Call for Applications
Educational Institute on Responsible Research with Infectious Diseases:
Ensuring Safe Science in the 21st Century
8-13 September 2012, Aqaba, Jordan
Bibliotheca Alexandrina in cooperation with the National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences announces the call for applications for the Educational Institute on Responsible Research with Infectious Diseases: Ensuring Safe Science in the 21st Century.
The Institute will take place in Aqaba, Jordan from 8-13 September 2012. It aims to develop a network of faculty in the Middle East–North Africa (MENA) region able to teach issues related to research with dual use potential by using tenets of responsible science and active learning pedagogical techniques.
Eligibility Criteria
• Applicants must be faculty who have been working and living in Egypt, Yemen, Algeria or Abu Dhabi and should apply in teams of 2-3 from each institution.
• Applicants must stay for the entire institute from 8-13 September 2012.
• Applicants must agree to use one or more of the instructional materials developed at the Institute in their teaching, preferably in the fall semester 2012.
• It is expected that one member/team will participate in the follow-up evaluation meeting during the academic year 2012-2013.
The following documents MUST be submitted:
1. Application form (click here)
2. Personal statement (no more than one page) that includes:
a. Your interest in scientific teaching
b. The types of courses you teach
c. What you hope to achieve by attending the Institute
Only complete applications will be considered
Deadline: July 23, 2012
Post-Institute Survey
As a participant in the recent Educational Institute on Responsible Research with Infectious Diseases: Ensuring Safe Science in the 21st Century that was held in Aqaba, Jordan, from 7-13 September, 2012, your reflections on the quality of discussions during the Institute and the implications of these discussions for research, policy, and education practice are important.
We are inviting you to provide feedback to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina about the Institute itself. We also would like to know how you are planning to use what you learned at the Institute in your own academic/research setting and in collaboration with other participants from your country and across the region. While your response will remain confidential, your views will be combined with those of your Institute colleagues to guide us in improving future programs on education about responsible conduct of science. This survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Thank you for your participation.
Lida Anestidou and Jay Labov, on behalf of the organizing committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
Mohamed M. El-Faham, Director, Center for Special Studies & Programs, Bibliotheca Alexandrina
1. Which ONE of the following best describes your position in your institution?
___Faculty or Lecturer for Undergraduate Students
___Faculty or Lecturer for Graduate or Postdoctoral Students
___Academic Administrator
___Other (Please specify):
2. Please indicate which THREE reasons best describe why you chose to attend this Institute:
___To meet colleagues from my country who share interests in responsible conduct of science
___To meet colleagues from other countries who share interests in responsible conduct of science
___To reconnect with colleagues who share my interest in responsible conduct of science
___To deepen my understanding of the issues related to the responsible conduct of science
___To discover tools, resources and best practices for incorporating evidence-based teaching techniques into my courses
___To become more involved with future efforts to improve education about the responsible conduct of research in my country
___To become more involved with future efforts to improve education about the responsible conduct of research internationally
___Other (please specify):__________________________________________
3. This Institute was designed to bring people together from across the Middle East/North Africa region and hopefully to launch a series of future activities to promote education about the responsible conduct of
science. Based on discussions at the Institute and recommendations generated by participants, please indicate which THREE of the following next steps you consider as the most important priorities for maintaining momentum and moving forward to infuse education about the responsible conduct of science into courses and other educational programs that are taught by you and your colleagues at your institution?
___Provide at least one similar workshop for current faculty colleagues at your institution
___Provide at least one similar workshop for future faculty colleagues, i.e., graduate and post-graduate students at your institution
___Engage the leadership at your institution to enable you to create a permanent curricular modification that allows you to provide such workshops on a regular basis
___Create a network of faculty from your institution and from at least one more institution that will be in charge of coordinating and teaching similar workshops
___Lay the groundwork for proposals to seek support from various funding agencies for you and your institution to support education about the responsible conduct of science.
