Research Prizes and Honors
[Have you or a colleague won a research-related prize or honor? Let the Research Alert know. Send an e-mail to timgreen@mail.utexas.edu.]
PETROLEUM ENGINEERING PROFESSOR RECEIVES HIGHEST HONORS
Dr. Gary Pope, petroleum engineering professor and director of the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, received an honorary membership to the Society of Petroleum Engineers. It is the highest honor that the society presents to an individual and is limited to less than one tenth of one percent of the society’s membership. The honor recognizes a career of significant professional engineering achievements.
Pope, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, researches and teaches multiphase flow and transport in porous media and applies these principles to improved oil recovery and aquifer remediation. He has authored or co-authored more than 210 technical papers on enhanced oil recovery and related research, and supervised the research of more than 120 graduate students at the University.
News and Information
NEW PROPOSAL REVIEW FORM IS AVAILABLE
The Office of Sponsored Projects has released a new proposal review form (PRF). It is the result of a collaborative effort between members of UT-Austin’s faculty, departmental administrators, OSP personnel and ITS programmers.
Many features have been added and a number of enhancements to existing features have been incorporated into the new PRF. For example, the new PRF sports a sleeker interface, contains more help features, and provides live links to helpful sites a researcher might need during the course of preparing a PRF.
The new PRF is ready for use. Please call 471-6424 to report problems, or if you need help with the new form.
One-hour sessions demonstrating the PRF will be held in NOA 5.318 and are as follows:
9/15/2008 11 a.m.
9/16/2008 3 p.m.
9/17/2008 10 a.m.
9/19/2008 10 a.m.
For more information, please contact OSP at osp@austin.utexas.edu.
RESEARCH COMMERCIALIZED
The IC2 Institute will host “My Research as Commercialization,” a colloquium in which professors who have commercialized technology will discuss their experiences. Their discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Ted Rappaport, professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead the discussion. Rappaport founded Wireless Valley Communications Inc., which was acquired by Motorola in 2005.
The commercialization colloquium will be on Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Legacy Room, CBA 3.202, at the McCombs School of Business.
Those invited to attend are students, faculty, and members of Austin’s business and technology communities.
Participants are Dr. John Sibley Butler and Alan Blake of Glowfish; John Ivy of PureSport; S.V. Sreenivasan of Molecular Imprints and co-inventor of S-FIL® technology; and Uri Treisman of Agile Mind, Inc.
Contact Coral Franke, conference manager, at coral@ic2.utexas.edu or 475-8947, for a reservation. Lunch is provided at no cost.
FEDERAL RELATIONS OFFICE SEEKS PROPOSALS
The Vice President for Research – Office of Federal Relations, along with The University of Texas System, is calling for proposals for new and continuing federal initiatives for fiscal year 2010. This opportunity is ideal for advanced research that may not be eligible for smaller grants. Funding requests that focus on issues of current national significance and have institutional and regional economic development potential will have a higher probability of success.
Proposals should first be submitted to your dean, who will prioritize three to five new requests and forward those to the Federal Relations Office for further consideration. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please see the detailed instructions at the following Web site and download the UT System FY 2010 Appropriations Request form.
Contact Ellyn Perrone or Michelle Lee at 471-5925 with questions.
UNDERSTANDING U.S. EXPORT CONTROL REGULATIONS’ IMPACT
ON THE UT RESEARCH COMMUNITY
Kay Ellis, associate director and export control officer in the Office of Sponsored Projects, will conduct a seminar that will provide an understanding of rules and regulations associated with export controls and their application at the University. Participants will gain an understanding of the federal environment that is driving the need for more stringent protection of information.
Kay Ellis, associate director and export control officer in the Office of Sponsored Projects, will conduct a seminar that will provide an understanding of rules and regulations associated with export controls and their application at the University. Participants will gain an understanding of the federal environment that is driving the need for more stringent protection of information.
Sept. 25, 2008
9-11 a.m.
ACE 2.402
The seminar is free, but seating is limited. Please send an e-mail to evmota@austin.utexas.edu to reserve a place.
