WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE A-term Issue Happy A-Term! In this issue, we highlight a variety of exciting funding opportunities available to researchers, innovators, and educators across a wide range of disciplines. Whether you're working in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, or humanities, there are new avenues for advancing your work with the support of federal grants and cooperative agreements. This newsletter provides a curated list of upcoming federal and state funding opportunities, and RSI and sponsor events related to grantsmanship training and funding opportunity discussions, helping you stay informed and competitive in securing vital research funding. Funding Opportunity Spotlight Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science (SCH): Jointly funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, the purpose of this interagency program solicitation is to support the development of transformative high-risk, high-reward advances in computer and information science, engineering, mathematics, statistics, behavioral and/or cognitive research to address pressing questions in the biomedical and public health communities. Transformations hinge on scientific and engineering innovations by interdisciplinary teams that develop novel methods to intuitively and intelligently collect, sense, connect, analyze, and interpret data from individuals, devices, and systems to enable discovery and optimize health. Solutions to these complex biomedical or public health problems demand the formation of interdisciplinary teams that are ready to address these issues while advancing fundamental science and engineering. Applications are due Oct. 8, 2025. For more information about this call, please check the link above. Please reach out to rsi@wpi.edu for proposal development help. Curated Funding Opportunities Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Robotics: Funding from federal agencies to support research in the areas of, and in the intersection between AI, data science, and robotics. Advanced, Sustainable Materials, and Manufacturing: Funding from federal agencies to support research in the areas of, and in the intersection between, advanced, sustainable materials, and manufacturing. Early Career Funding Opportunities: Funding from federal agencies to support research by early-career researchers.  MA State Funding Opportunities: Open funding opportunities from Massachusetts state agencies.  Life Sciences and Biotechnology: Funding from federal agencies to support research in the areas of life sciences and biotechnology. Limited Submissions Limited Submission opportunities are funding opportunities where the funder limits the number of applications from a single institution. WPI's RSI conducts an internal competition for these Federal/State opportunities. Faculty who come across such opportunities in their search are encouraged to please reach out to rsi@wpi.edu to indicate your interest and to open the limited submission process for the opportunity.   Events RSI Events SOAR Series: Massachusetts Life Sciences Center | September 24, 12-1 pm | BETC Classroom Drs. Carla Reimold and Audrey Medieros, Program Directors at the MLSC, will discuss new funding opportunities, and WPI faculty will talk about their success with MLSC funding. Register here. Resources for Proposal Development | October 8, 12-1 pm | Zoom Meet representatives from different WPI research resources offices to learn more about how they can help you identify appropriate funding opportunities and put together a winning proposal for extramural funds. Registration will open on September 25. External Events DARPAConnect Pop-up | September 24 DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier R&D agency, relentlessly pursuing groundbreaking innovations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and more. Renowned for turning bold ideas into field-ready capabilities, DARPA continues to push the boundaries of possibility. Register Here for September 24 with DARPA DARPA Program Managers, Contract Management, Small Business Programs Office & more will share how to engage with the agency -- and funding pathways to bring your most innovative ideas forward. Event Details: Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025 Time: Program: 8:30am - 4pm MT | Networking Reception 4pm - 5pm MT Location: Montana State University -- and virtually! Register: https://events.bizzabo.com/Bozeman-DARPAConnect-Pop-Up/home Worcester Polytechnic Institute 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609-2280 Ph: +1-508-831-5000 wpi.edu  

We know that it's the people that make WPI so special, and we're so excited to share some of the amazing students, faculty, staff, and alumni who are part of this year's Homecoming.  Looking for the registrant list? You'll find that here.   

