Office of Research Services
Campus Graphics & Photography
Central Research Stores
Chemical Analysis Laboratory
TEC Services
Glass Blowing Shop
Instrument Shop
Integrated Biotech Laboratories

Internal Research Support Program
Equipment Matching Funds
General Research Support
James L. Carmon Scholarship
Other Research Support

The principal executive officer of research programs at the University of Georgia (UGA) is the Vice President for Research, who coordinates the activities, organizations, and personnel related to research. This individual is responsible for the overall UGA research program, including components in departments, schools, and colleges as well as units more specifically dedicated to research, such as the agricultural and veterinary medicine experiment stations and research institutes and centers. The Vice President administers the sponsored research programs, approving all research proposals submitted to external agencies, and oversees the conduct of programs supported by grants and contracts. The Vice President also is responsible for technology transfer, patents, copyrights, trademarks, plant variety protection certificates, animal care and use, biosafety, quality assurance, research involving human subjects, and research communications.

 In carrying out these responsibilities, the Vice President is assisted by a staff who deals with various aspects of universitywide research administration and by the directors of the cross-disciplinary centers and institutes.

Office for Sponsored Programs

The Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) operates under the direction of the Associate Vice President for Research, administering all externally sponsored grants and contracts awarded to the University of Georgia (UGA) or the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF). Selected staff members have signatory authority to negotiate and accept awards for UGA and UGARF, and monitor programmatic aspects of projects from idea conceptualization (i.e., proposal development) through final project closeout. OSP serves as the central resource for information regarding funding opportunities. Staff members serve as liaisons between the university community and external funding agencies for all matters related to sponsored program administration. As the institution's central repository for records regarding external awards, OSP serves as the office of record on research, public service, extension and instructional sponsored activity. For more information contact the Office for Sponsored Programs, sponprog@ovpr.uga.edu, or (706) 542-5939.
Go to Sponsored Programs Main Page

Accounting

The OVPR Division of Accounting works as a team to support the UGA research community. The staff interacts with department heads, faculty, business managers, office managers and accounting personnel from all phases of research on and off campus, aiding them in adhering to UGA policies and procedures. The staff oversees the accounting practices of the cross-disciplinary centers and institutes that report to the Vice President for Research as well as manages Special Funding Initiatives, such as Pulp and Paper, Textiles, Food Processing, Georgia Research Alliance, Biotechnology, and Lottery equipment matching. The Accounting staff also works with the Vice President for Research to manage the accounting of Start-Up, Enhanced Research Equipment and General Research Support Programs. The division also handles the accounting of all programs administered by the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGARF), i.e. UGARF Foreign Travel, UGARF Between Grant Support, and UGARF Faculty Research Grants. For more information, contact the Accounting office, marshao@uga.edu, or (706) 542-5930.
Go to OVPR Accounting Main Page

RESEARCH COMPLIANCE

Animal Care and Use Program

The staff in Animal Care and Use, under the direction of the Associate Vice President for Research, develops and implements UGA policies and coordinates activities that involve the use of animals. The UGA policies for use of laboratory animals encompass regulations of the Animal Welfare Act as amended (Public Law 99-198 The Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act), Guidelines and Principles of the United States Public Health Service Policy, and The Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Agricultural Research and Teaching. Compliance with policies is monitored by the UGA Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), which answers administratively to the Associate Vice President for Research. The IACUC members conduct site visits and inspections of animal care facilities, review animal use proposals, and ensure through staff development activities that people who work with laboratory animals are trained appropriately.

The staff supports the activities of the IACUC, helps provide veterinary care, consults on development of animal use proposals, provides technical oversight on compliance standards, and supports maintenance of animal care facilities. For more information, see the Animal Care and Use section under "Federal Laws and Regulations" in Chapter IV, and/or contact the Director of Animal Care and Use, Boyd Graduate Studies Research Center, bobbie@uga.edu, or (706) 542-5933.
Go to OVPR Animal Care and Use Main Page

Biosafety

The purpose of the Office of Biosafety is to provide guidance and assistance in the protection of faculty, staff and students from exposure to biohazardous materials and to guard against the release of biohazardous materials that may harm humans, animals, plants or the environment. The Office of Biosafety also provides administrative support for the Institutional Biosafety Committee.

