funds, please contact sheila.routh@stonybrook.edu.

If you have any questions relating to export controls, such as taking research equipment or materials, attending conferences, conducting collaborative research or traveling to sanctioned countries, please contact Susan Gasparo, Director of Research Security. Guidance is also available here.

See the Division of Information Technology’s article IT Security Consideration While Traveling  for advice on how to secure and protect your devices.

The Travel office requires that all travel reimbursements for employees must be submitted using the Concur Travel System.

Information about Concur, including system registration, training sessions and login instructions, can be found here.

Department email for Office of Grants Management 

Principal Investigators and respective administrative support teams are reminded that incoming emails with attached non personnel post award transactions should be sent to ogm_ovpr@stonybrook.edu where it will be directed to the assigned Sponsored Award Analyst. 

Please do not copy the respective administrative office that will process the transaction. OGM will forward accordingly once approved against the funding source indicated.

All HRS forms including Employee Appointment, Employee Change, Fellowship Appointment, must first be submitted to the campus HRS office RF Appointments email. 

Update to the federal Facilities and Administrative (IDC) cost recovery

As noted in email notification from Dr. Reeder earlier this year, the campus Facilities and Administrative rate agreement has been updated to eliminate the use of blended on/off rates for the recovery of these costs.  The new methodology, requires that only one rate, either the on-campus rate or the off-campus rate, will be applied to the entire project. When greater than 50% of the work will be performed over the course of the project period is conducted at facilities not owned or leased by the University or to which rent is directly allocated to the project, the off-campus rate will apply to the entire project. Conversely, if greater than 50% of a project is performed on campus, the on-campus rate will apply to the entire project.

Guidance related to the revised methodology is provided on the Offices of Sponsored Programs and Grants Management webpage. For new proposals, the request for use of an off-campus rate will require the Off-Campus Rate Request Form (with approval by the cognizant Chair and School or College Dean) to be incorporated into the myResearch proposal and is subject to the 5/2 submission deadline policy.  

This new methodology has also been applied to existing Awards that previously utilized “blended” on-and off-campus F&A rates, to now reflect the predominant location where work is performed (greater than 50%). Changes are reflected in affected awards in RF Report Center. For those awards that shifted to the on-campus rate, the current direct cost recovery will not be impacted by this change.  For those awards that shifted to the off-campus rate, re-budgeting of F&A to direct costs may be possible. Requests to review the impact of the change in rate recovery should be directed to Sheila Routh.

OGM New Staff

Office of Grants Management welcomes William Graziano as a new Sponsored Award Analyst.  Bill will be training over the next few months providing much needed support to the current team as an important element of his training.  Once he is assigned departmental responsibilities the Department Assignments look up list will be updated. 

 

Research Security News

Reminder to Keep your Disclosure Profile Up-to-Date

Office of Research Compliance News

Notification of Transition from IRBNet to Qualtrics for Quality Improvement Projects

• During the fall of last year, the Office of Research Compliance (ORC) in conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer, Stony brook University Health Sciences Center developed a new system for Quality Improvement projects. As of November 1, 2021 all Quality Improvement projects must be submitted in the Qualtrics system. Quality Improvement projects that were located in IRBNet can now be found here. The portal to the Qualtrics system is located here.
• A quality improvement webpage was also created to assist those individuals interested in developing a Quality Improvement project. The webpage is located here.

Monthly Education and Training for Human Subject Research

The Human Research Protection Program is beginning a monthly education and training series starting May 2022. This series will include 12 topics designed to train and educate research personnel in areas that will be helpful with regard to human subjects research. The topics range from “Protocol Deviations” to “Using an External IRB”. The education and training series will be held on the 4^th Wednesday of each month at noon. A flyer will be sent out ahead of time announcing the monthly education and training. The topic for the month of June is “Protocol Deviations”.

Satisfaction Surveys

Beginning in May of 2022, the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) began asking for your input regarding your recent interaction with the Stony Brook University HRPP. Surveys are being sent out after your new project is approved. The survey is anonymous unless you decide to include your name. It takes less than 5 minutes to complete the survey. We appreciate the feedback and look forward to your comments and suggestions for improvement.

Responsible Conduct of Research

Beginning in the summer of 2022, the Office of Research Compliance will offer new training modules for the Responsible Conduct of Research in-person training component. The Office of Research Compliance will conduct a “Train the Trainer” workshop and encourages those individuals who carry out in-person training to attend the workshop. Information will be sent out soon regarding the workshop.

Institutional Biosafety Committee

The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) provides local institutional review and oversight of research utilizing recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules. The IBC meets monthly and is open to the public. If you are interested in attending a meeting please contact Erin Augello at erin.augello@stonybrook.edu. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday at 11:30 am. You can attend in-person or via Zoom video conferencing.

