Project Summary

     Discoveries in Chemistry have played a vital role in improving our quality of life.  Innovations as distinct as the development of pharmaceuticals, the production of plastics, and the computer chip, have their basis in the firm understanding of chemical principles.  With the recognition that the understanding and exploitation of chemistry at the molecular level are intrinsic to the generation of new knowledge and technology, the Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering seek to conduct a bold experiment that would provide a synergism to their research activities. We seek to create an Institute that would serve to foster collaborative research in the Chemical Sciences.

Objective of the Proposal and Mission of the Institute

     The proposal seeks funding to establish an Institute for Chemical Sciences at Tulane University. The Institute will be a joint effort of the Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering. The objective of the Institute will be to foster collaborative research in the chemical sciences and to enhance the visibility of research in the Chemical Sciences both internally, and to constituencies external to Tulane. All current faculty in these departments will be members of the Institute. Tulane faculty with research interests in the chemical sciences will certainly be eligible to participate in all the Institute efforts and activities as full members, if they wish to become affiliated with the Institute. The Institute will have no bearing on the administrative operations of the three departments. While the departments have fully endorsed the concept of establishing an Institute to enhance collaborative, interdisciplinary research in the chemical sciences, the autonomy of all departments in education and research will be respected and maintained.

     The authors of this proposal feel that the Institute of Chemical Sciences is a unique concept that is very feasible in Tulane's academic setting where the relevant departments are small, but have a history of mutual support and collaboration.

History

     The concept of an Institute for Chemical Sciences is one that has evolved naturally as a consequence of collaborations between faculty in the three departments. In recent years, it has been recognized that Federal funding for research groups and centers has dramatically risen. Tulane is often shut out of consideration for competitive center funding in the chemical sciences, since we do not have the critical mass to effectively address center grant criteria. Additionally, we realized the effectiveness of establishing collaborative structures as a result of our experiences with the Coordinated Instrumentation Facility (CIF). The CIF has been extremely successful in major research instrumentation (MRI) grant programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). We attribute a large part of the success to the fact that the CIF represents a truly redeeming feature of university instrumentation - that it is a shared facility, well maintained, and easily accessible to university researchers. Most importantly, CIF helps tremendously to improve the university's scientific infrastructure by enabling the education of graduate and undergraduate students over a variety of scientific disciplines.

     In August, there was a meeting between the Department Chairs of the three departments, also attended by two of the PIs of this proposal. At this meeting, it was clear that there was support within the departments, to establish closer collaborative ties and to foster research in the Chemical Sciences at Tulane. Application to the Wall Fund was considered an appropriate vehicle to firm up the concept and to provide the impetus to create the Institution.

     The departments are considered amongst the most research active at Tulane, but federal research investments are lower than institutions we seek to be favorably compared to (Rice, Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, Washington). The Institute seeks to provide the environment for collaborative research that would significantly improve research productivity and Tulane's reputation in the Chemical Sciences, a place where research and graduate training are done in a truly collaborative, interdisciplinary environment.

Rationale for the Institute for Chemical Sciences

     We list several reasons why we believe that an Institute for Chemical Sciences would serve to enhance Tulane's reputation in the Chemical Sciences and contribute to the University's infrastructure development.