Human Subjects

The Human Subjects Office is responsible for the review of projects that involve human subjects to assure compliance with federal regulations, state laws, and the policies of the UGA. Human Subjects review and approval is required for all research activities that involve human subjects, whether done by students or faculty, and with or without external funding. Some examples of activities that require prior approval are interviews, questionnaires, educational strategies, and review of medical or other records.

The Human Subjects Coordinator serves as a contact for participants concerned with their rights as subjects and helps manage activities of the UGA Institutional Review Board (IRB), which answers administratively to the Associate Vice President for Research. The IRB members represent various disciplines and professions and are recruited both on and off campus. Members provide assistance by reviewing proposals to help assure compliance. The Human Subjects Office staff also assists investigators in attaining compliance, investigates complaints and concerns that relate to human subjects research, and makes recommendations to the IRB.

For additional information about federal and UGA compliance, please refer to the Human Subjects Office/Institutional Review Board section under "Federal Laws and Regulations" in Chapter IV or contact the Human Subjects Project Coordinator, irb@uga.edu, or (706) 542-6514.
Go to Human Subjects Main Page
 

Quality Assurance

The Office of Quality Assurance provides oversight for research investigations that must comply with the federal mandate of the Good Laboratory Practice standards (GLPs). These are federal regulations promulgated by both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that describe the practices for conducting non-clinical laboratory studies that support or are intended to support applications for research or marketing permits for products regulated by the FDA or the EPA. These products include animal food additives, human and animal drugs, medical devices for human use, biological products, electronic products, and pesticide products. The Office of Quality Assurance audits the protocols, in-life phases, raw data, and the final report of those studies to insure that the data are of the highest integrity and accuracy. For more information contact the Quality Assurance Officer, mispagel.m@calc.vet.uga.edu, or (706) 542-5875.
Go to Quality Assurance Main Page
 

Research Communications

The Office of Research Communications provides information about the depth, breadth and quality of UGA research to the media, the public, policy makers, UGA faculty and administrators, and other interested audiences. It also assists OVPR units in communicating the services they provide to support researchers at UGA. Information is distributed in many ways, including the World Wide Web, ugaresearch, the Research Newsletter electronic newsletter, press releases, and a variety of other publications and printed materials. ugaresearch contains stories and news briefs on a broad range of research topics under investigation by UGA faculty; searchable text is available at http://www.researchmagazine.uga.edu/. For more information, contact Research Communications, rcomm@uga.edu, or (706) 583-0599.
Go to Research Communications Main Page

Research Institutes and Centers (Cross-Disciplinary)
Reporting to the Vice President for Research

Currently, 16 cross-disciplinary research institutes and centers report to the Vice President for Research. Other research centers and institutes are administered within schools/colleges, and they report to the corresponding dean.
Go to OVPR Research Institutes and Centers Main Page

BHSI (Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute)
220 Veterinary Medicine
(706) 542-5922
http://www.biomed.uga.edu/

The Center for Applied Isotope Studies is an applied research and technology center that emphasizes the use of nuclear analytical technology to solve critical contemporary problems. The Center’s staff cooperates with academic, government, and industry communities. Specialized capabilities include the development of sensor systems for environmental monitoring, survey systems for rapid in situ assessment of aquatic environments, stable isotope methods for geohydrologic research, transgenic bioindicators for environmental assessment, and improved methods for low-level and ultra low-level measurement of radioisotopes at environmental (ambient) levels.

Health communications is on the fast track at UGA thanks to a $200,000 gift given to help in the construction of a health communication research suite in the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences

The facility will feature community intervention and focus group laboratories. Web-based information kiosks, fixed cameras, microphones and a media production room are some of the technologies that will be available for researchers to create and test types of health promotion messages.

The Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD) of the University of Georgia is a cross-college, interdisciplinary center established to support and promote the development of research, service and educational programs related to tropical and emerging diseases. CTEGD is dedicated to “Global Health Through Research.” The research focus of the Center includes the immunology, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology of protozoan and metazoan parasites, and the biology of vectors of infectious agents.