Cyclotron and PET Imaging

The Bahl Center for Metabolomics and Imaging provides state-of-the-art technologies and facilities for world-class researchers. The Center is now equipped with its own cyclotron and two positron emission tomography (PET) scanners. It will have facilities for developing new radiotracers as well as a manufacturing facility for producing and analyzing human grade radiotracers.

Cyclotron
A cyclotron is a particle accelerator. It is used to create radioactive tracer molecules that help physicians and researchers diagnose, observe and treat illnesses. The cyclotron produces subatomic particles called protons and accelerates them in a circular orbit at around 10 percent of the speed of light. The high-energy protons strike a target and the resulting nuclear reaction creates a radioactive isotope.

Carbon-11 produced by the cyclotron
Carbon-11 (C-11) is a short lived (20 minute half-life) radioactive isotope produced by the cyclotron. Because it can be used to replace natural carbon-12, present in any organic compound, it is frequently used to prepare radiotracers for PET imaging

Carbon-11 is a common PET isotope that is formed as carbon dioxide. This material has to undergo several rapid chemical reactions to incorporate it into the finished radiotracer. The whole manufacturing process typically is performed in less than 40 minutes.

Scanning with the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 tracer [11C]ABP688 has started for one study (C. DeLorenzo, PI, studying circadian rhythms) and other studies using  C-11 tracers for measuring synaptic density, amyloid beta and neuroinflammation will start soon.

ORC  New Staff

Steven Carroll is an Institutional Review Board (IRB) Assistant with the Office of Research Compliance and the Human Research Protection Program. Steven grew up close by in Sound Beach NY and then lived in the Philippines for four years while obtaining his college degree in science. Upon return to the United States, Steven settled in Nesconset NY with his family. He has worked in the Nursing field for the past fourteen years at Stony Brook Medicine in the departments of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry. This experience inspired Steven to begin a new career within human research subject protections and pursue the goal of becoming a certified IRB professional.

 

Intellectual Property Partners News

Stony Brook University experts discussed the questions of navigating conflict of interest (COI) during the virtual event on June 23

Read more 

The Stony Brook Chapter of National Academy of Inventors Honors Outstanding Innovators

Read more

Verified Water: A New Stony Brook Startup Company

We are happy to introduce Verified Water - a new Stony Brook startup company created to commercialize water technologies coming out of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technologies at Stony Brook University.  The company has recently licensed a patent to a nitrogen sensor developed by Dr. Qingzhi Zhu (School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences).

Verified Water's first planned product is a low cost, real time, fully automated nitrogen sensor that measures important forms of nitrogen in wastewater including ammonium and nitrate.  This product has been thoroughly tested and independently verified by the US Environmental Protection Agency and others for long term deployment in decentralized wastewater treatment systems.  Using this technology, operators can verify performance and optimize nitrification and denitrification processes in decentralized (onsite) wastewater treatment systems.

7 Patents Issued to Stony Brook Researchers

IPP is pleased to announce 7 new U.S. patents issued to our faculty and students from January 2022 to present.

Read more

Intellectual Property Partners Office Hours

Stony Brook Intellectual Property Partners is offering office hours for Stony Brook faculty, post-docs and graduate students. Schedule your appointment every Wednesday, 1:00 – 2:30 pm, to consult with one of our licensing team members on topics ranging from intellectual property protection to commercialization of your technology innovations. Bring your questions!   Read more.

Reminder: Digital Signature Requirements

Your New Technology and Reagent Disclosures are important to us! Once you submit your disclosure through the Inventor Portal, all SBU inventors will receive an email requesting their digital signature. The digital signatures of all SBU inventors are imperative to the disclosure process. Please be sure to electronically sign your disclosures when prompted by email. IPP cannot move forward in the evaluation process without all required signatures. Please email sbu_ntd@stonybrook.edu or call 631-632-9009, if you have any questions or need assistance. We are here to help!

Reminder: Research Reagent Disclosure Initiative

IPP is introducing a technology disclosure initiative specifically designed for disclosing research reagents. The goal of this initiative is to license patentable or non-patentable research reagents or methods developed here at Stony Brook University.

Research Reagents, such as antibodies, cell lines, plasmids, proteins, or any other reagents is available on the Inventor Portal.

 

Economic Development News

Advanced Energy Conference 2022 – back in person in September

The 11th Advanced Energy Conference series will feature an event at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on Sept. 7-9, 2022, to follow the virtual conference that took place on June 9-10, 2021. The theme for this two-part conference is charting the course for energy, as we map our path to a future energy portfolio by exploring technology innovations, key policy changes, new business models and more. The key policy makers, energy researchers and entrepreneurs, and industry leaders will get together for three days of conference sessions and networking. We are looking forward to this major energy event! Read more

Economic Development Incubator Showcase is Back

After a several-year pause due to COVID, the 5th Economic Development Incubator Showcase was held live on June 8, 2022 at CEWIT.

