THIS IS THE LAST RESEARCH ALERT FOR 2008. IT WILL RESUME JAN. 15, 2009.
Read the research blog Further Findings.
Research Prizes and Honors
[Have you or a colleague won a research-related prize or honor? Let the Research Alert know.]
NATIONAL SCIENCE ORGANIZATION HONORS FOUR UT AUSTIN PROFESSORS
Four faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
AAAS fellows are chosen annually by their peers to recognize their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
The University of Texas at Austin fellows are:
Dr. Chandrajit Bajaj, professor in the Department of Computer Sciences in the College of Natural Sciences and the Institute of Computational Engineering and Science, for research in algorithms and data structures in computational geometry, image processing, data visualization and computational mathematics.
Dr. Harriet Dinerstein, professor in the Department of Astronomy in the College of Natural Sciences, for research on planetary nebulae and the interstellar medium, using infrared spectroscopy to determine the elemental composition of interstellar clouds, and of circumstellar nebulae created by dying stars.
Dr. Andrea Gore, professor in the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy, for research in reproductive neuroendocrinology, especially for work on reproductive aging and the role of environmental endocrine disruptors on physiology.
Dr. Danny Reible, professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, for research in the assessment and management of environmental pollution, particularly the science and technology of contaminated sediment assessment and remediation.
An educational and professional association, AAAS also publishes the journal Science. The fellows will be announced in Science on Dec. 19.
News and Information
NSF REGIONAL GRANTS CONFERENCE IN ARIZONA — MARCH, 2009
A National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Grants Conference will be held in Tempe, Arizona and hosted by Arizona State University on March 30-31, 2009.
Key representatives from the National Science Foundation as well as faculty, researchers, and grant administrators representing colleges and universities from around the U.S. will participate.
This two-day conference offers information about issues at NSF including the state of current funding, new and current policies and procedures, and pertinent administrative issues. NSF program officers representing each NSF directorate will be on hand to provide up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answer questions.
UNIVERSITY CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AWARDS
The Office of the Vice President for Research is seeking nominations for The University Co-operative Society’s Research Excellence Awards from the dean of each college, the provost, and from each vice president to whom an organized research unit reports. Each dean or vice president may submit one nominee for each of the two categories of Research Excellence Awards. They are:
Career Research Excellence Award – Will be made to a faculty member or staff researcher who has maintained a superior research program across many years. The award will be accompanied by a check in the amount of $10,000.
Best Research Paper Award – Will be made to a faculty member or staff researcher who was the principal or sole author of a peer-reviewed scholarly paper reporting original research that was published during calendar year 2008 in recognized research outlets in his or her field of study. The award will be accompanied by a check in the amount of $5,000.
Nominations should be submitted by the deans and vice presidents to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Mail Code: G1400, by 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. A committee of faculty and researchers will review the nominations and select the awardees, who will be announced at the University Co-operative Society banquet in October 2009.
Contact Liza Scarborough, 471-2877, with questions.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR SPRING 2009
The Office of the Vice President for Research is now accepting applications for Spring 2009 Undergraduate Research Fellowships. The Undergraduate Research Fellowship program provides support for specific scholarly research projects conducted by full-time UT undergraduate students enrolled in any department. These fellowships are intended to cover costs associated with academic research projects proposed and written by student applicants and undertaken with the supervision of a university tenured or tenure-track faculty member, lecturer, senior lecturer or full-time research scientist/engineer. Some restrictions apply.
Spring 2008 Deadline: Monday, Feb. 9, 2009
Undergraduate Research Fellowship information and applications are available online.
QuotedUT Researchers in the News
[A sampling of recent quotes by university faculty members and researchers. To be included in this section, let the Research Alert know when you or a colleague have been quoted.]
Financial Times
Dec. 15, 2008
HEADLINE: Green roofs get on top of it
[From an article about growing vegetation on roofs]
However, some green roofs provide more effective storm water management systems than others. A study conducted by Mark Simmons and a team of researchers at The University of Texas at Austin compared the performance of six different types of extensive green roof designs with regular non-reflective black roofs, and reflective white roofs.
The researchers found that there were variations in the volume of run-off retention not only between the conventional non-vegetated roofs and the green roofs, but also between the different types of green roofs. The maximum run-off retention was 88 percent. However, some of the roofs had only limited retention properties.