 Scientists at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC) study the structures and functions of the complex carbohydrates of plants, microbes, and animals to determine the role of carbohydrates in growth and development, host-pathogen interactions, and disease processes. To investigate the chemistry and the physiological, developmental, and molecular biology of complex carbohydrates, the research groups at the CCRC develop and use advanced analytical techniques, including mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, computer modeling, artificial neural networks, tissue culture, immunocytochemistry, and recombinant genetics. They also develop computer software to assist in the study of complex carbohydrates.

The CCRC is the home of two federally designated centers for carbohydrate research: the Department of Energy-funded Center for Plant and Microbial Complex Carbohydrates and the Center for Biomedical Complex Carbohydrates, a National Institutes of Health-supported Resource Center. The CCRC provides analytical services and opportunities for collaborations to scientists in university, government, or industrial laboratories whose work involves complex carbohydrate molecules. The CCRC offers four one-week, hands-on laboratory-training courses every summer in the techniques used to analyze complex carbohydrates, and UGA students can apply to conduct their graduate research, undergraduate projects, or internships with Center faculty.

Georgia Sea Grant
220 Marine Sciences Building
(706) 542-6009
cingram@uga.edu
http://alpha.marsci.uga.edu/gaseagrant/

The Institute for Behavioral Research is an interdisciplinary unit of social and behavioral scientists that plays an important role on the campus of the University of Georgia. We work to provide services, information, and support that can enhance the quality, comprehensiveness, and relevance of social and behavioral research at the University.

The Institute for Behavioral Research (IBR) is organized into two primary Centers and a number of additional Working Groups. The two primary Centers are the Center for Family Research, and the Center for Research on Behavioral Health and Human Services Delivery. Currently we have active working groups in the areas of Methods and Models, Basic Behavioral and Bio-behavioral Processes, Community, Ethnicity, and Identity in Context, Intervention and Prevention Programs, Data Analytic, Development and Learning, and Gene Environment Interaction. We have recently begun an initiative to mentor scholars at minority institutions. Each working group is an interdisciplinary unit composed of faculty, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students from a variety of disciplines.

The IBR staff facilitates high-quality, interdisciplinary research in the social and behavioral sciences and helps faculty acquire funding for social science research.

Institute of Bioinformatics
http://www.bioinformatics.uga.edu/

The Plant Center is designed to foster and support interactions among members of the UGA research community who share common interests in cellular and molecular aspects of plant growth and development, in plant genome organization and function, in the application of molecular and genetic tools to improve cultivated plants, and in organisms that interact with plants. The Plant Center hosts a regular seminar series, organizes an annual scientific retreat to encourage the development of interdisciplinary research, and sponsors symposia and technical workshops.

 

 

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Aiken, South Carolina 29802

(803) 725-2472

http://www.uga.edu/~srel/

The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL), located across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia, is operated by the UGA and funded by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. SREL has organized its research into four major programs: the Advanced Analytical Center for Environmental Sciences; the Ecological Stewardship Program; the Ecotoxicology, Remediation, and Risk Assessment Program; and the Radioecology Program. All of these programs conduct basic ecological research and apply the findings to environmental issues on the Savannah River Site and elsewhere. Most of SREL's research is applicable to environmental problems related to the effects of industrial activities, including remediation strategies. Special emphasis also is placed on understanding the effects of human activities on the natural environment.

University of Georgia Cancer Center
website coming soon

Willson Center for Humanities and Art
164 Psychology Building
(706) 542-3966
ctrha@uga.edu
http://www.cha.uga.edu/

The Center for Humanities and Art promotes thoughtful inquiry into the philosophical, historical, social, ethical, legal, aesthetic, religious, and ideological implications of our knowledge of the world through research grants, visiting scholar programs, artist workshops, lectures, symposia, collaborative teaching, and publications.

Research Services
http://www.ors.uga.edu

A wide variety of research support services is available to UGA personnel, as well as state and federal agencies. Staff members of the various support services have access to state-of-the-art equipment, and they can provide high-quality, low-cost technical assistance and consultation. A brief description of the research support services available on campus follows.