Welcome Back to a New Academic Year! We hope you had the opportunity to rest, relax, and recharge over the summer. As we are in the full swing of A-Term, we’re excited to share some updates from the Staff Council. Reflecting on Our Journey So Far Last year was a big year for Staff Council, we feel like we really found our groove. After spending time getting established, we focused on making sure staff voices are heard and pushing for changes that matter to staff. We're excited to share some highlights from our year-end report, like the wins from our PTO Task Force, getting more staff involved in campus-wide decisions, and hosting events that brought people together, from all-staff meetings to listening sessions where we could hear what's really on everyone's mind. Check out our full end of year report to see what we accomplished together. Thank You to Our Departing Members As we move into our fourth year, we want to express our sincere gratitude to the five dedicated members whose two-year terms have come to an end. Thank you for your invaluable contributions: Lusine Baghsarian, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Nicole Caligiuri, Research Pat Howe, School of Engineering Alesia Lesane, Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education Nicole Luiz, Campus Planning & Facilities Elena Morganelli, Undergrad Enrollment Looking Ahead We’re excited for what lies ahead, guided by our strategic plan, we remain committed to ensuring that staff voices are heard. Your feedback over the past 18 months has been instrumental in shaping our direction—please continue to share your thoughts!   Save the Dates  All-Staff Meetings: If you have ideas for topics you would like to hear about at our all-staff meetings, please reach out to let us know. October 14th 9:00–10:30 AM | Olin 107 December 16th 9:00–10:30 AM | Olin 107 March 10th, 2026, 9:00–10:30 AM | Olin 107 May 19th, 2026, 2:00–3:00 PM | Odeum Special Events: November 24th, 2025, 2:00–4:00 PM | Harvest of Thanks | Odeum April TBD Staff Award Ceremony | Odeum May 19th, 2026, 3:00–4:00 PM | End of Year Social | Odeum Meet Our New Members We’re pleased to introduce seven new members to the Staff Council: Elizabeth Chirico, Advancement, Jaime Dillon, Student Affairs, Matt Foster, Student Affairs, Stanley Horton, Talent & Inclusion, Shawn Needham, Marketing & Communications, Jessica Sabourin, Undergraduate Enrollment, Carrie West, School of Arts & Sciences    Meet Our Executive Committee Mike Hamilton, Chair; Sarah Miles, Vice-Chair; Caitlin Neer, Secretary; Lauren Martunas, Treasurer; and Stacey Happy, Public Relations Meet Our Committee Leadership Amy Curran, Feedback; Matt Foster, Engagement; Elizabeth Jacoby, Recognition; and Jaime Dillon, FBC Vice-Chair Your input is crucial—feel free to reach out to any Staff Council member, fill out our feedback form, recognize a fellow staff member with a Goat Note, or email us at staffcouncil@wpi.edu.   Have a great rest of your week!  Mike Hamilton, Staff Council Chair, on behalf of Staff Council    

Next week, ITS will be hosting a OneDrive Clean Up webinar as part of the Microsoft365 Storage Management project. Come join us on Tuesday, September 23 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT for a live tutorial and tips on how to clean up your OneDrive storage. Please register on this Microsoft Form to attend the webinar or receive the recording.   Microsoft 365 Storage Resources: These resources will help you get started on managing your Outlook and OneDrive storage. Storage Management FAQs Exploring Outlook Outlook Clean Up Resources Exploring OneDrive

We are pleased to announce that, effective September 1, Digital Collections Archivist Emily Ping O’Brien has taken on additional new responsibilities as Department Head for Archives & Special Collections, while Access and Outreach Archivist Gillian McCuistion has added new responsibilities as WPI’s Institute Archivist. With this experienced team at the helm, we can assure long-term continuity and innovative leadership for the essential work of the Institute’s archives and unique collections of books and artwork: Emily Ping O’Brien joined WPI in 2017, rapidly building her technical expertise in digital archives and digital exhibits as a key member of the joint Library-IT Digital WPI steering group. Digital WPI is an innovative and unique open-source university repository. It provides global access to over 25,000 digital items created by the WPI student & faculty community, in addition to another 25,000 digital assets that document and share WPI’s history and unique cultural assets. Emily has been active in regional and national professional digital archiving communities, frequently presenting and leading programs; she was one of the inaugural participants in WPI’s self-leadership program (2024-2025).  In her new role as Head of Archives & Special Collections Emily will serve as the administrative lead for this Department in its many relationships with the campus community, donors, and scholars. She will also be joining the library’s leadership team. She will also continue her work on Digital Collections and digital exhibits. Gillian McCuistion joined WPI in 2023 from the University of North Carolina, where she helped direct the Student Health Coalition archive project, documenting collaborative efforts between college students and underserved communities to increase access to healthcare in the rural American South from the 1960s-1980s. Since joining WPI, Gillian has been spearheading efforts to create a more inclusive institutional memory, namely as it relates to partnering with student organizations to expand collecting practices.  Gillian has also designed and produced annual exhibits in the Archives’ Gladwin Gallery, each telling the story of different departments or programs in WPI's vibrant and creative technical community. This year's exhibit, “Currents of Change: Electrical & Computer Engineering at WPI from the Dawn of the Electric Age to Present Day” features the history and progress of the ECE department. As Institute and Outreach Initiatives Archivist, Gillian will work closely with the WPI community to document our history and to ensure access to our archives, whether for our alumni, university offices, or our students and other researchers. Emily and Gillian are excited to continue their work with our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and all others who help us create a lively, open, and meaningful archive of WPI’s people and shared community.  They can both be reached at:  archives@wpi.edu

Your assumptions about cyber criminals could be your biggest vulnerability. Challenge them now by reading this month's SECURE IT newsletter about social engineering. Learn how people are able to act as a firewall in thwarting attackers. In this issue: From WPI's CISTO: Local Storage Is Not Backed Up Social Engineering Psychology & Strategies, including AI Prevent Social Engineering Learning with Laughter Secrets of Social Engineering Video Meet Jeff Eaton! Featured Videos Statistics and In the News Diversity in Cybersecurity WPI Resources