Center of Excellence proposals are due June 9 Dear All, The Centers of Excellence Application for the 2008 round of Center approvals was released by the Department of Commerce and calls for the submission of proposals by June 9. The application form is available on the UND Research Web site at http://www.und.edu/dept/research/ . Please note that the form will open as a Word document file. I have asked Gary Johnson to coordinate and track all submissions from UND. Please advise the Office of the Vice President for Research, garyejohnson@mail.und.nodak.edu as soon as possible if you intend to submit a proposal in response to the current announcement. This will let us gauge the number of proposals expected from the UND campus. As with the previous round, it is expected that UND will be limited to a maximum of five proposals. Please note that "The approval and recommendation by the President of the University is required to insure that the funding request is consistent with the mission and development plans of the institution." Please route proposals through the Office of the Vice President for Research by June 5 for review and for my signature. Please make this announcement known to all faculty and professional staff in your areas of responsibility. Note that the questions about the application process or the Centers of Excellence program may be directed to: Justin Dever, Manager Office of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives North Dakota Department of Commerce 701 328 7258 (office) 701 202 6767 (cell) jdever@nd.gov www.ndcommerce.com