(i)     The Chemical Sciences are vital to the Nation's scientific, technological, and economic progress, and the target of significant levels of Federal funding. A large part of this funding is directed towards the establishment of research centers where a critical mass of faculty can bring about the realization of new scientific concepts that may eventually lead to improvements in our quality of life. The NSF Engineering Research Center program, requires, for example "a guiding, strategic vision to produce advances in a complex, next-generation engineered system. A dynamic, evolutionary strategic research plan to focus and integrate the ERC to achieve its vision." And the NSF Science and Technology Centers (STC) have the following mission statement, "Science and Technology Centers build intellectual and physical infrastructure within and between, disciplines, weaving together knowledge creation, knowledge integration, and knowledge transfer. STCs conduct world-class research through partnerships of academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial organizations, and/or other public/private entities. New knowledge thus created is meaningfully linked to society." The URI (University Research Initiative) and MURI (multiuniversity research initiative) programs run by the Department of Defense are additional center-oriented programs. At Tulane, we have talented faculty in the Chemical Sciences, but a lack of critical mass to make an effective case in such center applications. Recently, Tulane has not been particularly successful even in statewide Center initiatives, and has been negligibly represented in the State's proposals submitted to Federal Agency EPSCoR programs. The lack of a critical mass in research areas that are widely accepted as being important, is a significant reason for this situation. Entities formed at other state institutions (the Institute for Micromanufacturing at La. Tech. and the Advanced Materials Research Institute at the University of New Orleans), have been very successful at projecting strengths in critical areas. The Center for Photoinduced Processes, run through Tulane's Chemistry Department is an excellent example of a strength in an important area of the Chemical Sciences. But it is necessary to develop additional thematic research clusters that will strengthen Tulane's reputation in the Chemical Sciences.
     It will therefore be a very high priority of the Institute to build the groups that can effectively write Center grant proposals. We have tentatively chosen four major areas that we have strengths in, and that we hope to develop collaborative groups. These are (a) chemical biology, with specific examples of protein folding and drug design (b) advanced materials, with specific examples of polymer materials, biomimetic materials, catalytic materials, structural ceramics; nanostructured materials is a natural direct to building an effort in this area (c) green chemistry, with an emphasis on the development of environmentally benign processes, rather than on remediation chemistry, and (d) computational chemistry which will play a strong support role of the experimental efforts with directions in protein folding and polymer dynamics. Thus, our objective will be to build the kinds of collaborations that will lead to enhanced funding opportunities. One of the desirable outcomes of such collaborations would be the possibility of new funding opportunities for example NIH applications involving chemists and engineers who have not previously applied to NIH, or the reverse situation with NSF and the chemical biology scientists who have hitherto focused on the health sciences. With the combined strengths of the three departments, it will also be possible to implement an industrial advisory group which will play an invaluable role in supporting center grant applications.

(ii)     In a much broader sense, the joint effort between an Medical Center component and components of the Uptown Campus opens up tremendous opportunities. Chemists and chemical engineers developing new technologies applicable to the health sciences (biomaterials, sensors) will be able to work with medical school scientists in applications development. Fundamental research can be conducted with a focus and a vision, and this often is the key to successful grant applications.

(iii)     The creation of an Institute would also bring about a highly visible entity both within the University, and to external constituencies. To our knowledge, this is a unique endeavor bridging Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Chemical Engineering. Other universities (notably Berkeley, Cal Tech, Illinois) have combined Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Departments jointly run as a College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. The joint efforts of three chemical sciences departments to form an Institute focusing solely on collaborative research enhancement, with no administrative obligation other than the fostering of research and graduate education through interdisciplinary projects, could be a unique concept. It is possible at Tulane, simply because of the small size of the departments, and the mutual support that exists informally between the three departments.

(iv)     We envision that the creation of the Institute will lead to a positive impact on new faculty recruitment, when prospective faculty know that collaborations across divisions are encouraged and fostered, and that equipment sharing is institutionalized.

(v)     We believe that the creation of an Institute for Chemical Sciences would significantly benefit graduate education. The cross-disciplinary research efforts will ad much to a graduate student's research education. A simple example is that of a chemical engineering student focusing on polymer processing. When such a student learns spectroscopy from interacting with Chemistry faculty, there is a tremendous improvement to his/her quality of research. Such interdisciplinary research leads to enhanced career opportunities for the students. We also feel that the Institute will help us build a strong case for applications to NIH training grants and to NSF IGERT (integrated graduate education and research training) programs.