“Green roofs vary so much in their design and performance, they must be designed according to specific goals rather than relying on assumed intrinsic attributes,” wrote the researchers. “Green roofs can retain significant amounts of rainfall, this is dependent on the size of the rain event and design and can fail if not designed correctly.”
The Washington Post
Dec. 11, 2008
HEADLINE: The Bangalore Backlash: Call Centers Return to U.S.;
Some Firms See Value in Familiar Voices
[From an article about Dell and other companies providing North American-based tech support for an extra price]
Though some have suggested that the friction between U.S. consumers and foreign operators arises from prejudice, some observers see it differently.
“I hear people say all the time that people who complain about call centers in India are being racist or nativist — but it’s not as simple as that,” said Sharmila Rudrappa, a sociology professor at University of Texas at Austin and native of Bangalore, India. “If you need tech support, it already shows you’re having a crazy time getting your Dell computer to work. And when things go haywire, you want assurance, you want familiarity, you want someone to hold your hand and say it’s okay. What you don’t want is to have to work at understanding the person on the other end of the line.”
Research Opportunities
Important university research deadlines:
Awards and Grants
Limited Submissions
INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES
Connecting to Collections Bookshelf
Deadline: March 9, 2009
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
National Endowment for the Arts
Literature Fellowships: Creative Writing in Poetry
Deadline: March 3, 2009
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Innovative and Applied Emerging Technologies in Biospecimen Science
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Jan. 23, 2009; Application, Feb. 23, 2009
Innovative Technology Development for Cancer Research
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Jan. 23, 2009; Application, Feb. 23, 2009
Biosocial Approaches to Infertility Research
Deadline: Feb. 16, 2009
Pre-Application for the 2009 NIDA Avant-Garde Award Program for HIV/AIDS Research
Deadline: Feb. 27, 2009
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in Systems Biology of Developmental Biology and Birth Defects
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, April 25, 2009; Application, May 25, 2009
Biomedical Technology Research Resource
Deadline: May 25, 2009
Resource Program Grants in Bioformatics
Deadline: May 25, 2009
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Collaboration in Mathematical Geosciences
Deadline: March 10, 2009
Human Origins
Deadline: March 13, 2009
OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Josephine De Kármán Fellowship Trust
Deadlines: Application Requests, Dec. 31, 2008; Applications, Jan. 31, 2009
Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
Harry E. and Bernice M. Moore Fellowship
Deadline: Jan. 12, 2009
Council of American Overseas Research Centers
Multi-Country Research Fellowship
Deadline: Jan. 16, 2008
Global Probiotics Council
Young Investigator Grant
Deadline: Feb. 10, 2009
Texas Department of Agriculture
Food and Fibers Research Grant Program
Click on Food and Fibers Research Grant RFP
Deadline: March 2, 2009
American Philosophical Society
Phillips Fund Grant for Native American Research
Deadline: March 2, 2009
Research Project
[Let the Research Alert know about your research projects.]
LONG AND SHORT TIME ASYMPTOTICS OF SYSTEMS OF NONLINEAR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS ARISING IN MEAN-FIELD THEORY AND FLUID DYNAMICS
RESEARCHER: Maria Gualdani, Instructor, Department of Mathematics, principal investigator
AGENCY: National Science Foundation
AMOUNT: $77,999
This research project is an analytical study of the qualitative behavior of solutions to nonlinear systems of partial differential equations to which conventional methods of analysis do not apply. Four problem areas are under investigation: (1) long-time behavior of solutions to free-boundary problems for a nonlinear diffusion system modeling price formation in economics; (2) possible blow up for radially symmetric solutions for the incompressible Euler equation; (3) gradient flow methods for study of the quantum drift-diffusion fourth-order nonlinear parabolic system; and (4) classical and quantum kinetic models in plasma physics. The project aims to facilitate analysis of these systems by establishing links between different approaches via kinetic theory, optimal mass transportation methods, and variational techniques.
This project analyzes equations that model several systems of practical importance, including price formation in economics, fluid flow, and the dynamics of plasmas. The mathematical models for these systems present substantial analytical challenges, and this work aims to improve on existing methods to enable deeper understanding of the properties of solutions to the governing equations. The results of the work will facilitate better prediction of the behavior of these complicated systems.