More than 40 companies took part, and it was a great opportunity for the public to meet and network one-on-one with Economic Development’s scope of biotechnology, energy, information technologies, and food business entrepreneurs. The goal of the annual Incubator Showcase is to highlight the entrepreneurial and innovation culture of Stony Brook University and to celebrate success of the Stony Brook startup companies. Read more

 

Congratulations to The Hampton Grocer!

The Hamptons Grocer, the startup company – client of the Food Business Incubator at Calverton – has won the New Product Award in Cereals & Granola category of the sofi™ Awards. Read more

Open House at Calverton

36 companies took part in Open House at the Food Business Incubator at Calverton held on June 1, 2022. More than 60 visitors got a chance to find out what the food start-ups are making/baking/growing, as well as their story behind it. Gluten free and vegan products, delicious desserts, bread, dressings, cookies, pasta, empanadas – this is far from the complete list of what Calverton startups can suggest to the community.

The event was coordinated between SBU Incubator and Brookhaven Town Council member Jonathan Kornreich. Learn more

Workshop Focuses on the Future of Offshore Wind Energy

The Office of the Vice President for Research co-hosted an Offshore Wind Workshop along with powerhouse offshore wind developers Ørsted and Eversource that brought together experts presenting on the Future of Offshore Wind.  The May 23 event was held live at the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT).

Read more

Congratulations to Dr. Shruti Sharma!

Dr. Shruti Sharma has been awarded the Long Island Business News (LIBN) Diversity Award.  This award ceremony highlights “the outstanding achievements of business leaders of diverse ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities, and those who are dedicated to growing the diversity of Long Island’s business community”. Shruti and other award recipients were celebrated on March 22, 2022 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

Dr. Shruti Sharma is a Program Manager for the Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (CEBIP) and the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC).  Shruti has extensive experience in program management including managing diverse teams and stakeholders at academic, government and public levels through her role as a Co-Founder of VIGYANshaala, a grassroots STEM education outreach initiative. She is committed to help stakeholders from industries, startups, research institutes, governmental agencies, and nonprofits by enabling relevant networking connections, fostering partnerships, one-on-one mentorship, and providing technical support as well as developing curated programs.

Shruti works with the WISE program on campus teaching and mentoring female and minority students, and continues to be a role model for women of color in STEM. Shruti has also helped start a grassroots STEM outreach organization in India, which is now a registered non-profit, impacting thousands of students across India.

 

Office of Human Resource Services News

Research Foundation Salary Administration – Increases for Fiscal Year 2022/2023

We are pleased to inform you that President McInnis has authorized a salary increase pool of up to five percent (5%) of the total RF administrative salaries as of July 1, 2022 — up to two percent (2%) as an Across the Board (ATB) and up to three percent (3%) as a Discretionary Salary Increase (DSI) — both added to base salaries. Increases will be retroactive to July 1, 2022 and paid on or about August 26,2022.

Eligibility is based on a combination of criteria which includes, but is not limited to individual productivity and performance, internal parity, external market, and availability of funds. Sponsored program employees may receive an increase subject to the availability of funds.

The SUNY Research Foundation - A Great Place to Work

The Research Foundation of SUNY offers competitive salaries and ranks among the top five in most benefits based on a recent survey of its peer groups including active employee and post-retirement health insurance. The total value of personal benefits goes well beyond competitive salary. 

Top 10 Perks:

• Retirement: The RF helps you plan for retirement by contributing 7% of your earnings to the Basic Retirement plan for regular employees who meet a one-year waiting period of qualified service. You may supplement these contributions through the Optional Retirement plan.
• Retiree Health Benefits: RF employees who meet the age and service requirements are eligible to continue their RF benefits during retirement. When you transition onto Medicare, the RF provides a subsidy for eligible retirees who meet the requirements to use as a supplement.
• Insurance: The RF offers comprehensive and low-cost health, dental, and vision insurance. Employees pay up to 15% of the premium for individual coverage.
• Family Support: Up to $800 (depending on salary) toward funding of dependent care expenses, such as childcare, which is separate and in addition to the easy-to-use Flex Spending Accounts allowing employees to set aside pre-tax dollars for qualified out-of-pocket childcare and medical expenses.
• Work-Life Balance: Generous paid leave includes personal, vacation, holidays, and sick accruals, which on an annual basis could add up to over 40 days during the first year of employment.
• Meaningful Work: The RF provides talent, services, and technology that empower SUNY to research, innovate, and transfer discoveries that transform the world’s knowledge economy. As an RF employee, you are part of a team whose vision is to make SUNY the best place for faculty, students and staff to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
• Employee Support: Free long-term disability benefits for qualified full-time employees. You can also purchase low-cost supplemental short-term disability coverage. The RF offers employer paid life insurance ($50,000) with additional optional low-cost group term life insurance.
• Education Planning: The RF is an eligible employer under the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program and offers college savings plans and a tuition waiver program.
• Discounts: Up to 10% off standard rates for personal auto, homeowner's, renter’s, and pet insurance.
• Professional Development: Job Skills and Supervisory Training, Leadership Master Classes, Mentoring Programs, Semi-Annual Research Symposiums, Professional Development Scholarships, 100+ archived video-based learning programs and more!