QuotedUT Researchers in the News
A sampling of recent quotes by university faculty members and researchers. To be included in this section, let Research Alert know when you or a colleague have been quoted.
The Washington Post
Sept. 4, 2008
HEADLINE: A Multitude of ‘My Friends’
For John McCain, a Tried-and-True Rhetorical Tic
[From an article about John McCain’s frequent use of the phrase ‘my friends’ in public appearances.]
“It reads as an age marker, because I don’t think anybody under the age of 50 has ever used the term,” says Roderick Hart, the dean of the college of communication at the University of Texas at Austin.
Research Opportunities
Important university research deadlines:
Awards and Grants
Limited Submissions
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)
Deadlines: White Papers, Oct. 31, 2008; Full Proposals, Jan. 9, 2009
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
High Energy Physics Outstanding Junior Investigator Program
Deadline: Nov. 5, 2008
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
2009 Academic Year EPA Greater Research Opportunities Fellowships for Undergraduate Environmental Study
Deadline: Dec. 11, 2008
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Collaborative Research Grants
Deadline: Nov. 5, 2008
Scholarly Editions Grants
Deadline: Nov. 5, 2008
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Oct. 21, 2008; Application, Nov. 20, 2008
Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics II
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Dec. 5, 2008; Application, Jan. 6, 2009
Research on Emergency Medical Services for Children
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Dec. 15, 2008; Application, Jan. 15, 2009
Roadmap Transformative Research Program
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Dec. 29, 2008; Application, Jan. 29, 2009
Pre-doctoral Fellowships in Bioethics
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2009
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
International Collaboration in Chemistry between U.S. Investigators and their Counterparts Abroad
Deadlines: Preliminary Proposal, Nov. 4, 2008; Full Proposal, Jan. 30, 2009
East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students
Deadline: Dec. 9, 2008
Ecology of Infectious Diseases
Deadline: Dec. 10, 2008
OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
William T. Grant Foundation
RFP for the Development and Improvement of the Measurement of Classroom Quality
Deadlines: Letter of Inquiry, Nov. 3, 2008; Invited Full Proposal, Feb. 16, 2009
U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation
Grants for Research in Exact Sciences, Physical Sciences, Energy, Environment, Ecology, Economy and Sociology
Deadline: Nov. 17, 2008
Friends For An Earlier Breast Cancer Test
Medical Research Grant
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2008
Social Science Research Council
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship Program
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2008
Research Project
Let us know about your research projects at timgreen@mail.utexas.edu or 512-475-6596.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INCENTIVES, INSURANCE AND AUDITED REPUTATION: AN ECONOMIC APPROACH TO CONTROLLING SPAM
FACULTY: Andrew Whinston, professor, McCombs School of Business, principal investigator
AGENCY: National Science Foundation
AMOUNT: $351,562
The Internet is plagued by security problems including spam, which threaten its legitimate role as the engine of growth in the new millennium. While technology makes admirable progress against cyber-security problems, the problem is not one of technology alone. Cyber security is part of a framework that encompasses technological, economic and social issues. The availability of technological solutions needs to be supplemented by service providers accepting responsibility for deploying technologies efficiently.
Deployment of solutions and assignment of responsibility today tend to focus on a network provider’s accountability to its own customers. In the decentralized Internet, allocation of accountability for potential impact on a remote network is important.
This research seeks to direct investments to minimize impact on destination networks by efficient allocation of incentives. Security threats render the Internet a risky environment, and insurance mechanisms can seek to enhance productive and secure use of the Internet by risk management. This project uses game theoretic models to study allocation of incentives among mail service providers to reduce global incidence of spam.
This project will develop incentive and insurance mechanisms with the provision for certifying providers who voluntarily accept responsibility for damage to rest of the network, will conduct empirical studies of the patterns of spam observed on Internet today for refining the analytical model, and will experimentally test and validate the mechanisms and model. This research seeks to start an evolution of the Internet into an accountable and well-organized environment.
