Research Prizes and Honors
[Have you or a colleague won a research-related prize or honor? Let the Research Alert know.]
PROFESSOR NAMED NEW INNOVATOR BY NIH
Dr. Lara K. Mahal, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is one of 31 researchers nationally to receive a 2008 New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
She will use the 5-year, $1.5 million grant to decode how sugar molecules on cell surfaces encode information such as cell type and health. This may lead to better diagnostic and prognostic indicators for diseases such as cancer in which the cell status changes.
New Innovator Awards are given by NIH to early career investigators to pursue exceptionally innovative approaches that could transform biomedical and behavioral science.
News and Information
IMPACT OF HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA) ON RESEARCH
The Association of Academic Health Centers is conducting an online survey on the Impact of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) on Research. The survey is online.
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 by October 17 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.
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.
Houston Chronicle
Sept. 20, 2008
HEADLINE: Presidential debates take on role as big as office;
Analysts say the stakes are raised this election year
[From an article about the importance of debates in the presidential election.]
In the contest between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, “they [the debates] are the main event,” agreed Paul Stekler, a documentary filmmaker and professor of radio, TV and film at the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
And “if there’s any one event the whole country is going to be watching, it’s the first debate,” Stekler said in a telephone interview.
Research Opportunities
Important University Research Deadlines
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Annual Notice For Continuation of Availability Of Grants and Cooperative Agreements For Nuclear Physics
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Oct. 1, 2008; Application, Nov. 15, 2008
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
6th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet
Deadline: Dec. 23, 2008
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Exploratory Studies in Cancer Detection, Diagnosis and Prognosis
Deadline: Oct. 16, 2008
Studies of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) of Human Microbiome Research
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Nov. 3, 2008; Application, Dec. 3, 2008
Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development Program
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Jan. 2, 2009, Feb. 2, 2009; Application, Feb. 2, 2009, March 2, 2009
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Political Science
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2009
Economics
Deadline: Jan. 18, 2009
Biological Oceanography
Deadline: Feb. 15, 2009
Marine Geology and Geophysics
Deadline: Feb. 15, 2009
OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
American Federation for Aging Research
The 2009 AFAR Research Grants
Deadline: Dec. 16, 2008
Harry Ransom Center
2009-2010 Research Fellowships in the Humanities
Deadline: Feb. 2, 2009
Institute For Research On Pathological Gambling And Related Disorders
Grants for Public Health Research on Gambling Disorders
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Oct. 1, 2008; Application (by invitation), Dec. 8, 2008
Incentive Grants for New Investigators in Gambling Research
Deadline: Nov. 3, 2008
National Association Of Music Merchants (Namm) Foundation
Sounds of Learning: the Impact of Music Education
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2008
Scientific Grants
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2008
Research Project
[Let Research Alert know about your research projects.]
RandD: BUILDING BLOCKS FOR SCIENCE–What young children should know and be able to do when they enter kindergarten
FACULTY: James Barufaldi, director, Center for Science and Mathematics Education, principal investigator, and Mary Hobbs, program coordinator, Science Education Center, co-principal investigator
AGENCY: National Science Foundation
AMOUNT: $407,552
The Texas Regional Collaboratives, headquartered in the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at The University of Texas at Austin, seeks to integrate research and applied education to take important tools inside pre-kindergarten classrooms to assess young students’ knowledge and skills and test strategies for teaching core science concepts to young learners.
The project will involve teachers from multiple backgrounds and will be conducted in a variety of settings with an emphasis on including classrooms where students are culturally and economically diverse. The mixed methods research will include data collection via case studies and technology-based assessment techniques. A robust research community of science and early childhood educators, science content specialists, researchers and classroom teachers will conduct four years of intense classroom observation and data collection in 25 pre-kindergarten classrooms with the intention of probing for answers to the following questions: (a) What should children know and be able to do when they enter kindergarten? (b) What core Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ideas should be stressed in pre-kindergarten/kindergarten science learning activities? and (c) What professional development practices best support the teaching of complex STEM concepts and processes to young learners?