___Other: ______________________________________
4. How are you planning to move forward on the issues addressed at the Institute?
| Am Already Using/Doing | Plan to Use/Do | Do Not Plan to Use/Do | Not Applicable | |
| Obtain and share reports and other resources on education and issues related to the responsible conduct of science from the National Academies and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.65 | ||||
| Use reports and other resources from the National Academies and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to inform your own projects on the responsible conduct of science. | ||||
| Use reports and other resources from the National Academies and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to improve your pedagogy on the responsible conduct of science and other subject areas. |
______________________
65 All reports from the National Academies are available for free download as pdf files at http://nap.edu. Reports and other resources from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina are available at www.bibalex.org/cssp/publications/publications.htm and www.bibalex.org/Publications/BA_Publications_EN.aspx
| Continue to discuss the messages and outcomes of the Institute with others in your projects or organization | ||||
| Discuss the Institute with professional colleagues outside of your organization. | ||||
| Continue to interact with Institute presenters and facilitators. | ||||
| Continue to interact with other Institute participants | ||||
| Work with professional societies and other organizations (to which I belong to encourage colleagues to employ active learning in teaching about the responsible conduct of science and related topics. | ||||
| Other (please describe): | ||||
5. How well did the Institute meet your expectations?
| Exceeded My Expectations | Met All of My Expectations | Met Some of My Expectations | Did Not Meet My Expectations |
Please explain what you found particularly effective OR ineffective.
6. Please rate the Institute on:
| Excellent | Very Good | Good | Fair | Poor | |
| Value of the Institute as a learning or professional development experience | |||||
| Clarity of Institute’s goals and |
| objectives | |||||
| Relevance of topics that were presented in relation to the stated goals of the Institute | |||||
| Quality of sessions about the responsible conduct of science | |||||
| Quality of sessions about the scientific basis for the use of active learning techniques | |||||
| Relevance to you and your work of the issues presented | |||||
| Usefulness of resources provided by the organizers and presenters (e.g., background resources in the Dropbox and briefing book) | |||||
| Inclusion of information and perspectives from a diverse range of views | |||||
| Balance of time spent in whole group and team breakout sessions | |||||
| Amount of time devoted to discussions during plenary sessions | |||||
| Time to meet and interact with other participants | |||||
| Helpfulness of your breakout group’s facilitators | |||||
| Helpfulness of the National Academies staff | |||||
| Hotel accommodations and meals |
7. If the National Academies were to organize and host additional Institutes or related activities on this topic in the future, would you be interested in participating?
| ___Definitely yes | _____Maybe | _____No |
If yes, what role would you see for yourself in such activities?
Funding Available to Help Implement Teaching about the Responsible Conduct of Science
Funding up to $1500 to help implement teaching about the responsible conduct of science (RCS) is available to participants who attended the recent Institute in Aqaba, Jordan, organized by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Those wishing to be considered for an award should submit an application of no more than 2 pages explaining how they propose to implement the teaching of RCS.
Applications need to describe the following:
Applicant(s) - Applicant(s) or team responsible for conducting, managing and coordinating the project
Goal(s) - Describe the overall learning goals for what you wish to implement
Objectives - List the objectives of the RCS teaching event and briefly describe how you will assess if you were successful in meeting those objectives
Approaches—indicate the teaching methods to be used
Participants—Describe the expected audience (i.e., colleagues, postdoctoral fellows or postgraduates) and the reason it was chosen
Budget - This should detail anticipated costs and any funding/support which will be available from your institution to offset costs. Explain what resources your institution is willing to provide (space, support, etc.)
Timeline—Describe the expected timeframe in which you will conduct and assess the success of your project
Anticipated Problems—Identify any anticipated difficulties and comment on how these difficulties might/will be addressed
Sustainability - Explain how you will attempt to sustain teaching about RCS at your institution and, where possible, promote it in your country of residence.
Funds will be allocated as a U.S. National Academy of Sciences award to individuals and will provide no support for institutional costs. Although the principal applicant must have been a participant at the Aqaba Institute, the application may name other individuals who will work with you on the project but who did not attend the Institute. Joint applications from several participants at the Aqaba workshop who propose to work together will be particularly welcome.
The deadline for receipt of applications is OCTOBER 18, 2012.
The proposals will be reviewed by the project’s committee members and individuals who will receive awards will be notified on or about November 1, 2012.
