*List of Announcements (details below):*
* Federal Budget Developments: Implications for No-cost Extensions
* unding Opportunity:AFOSR Announcement
* C4I Seminar: Feb 8, 1:30pm: Dr. Anamaria Berea
* Ken Hintz and James Corey Wright are Issued a Patent
* Workshop on Career Preparation for Graduate Students (Feb 8, 9am)
* Seeking Volgenau Students for Campus Impact Forum
* Withdrawals from Graduate Courses
*Federal Budget Developments: Implications for No-cost Extension*
[I received the message below from Mike Laskofski of the Office of
Sponsored Programs.I've added italics to part of Mike's cover message.]
Dear Research Council:
Please see below related to a recent notice from OMB to executive
departments and agencies. I am attending FDP next week and COGR in
February and will report back to the group on any new developments. We
should continue to review existing awards closely to make sure activity
and spending is progressing at a reasonable rate. /I anticipate no cost
extensions will be scrutinized even more closely going forward so a
reminder to your faculty about the need to keep projects on schedule and
spend funds within the project period may be useful at this point./
Thanks, Mike
-------- Original Message --------
*Subject: *
COGR: Federal Budget Developments
*Date: *
Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:25:54 -0800
*From: *
COGR <[log in to unmask]> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
*To: *
COGR Email List <[log in to unmask]> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
On January 14 the OMB Deputy Director for Management issued a memorandum
to all executive departments and agencies entitled "Planning for
Uncertainty with respect to FY 2013 Budgetary Resources.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2013/m-13-03.pdf.
The memorandum directs federal agencies to plan for possible major
budget reductions in FY13 in case Congress fails to call off the
across-the-board spending cuts, known as the sequester, now scheduled to
go into effect on March 1 <x-apple-data-detectors://3>, or to extend the
current FY13 continuing resolution, which is keeping the government
operating, beyond its March 27 expiration date. The memorandum notes
that unless Congress acts, the sequestration order will require spending
cuts in FY13 alone of $85 billion.
Of particular concern with respect to research is the fourth bullet
point in OMB's guiding principles for the agencies, which states:
"review grants and contracts to determine where cost savings may be
achieved in a manner that is consistent with the applicable terms and
conditions, remaining mindful of the manner in which individual
contracts or grants advance the core mission of the agency."
In addition, the Department of Defense, in a memorandum issued last
week, instructed the military to begin adjusting for sequestration. With
respect to DOD funding for research and development, the memo instructs
agencies to clear R&D contracts above $500 million with the Under
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. It also
instructs agencies to identify the impacts of budget uncertainty on
DOD's Science and Technology accounts, which typically include basic and
applied research and early-stage technology development. According to
analyses from the AAAS, DOD currently stands to lose more than $6.5
billion a year in R&D funding under sequestration.
With this level of uncertainty in the FY 2013 federal budget, it has
been reported that the Administration's FY 2014 budget, normally
released at the beginning of February, is unlikely to be ready until
mid-March, if not later.
Obviously this will be a major part of the discussions at the February
21-22 COGR meeting.
Tony DeCrappeo <[log in to unmask]> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
COGR
*Funding Opportunity:AFOSR Announcement*
URL:http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=T1jzRKLXtRN6npbG7KtM7D317XzLpJgHycnTbpgLtKVCvmhfLpvr!1382532130?oppId=218055&mode=VIEW
<http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=T1jzRKLXtRN6npbG7KtM7D317XzLpJgHycnTbpgLtKVCvmhfLpvr%211382532130?oppId=218055&mode=VIEW>
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has issued a broad-agency
announcement describing their research interests.These include the
following topics that may be relevant to VSE faculty:
* Complex Networks
* Computational and Machine Intelligence
* Dynamic Data Driven Applications Systems (DDDAS)
* Foundations of Information Systems
* Information Operations and Security
* Mathematical and Computational Cognition
* Robust Decision Making in Human-System Interface
* Science of Information, Computation and Fusion
* Sensing, Surveillance and Navigation
* Systems and Software
* Trust and Influence
* Human Performance and Biosystems
*C4I Seminar: Feb 8, 1:30pm: Dr. Anamaria Berea*
C4I Seminar Series Lecture
Friday, Feb 8, 1:30 pm
Engineering Building, room 4705
Speaker: Dr. Anamaria Berea
Title: The Network Externalities in Hawala Money Transfers
For further information contact Deb Schenaker, 993-3682, email:
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>or visit
http://c4i.gmu.edu/.
/Abstract/
This project is both a methodological investigation and a data analysis
of a financial mechanism that remains elusive to data mining and
quantitative based sciences. It is an investigation of the informal
value transfer networks -- hawala - through the methods of social
network analysis. Although hawala has been tied to financing terrorism
activities worldwide, only a small part of the hawala exchanges are
"illegitimate" in the sense understood by Western economies. Based on a
data set constructed from the "bottom-up", from mass-media reports and
online open sources, this analysis shows a few significant network
externalities in the hawaladars networks from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Although data spans a couple of decades, the results are descriptive and
show the ties of the hawaladars from Peshawar to both legitimate and
illegitimate businesses in India, Dubai, Thailand and UK.
/Speaker Information/
Dr. Berea has a PhD in Computational Social Science from George Mason
University and a PhD in International Business and Economics from the
Academy of Economic Studies in Romania. Anamaria joined the DAGGRE
research project in 2011 as a graduate research assistant and an
advanced doctoral student. Within this project, she has been working on
specific topics using social network analysis, Bayesian network
modeling, GIS and prediction markets in order to forecast world events.