The Cartographic Services Laboratory provides services in cartography, or map preparation; photography, which includes making slides, photographic prints, overheads, and aerial photographs; and computer-aided graphic design and layout, which involves preparation of graphs, illustrations, diagrams, figures, and flowcharts.

Central Research Stores (CRS) is a warehouse and issuing facility that serves the UGA research and teaching laboratories, all units in the University System of Georgia, and state and federal agencies. CRS personnel attempt to offer maximum savings through volume discounts and by providing single items at case lot prices.

Ordering materials directly from CRS is optional, and usual UGA procurement channels may be used red. The items shown in the CRS catalog are usually available for immediate delivery. Other scientific supply items may be special ordered through CRS or ordered directly through the UGA Procurement Office. Orders placed through CRS carry a mark-up for handling and delivery.

Central Research Stores also serves as an agent of the University Bookstore, offering the convenience of ordering through one source. Delivery trucks are dispatched to the campus twice daily, and material going outside the Athens area is shipped by commercial truck line.

The Chemical Analysis Laboratory is available to any researcher interested in metals, nutrients, organic carbon, cation, and pesticide/herbicide analyses. The laboratory provides quality control and quality assurance for all analyses along with fast turnaround times.

The Electronics Design and Maintenance Shop (EDM) offers design and fabrication of high-quality, one-of-a-kind electronic instrumentation to the repair of a broad spectrum of electronic and electromechanical equipment.

The staff of the Glass Blowing Shop fabricates custom-designed, high-precision glass apparatus, modifies factory-made glass items, and repairs specialized glass equipment either at the investigator's worksite or in the shop. Every effort is made to accommodate research schedules so that experiments do not have to be interrupted or delayed.

The Instrument Shop staff specializes in making custom-designed, high-precision technical equipment. Assistance is available in designing, writing specifications, selecting materials, and building instruments that will bring experimental ideas to reality. If a project requires specialized equipment or expertise not available at the shop, staff members can usually direct a client to another facility that can do the work.

RESEARCH SUPPORT PROGRAMS

Equipment Matching Funds

The Vice President for Research will accept requests for matching funds to purchase research equipment requested in an externally submitted research proposal when doing so is likely to enhance the competitiveness of the proposal and/or when funding agencies require institutional matching funds. Approval for matching funds must be obtained prior to submitting a proposal for final signatures. Assistance and additional information is available from the Division of Sponsored Programs, sponprog@ovpr.uga.edu, or (706) 542-5939.

General Research Support

The General Research Support account is a category for support of various research activities for faculty with one or more years of UGA service. Funding decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Letters requesting general research support should be attached to the general research support form and forwarded to the Office of the Vice President for Research. Efforts to obtain supporting commitments from the department, dean, or other vice presidential offices will be weighed in the decision by OVPR staff on all requests. Additional information is available by contacting the Director of Sponsored Programs at reginas@uga.edu, or (706) 542-5939.
Go to OVPR General Research Support Forms Page

James L. Carmon Scholarship

The James L. Carmon Scholarship is awarded each year to a graduate student whose thesis or dissertation research employs an innovative use of the computer. The research may involve the application of existing computational methods and hardware for thesis or dissertation research in the arts, humanities, or sciences; novel application of the computer in the creative arts; development of new computational methods, research in advanced computer architectures, or modification of existing computational methods or hardware; or research in the use of the computer for instruction. Each department's graduate coordinator may nominate two candidates annually. The scholarship carries a $2,000 stipend and the recipient may apply for extensions for up to three years. For more information, contact maryboyd@uga.edu, or (706) 583-0444.

Other Research Support

Occasionally, research projects require University financial support that does not fall into one of the above categories. In these cases, the principal investigator may contact the OVPR for assistance. All requests first must be approved by appropriate dean(s), department head(s), and/or director(s) and should indicate what funds have been committed from these sources. The OVPR will not support equipment maintenance/service contracts or computer software purchases. Please contact the Director of Sponsored Programs, reginas@uga.edu, or (706) 542-5939, for guidance on specific issues. For additional information please see the "Research Policies & Procedures, Table of Contents".