Nature of the Request:
     We request funds that will be used for the following purposes that seek to build the foundation for integrative research. The grant will not be used to subsidize research; it will be used solely to build the infrastructure that will allow Tulane to be strongly positioned in Center and Cluster grant applications.

(i)     Workshop Support. We will establish intensive workshops during the summer, to allow the faculty of the three departments and affiliated faculty, discover common research interests. The workshops will also educate faculty and graduate students in new areas of interest. There are fascinating new developments in the chemical sciences that the Institute could spearhead efforts in, simply because these developments involve interdisciplinary expertise. Combinatorial chemistry, bioinformatics, chemistry on-a-chip, tissue engineering, nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology, microscale chemical and biochemical sensor technology, are some specific examples of emerging technologies that will have a tremendous impact over the next couple of decades. Concrete examples of intensive 2-day workshops that could be run at Tulane include:
(a)     A workshop on bioinformatics with a focus on proteomics. There is a significant interest from faculty in computer science (B. Belkouche) to translate database expertise to bioinformatics. Coupled with Tulane strengths in proteomics (W. Wimley, S. Landry, and P. Wittung-Stafshede, in Biochemistry and Chemistry), workshops could be developed that would bring diverse disciplines together to address important problems.
(b)     A workshop in molecular simulation. Tulane has significant strengths in this area. D. Lacks (Chemical Engineering), M. Herman (Chemistry) have significant interests in polymer simulation. Together with the biochemistry faculty who do work in the simulation of protein folding, they could explore common research interests.
(c)     A workshop in Green Chemistry focusing on environmentally benign synthesis and processing. C.J. Li (Chemistry) has done wonderful work in this are, and there would be several faculty in chemistry and chemical engineering with interests in organic synthesis, membrane science, interfacial science, etc. who would be able to participate.
(d)     A workshop on Advanced materials. This workshop could bring together faculty who are interested in thermal and laser assisted processes for materials synthesis, and faculty who work in sol-gel and template-directed synthesis. Chemistry and chemical engineering would be primarily impacted, but there are several areas in materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering, that would be of immense interest to biochemistry. Tulane has significant strengths in materials chemistry that could easily distinguish its efforts from those of the Advanced Materials Research Institute at UNO, whose primary thrusts are in magnetic and thermoelectric materials.
     In these workshops, we will bring in one or two industrial representatives. It is hoped that these industrial scientists will help us in our efforts to develop Center grant applications.

(2) Investigator travel to Federal Agencies.
     We would like to encourage investigators working on group and/or center grant proposals to visit Federal agencies to describe their research and to enhance the visibility of research at Tulane. The funds requested here will be directed only for travel related to integrative research activities. Hence single investigator travel will not be funded, nor will travel to conferences. It is our conviction that when two investigators speak jointly to program officials about integrative activities, there is an added perception that the proposed activities will be truly integrative both in research and in educational infrastructure development.

(3) Joint Seminars.
     We would like to coordinate three seminars a year that would bring in highly reputed scholars whose research is of interest to more than one department. These seminars will be publicized as the Wall Lectures in the Chemical Sciences. If possible, the seminars will be allocated to interests divided as Chemistry+Biochemistry, Chemistry+Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry+Chemical Engineering.

(4) Integrated Education Activities.
     Without directly affecting individual departmental curricula in the early years of operation of the Institute, we will attempt to integrate research and education. This may take the form of laboratory rotations and integrated short courses that could account for independent study credit. Again, efforts will be made to foster the kind of integrative educational activities that lead to submission of NIH training grants or NSF IGERT type grants. The objective will be to carry out prototype activities that would provide the foundation for an educational grant application. Integration of proteomics, computational chemistry, and bioinformatics could be a good example of educational efforts that would lead to submission of a IGERT type proposal. As collaborations set in, and these activities add to the education of graduate students, it is inevitable that departmental curricula will be impacted.