She is working on managing the forecasting problems on the prediction
market, on decomposing and modeling specific forecasting problems, such
as the Eurozone breakup, Greek Exit or the Failed States Index and on
analyzing the role of autotrading algorithms for forecasting accuracy
and the overall market activity.
The research and paper she had developed for modeling hawala networks
won an Assyst Bursary Award from ESSA (European Social Simulation
Association), as well as an official recommendation letter from the Head
of Counter-Terrorism in Calcutta, India.
*Ken Hintz and James Corey Wright are Issued a Patent*
Ken Hintz of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department and former
student James Corey Wright were issued the following patent by the US PTO.
Title: Syntactic Signal Recognizer and Pattern Recognizer
Inventors: James Corey Wright and Ken Hintz
Number: 8,358,809 B2
Issue date: January 22, 2013
*Workshop on Career Preparation for Graduate Students (Feb 8, 9am)*
URL:
http://gradlife.gmu.edu/events/career-preparation-series-for-graduate-students/
From the web site:
Planning for your post-graduate-degree job search? The Office of
Graduate Student Life invites you to join us for back-to-back workshops
focusing on two key parts of the job search process for both academic
and industry/non-academic careers: preparing for the interview and
negotiating your salary. Ann Mills from University Career Services and
Josh Eyler from the Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence will
provide tips on what to expect and how to prepare for these two stages
of the search. Refreshments will be provided.
*Seeking Volgenau Students for Campus Impact Forum*
[Judith Green in the Office of International Programs and Services would
like to have students from the Volgenau School participate in the Forum
described below.Please forward nominations to her if you know of someone
relevant.]
Dear Colleagues:
The Campus Impact Forum engages a diverse group of students from across
George Mason University in a day of brainstorming, collaboration, and
reflection.The Office of International Programs and Services, in
partnership with the Office of the Ombudsman and LEAD Office, seeks your
help identifying bold thinkers to serve as Fellows for the 2013 Campus
Impact Forum.
Representing GMU's extraordinarily multicultural community, Fellows will
work together under the leadership of an experienced facilitator to
address the topic: "Bridging Cultural Differences to Create a More Civil
Campus." An invited speaker will introduce the topic during a morning
plenary, followed by discussion of the University's traditions,
competencies, and opportunities for both increasing civility and
embracing difference. During the afternoon, Fellows will break into
small groups tasked with proposing innovations or enhancements that
foster civility in the co-curriculum. A senior University official will
join Fellows for a concluding session to hear their ideas.
*Please consider nominating one or more students for this opportunity by
simply replying to this message with the student's name by_February 7,
2013_. *Additional information about the student, such as academic
program, e-mail or phone number, is helpful but not required.Nominated
students will be contacted by OIPS staff and invited to interview for
one of 30 fellowship positions. All students currently enrolled in a
degree program at George Mason University are eligible.
The 2012-13 Campus Impact Forum will take place on the Fairfax campus
Friday, February 22, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.Students will be
selected on the basis of the following criteria: faculty nomination,
diversity of group composition to ensure a broad representation of
experience and ideas, personal interview, and student interest. Feel
free to circulate this message to other colleagues. I'd be glad to
respond to any questions you may have, and thank you for giving
consideration to student nominees for the Campus Impact Forum.
Sincerely,
Heather H. Ward
Associate Director for Internationalization and Outreach
Office of International Programs and Services
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
703-993-3316
*Withdrawals from Graduate Courses*
URL:http://volgenau.gmu.edu/graduates/forms/ApplicationforWithdrawalAfterDeadline.docx
My office has clarified our policies for approving course withdrawals
after the add/drop deadline for graduate students.The full policy, as
well as the relevant forms, can be found at the above URL.Below are
extracts from the document.
*University Policy: *For graduate and non-degree students, withdrawal
after the last day for dropping a course requires approval by the
student's academic dean, and is permitted only for nonacademic reasons
that prevent course completion.
Requests to withdraw will not be considered after the last day of
classes as posted by the Office of the Registrar.
Students who wish to withdraw _after_ the final drop deadline must
submit the following documentation to the Student Services Office:
/Within two weeks of the final drop deadline/
* Complete the "Application for Withdrawal" form
* Submit to Graduate Student Services Office, Suite 2500 for signature
/More than two weeks after the final drop deadline and more than one
month before the last day of classes/
* Complete (with your instructor(s)) the "Academic Status Request" form
* Complete the "Application for Withdrawal" form
* Submit to Graduate Student Services Office, Suite 2500 for signature
/Within one month of the last day of classes (students must withdraw
from all classes; no partial withdrawals will be permitted)/
* Complete (with your instructor(s)) the "Academic Status Request" form
* Complete the "Application for Withdrawal" form
* Obtain documentation to justify your request (e.g., medical records,
statement from employer/supervisor)
* Submit to Graduate Student Services Office, Suite 2500 for signature
/In all cases/
* You are strongly encouraged to discuss your plans with your
instructor(s) and your advisor before applying for withdrawal; there
may be alternatives available to you.
* Poor performance in a course is not a valid reason for withdrawal.
The Registrar's Office will only process a withdrawal request after the
Office of Student Accounts verifies that there are no holds or unpaid
charges on the student's account. The university does not refund tuition
when a student voluntarily withdraws from a course after the drop
deadline. If the withdrawal is after the drop period, a listing of the
student's semester courses appears on the student's record along with
grades of "W".
--
===============================================================
Stephen G. Nash
Senior Associate Dean
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
Nguyen Engineering Building, Room 2500
Mailstop 5C8
Fairfax, VA 22030
[log in to unmask]
Phone: (703) 993-1505
Fax: (703) 993-1633
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/seor/faculty/nash.html