Summer Appointments on RF Payroll

Guidelines:

In order to assist you with hiring summer appointments on Research Foundation payroll, including Summer Project Aides, we are providing these Guidelines, which can also be found by navigating to the Seasonal News section of our website’s homepage.

Summer Appointment Types - A Brief Summary

• Research Faculty and positions WITH an academic year obligation: Begins May 23, 2022 and ends August 19, 2022. 

• Positions WITHOUT an academic year obligation: Begins May 1 and ends September 30 and employment — no more than 4 months.

• Summer Project Aide: Begins May 1 and ends September 30 and employment — no more than 4 months.

• Current or New SUNY Graduate Students: Theday after graduation and ends the day before the Fall semester begins.
• Current or New SUNY Undergraduate Students: Theday after graduation and ends the day before the Fall semester begins.

More Questions?Contact your RF Payroll Specialist.

Scientific Recruiter Joins Stony Brook's Research Foundation

Scientific Recruiter:

Human Resources is happy to announce that Daniel Lodato started on Monday, May 9th as our Scientific Recruiter, helping to facilitate and expedite the hiring of researchers and support staff for the Stony Brook University Research enterprise. Daniel specializes in full life-cycle agency and corporate recruiting for contract and direct hire talent acquisition. Daniel has recruiting expertise in the Healthcare, Nursing, Pharmaceutical, Scientific and IT industries. Please welcome Daniel to Stony Brook! 

Research Faculty and the TIAA Retirement Plan

The Research Foundation has a one-year vesting period for its TIAA retirement plan. Many of you are already vested and the appropriate level of contribution will be paid when you move to the Research Foundation payroll. 

For faculty not yet vested, there is a one-year waiting period before contributions begin — the SUNY academic year plus the Research Foundation summer employment comprises the year. The Research Foundation may use your State service as a credit towards participation and vesting in the Research Foundation Retirement Plan. Faculty members that have prior State service will receive credit if the RF Prior Service Credit Form is completed and submitted to hrs_benefits@stonybrook.edu.

More Questions? Email hrs_benefits@stonybrook.edu.

Did you Know?

SUNY RF Offers Pet Insurance!

SUNY RF offers customized, affordable Pet Insurance from Liberty Mutual. Pet Insurance can help your pet get the best veterinary care available when they need it by reducing the financial burden of unexpected medical costs due to illness or injuries. Plus, preventative wellness options could help you stay ahead of any potential issues altogether. For more information, go here.

MoreQuestions? Email hrs_benefits@stonybrook.edu.

Empire Blue Cross has an App!

If you are enrolled in the Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan…Empire Blue Cross has an App! The Sydney Health mobile app is the one place to keep track of your health and your benefits. With a few taps, you can quickly access your plan details, Member Services, virtual care, and wellness resources. Sydney Health stays one step ahead — moving your health forward by building a world of wellness around you. Use the Sydney Health mobile app anytime to find care and compare costs, see what’s covered and check claims, or view and use digital ID cards. Download Sydney Health today -Sydney Health App

HR’s Messaging

All of our HR communications are also added to our website for easy reference! They can be found by going to the Resources tab on our website’s top navigation barand selecting HR Messagingin the drop down —  HR/Resources/HR Messaging. Links to HR’s COVID Messagingand HR’s Supervisor Messagingcan be found here as well.  More Questions? Email hrs_info@stonybrook.edu.

Note: Check all of your Google Tabs as university-wide communications can sometimes find their way into them. More Questions? Visit Google-Tabbed-Inbox.

Expiration of the Annual Leave Cap Extension

The extension of the annual leave cap announced in this memo will expire December 31, 2022 for all Research Foundation (RF) employees. In anticipation of this upcoming expiration date, ​and consistent with operational needs, ​employees should plan to schedule time off by December 31, 2022 in an effort to avoid this forfeiture of time in excess of 40 days in January 2023.

Updated COVID-19 Guidelines

Latest Guidance:

For the latest COVID-19 Guidance for the entire campus community, please visit Stonger Together, SBU’s COVID-dedicated website. 

Employee Wellness

EAP and Healthier U:

TheEmployee Assistance Program (EAP)and Healthier U are both designed to help improve the health and well-being of faculty and staff through emotional support services, individual and group conversations, and programs that address your whole self – mind, body and spirit. For more information, visit the Healthier U website here.