(5) Bridge Funds for Grant Supported Personnel.
     Research technicians are typically supported on grant funds, and are not permanent salaried employees. When a principal investigator is between grants, it may be the case that such soft money positions cannot be supported and that personnel have to leave the university. The loss of highly trained technicians can have a significantly adverse impact on research productivity. The situation is especially relevant to Biochemistry. Chemistry has one faculty member who has hired a research technician. All other technician positions in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering are permanent staff of the university. The Coordinated Instrumentation Facility has one exceptionally productive research associate (Karol Maskos, an NMR specialist) who is 50% on university support, while the other 50% is through research grant support.
     We request funding to provide bridge support to research technicians supported through grant funds. Our intent is to allocate funding only if the investigator has already submitted the proposal that includes a budget for the technician, and runs into the difficulty during the interim period between submission and agency decision. Additionally, the proposal must involve an interdisciplinary component to be eligible for bridge funding through the Institute.

(6) Support for a Contract Machinist.
     One of the limitations to research at Tulane is the lack of a high quality machine shop and a quality machinist. We would like to address this limitation so that researchers have access to high quality machine shop facilities to build specialized research apparatii. It is far too expensive to request complete renovation of the existing machine shop in the School of Engineering, which is geared towards undergraduate design projects rather than of research equipment fabrication. Rather, we envision that research machining needs will be sporadic for the size of the faculty involved. Accordingly, we seek funds to contract out machining needs to high quality machine shop facilities in the city. A specific machine shop that has been used by members of the Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Faculty is the Talamo Machine Shop, Gretna. Funding priority will be given again to group efforts that seek to build on interdisciplinary activities. A specific example would be the need to build high pressure cells to carry out research in environmentally benign synthesis.

(7) Miscellaneous Costs associated with Web Development and Online Journal Access
     As the Institute becomes operational, we will set up a good Web page to emphasize the collaborative research and mission of the Institute. Enhancing online journal access will serve to improve research productivity. It is hard to justify this request from a collaborative perspective, but this appears to be a combined need of all three departments. SciFinder Scholar is a good example of an excellent online database in the Chemical Sciences that is not currently available through the Library (although a trial subscription is in effect).

Operation of the Institute
     The three investigators will be responsible for the management and operation of the Institute in the early years of the Institute. We will report frequently to the individual department chairs, and will hold meetings at appropriate intervals with the department chairs. An important aspect of the Institute will be the creation of an internal board of advisors. This will consist of administrative and regular faculty from departments outside Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry (eg. Biology, Microbiology, Physics, etc.). These faculty will help us improve the operations of the Institute, especially by advising us how the Institute can be of benefit both to their own departments and to the University as a whole. Using the combined strengths of the three departments, we will actively solicit industrial advisory support, which will be invaluable in Center grant applications.

Assessment of Outcomes and Long Term Viability of the Institute
     The foremost and most direct assessment of the Institute will be the success rate of proposals to Federal Agencies sent in response to multidisciplinary initiatives in the Chemical Sciences. Applications to the NSF ERC, STC or MRSEC initiatives will be considered particularly noteworthy, since Tulane has never sent in such applications. Each year, we will seek feedback from the three departments and from the advisory board, on the effectiveness of the Institute in fostering collaborative research. The feedback will be communicated to University administration.
     At the end of the grant duration (3 years), it is expected that the Institute will have no specific operating budget form the University. However, it will have a continuing mission to foster collaborative research. Leadership of the Institute will pass on to the PIs who have been successful at bringing in large cluster grants. This approach will provide new perspectives to the Institute's vision, and will enhance collaboration between successful clusters. The three PIs here will gladly serve in an advisory capacity, but continued success of the Institute will be ensured only by the commitment of successful PIs who feel that their efforts in grant development have been fostered during the Wall Fund period.

     In summary, we seek to build an entity both to advance the cause of research in the Chemical Sciences at Tulane and to build the research infrastructure of the University.

Last Web Modification: June 21, 2002