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.]
ICES RESEARCHERS NAMED WINNERS OF VON KARMAN PRIZES
Dr. Mary Wheeler and Dr. Thomas J.R. Hughes, members of the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, have won prizes named after Theodore von Karman from different organizations.
Wheeler will receive the von Karman prize from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the Career Prize from the SIAM activity group on geosciences.
Hughes has been selected by the Engineering Mechanics Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers to receive the 2009 Theodore von Karman Medal.
News and Information
LAW SCHOOL LOOKS AT STEM CELLS
The George McMillan Fleming Center for Law and Innovation in Biomedicine and Healthcare is sponsoring a conference, “Law and Innovation: the Embryonic Stem Cell Controversy.”
It will be May 1 and 2, 2009 in the Eidman Courtroom at The University of Texas School of Law, 727 East Dean Keeton Street.
FIVE ICES MEMBERS RECEIVE MONCRIEF AWARDS
Winners of the W.A. “Tex” Moncrief, Jr. Simulation-Based Engineering and Sciences (SBES) Grand Challenge Faculty Awards, which include stipends of up to $75,000 per semester, for the 2009-2010 academic year are:
- Dr. Chandra Bajaj, “Viruses and Therapeutic Cures for Cancer”
- Dr. James Chelikowsky, “Materials Informatics: Computational Tools for Discovery and Design”
- Dr. Irene Gamba, “Boltzmann-Poisson Systems Modeling – Applications Nanostructured Semiconductor Photocatalysts for High Efficiency Photoelectrochemical (PEC) Devices”
- Dr. Mary Wheeler, “Reservoir Characterization and Evaluation of Long Term CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers”
- Dr. Muhammad Zaman, “Multi-Scale Modeling of Tumor Formation and Metastasis”
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.]
Dallas Morning News
April 9, 2009
HEADLINE: Texas shows colorful personality with love for bluebonnets
Bluebonnets resonate among proud-of-our-heritage Texans, said Flo Oxley, director of plant conservation and education at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
“You see the bluebonnet and you say, ‘Spring is coming,’ ” Oxley said. “That’s a good sign. It’s a hopeful sign. It’s the beginning of a new season.”
The Wall Street Journal
April 11, 2009
HEADLINE: Pond Scum Gets Its Moment in the Limelight:
An Algae Collection in Texas Is a Big Hit With the Biofuel Crowd
[From an article about algae as a fuel source, quoting Dr. Jerry Brand, professor in the Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology and director of UTEX, Culture Collection of Algae.]
“Algae have been on the back burner of most people’s minds. It’s pond scum. It’s seaweed,” he (Brand) says. “Those of us who have studied algae for decades realize there is a tremendous genetic potential.”
Research Opportunities
Important university research deadlines:
Awards and Grants
Limited Submissions
AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT
The University of Texas at Austin Stimulus Package Web page is online.
—ARRA–GRANTS.GOV GETS ATTENTION
Grants.gov, the Web site for finding and submitting grant applications to federal agencies, has had trouble handling increased traffic. The Department of Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration are working together to initiate urgent improvements to the system to accommodate traffic generated by the Recovery Act.
—ARRA–NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
NOAA has released its proposal for the use of the $830 million provided to the agency in the stimulus bill.
—ARRA–NEW NIH RECOVERY ACT OPPORTUNITY SEEKS TO FUND HIGH IMPACT, LARGE-SCALE, ACCELERATED RESEARCH
The National Institutes of Health has highlighted a new funding opportunity under the Recovery Act that will support approximately $200 million in large-scale research projects that have a high likelihood of enabling growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health and health care delivery. The purpose of this new program, the Research and Research Infrastructure “Grand Opportunities” (GO), is to support high impact ideas that lend themselves to short-term funding and may lay the foundation for new fields of scientific inquiry.
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, April 27, 2009; Application, May 27, 2009
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research And Education Program
2010 Research And Education Grant
Deadlines: Pre-Proposal, June 1, 2009; Invited Full Proposal, Aug. 2009
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Research on Psychopathology In Intellectual Disabilities (Mental Retardation)
Deadline: June 5, 2009
Economic Studies of Health Insurance Coverage on Drug Abuse Treatment Availability, Access, Costs, and Quality
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, June 14, 2009; Application, July 14, 2009
Etiology, Prevention, and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, April 28, 2009 and Aug. 29, 2009; Application, May 28, 2009 and Sept. 29, 2009
Hepatitis C Cooperative Research Centers
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, July 6, 2009; Application, Aug. 6, 2009
Translational Research in Pediatric and Obstetric Pharmacology
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Aug. 17, 2009; Application, Sept. 16, 2009
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Ecological Biology
Deadline: July 9, 2009
Neural Systems
Deadline: July 12, 2009
Decision Making Under Uncertainty Collaborative Groups
Deadline: July 14, 2009
Decision, Risk and Management Sciences
Deadline: Aug. 18, 2009
OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Matsushita International Foundation
Research Grants (in Humanities and Social Sciences for graduate students or faculty/researchers within 5 years of doctorate)
Deadline: May 22, 2009
Center for Chinese Studies (in Taiwan)
Research Grant Program (for faculty and doctoral students in departments related to Chinese Studies)
Deadline: May 31, 2009
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research Rapid Response Grants in Childhood Obesity
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, July 17, 2009; Invited Full Proposal, May 14, 2009 or Aug. 14, 2009
Barth Syndrome Foundation
Science and Medicine Research Grants
Deadline: Oct. 31, 2009
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music
Research Grants, Dissertation Fellowships & Performance Grants
Deadlines: Nov. 1, 2009; College/University Performance Grants, June 1, 2010
Research Project
[Let the Research Alert know about your research projects.]
CAREER: Advanced Silicon-Germanium Nanowire Heterostructures Combining Band Structure Engineering and Modulation Doping
RESEARCHER: Emanuel Tutuc, assistant professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, principal investigator
AGENCY: National Science Foundation
AMOUNT: $82,385
This project includes a multifaceted research project on silicon and germanium nanowires and heterostructures. The research plan aims to develop novel Si/Ge heterostructures at the nanoscale using bottom-up growth techniques to investigate their intrinsic electronic properties (e.g. carrier mobility, carrier concentration), and to design and fabricate novel, one-dimensional electronic devices with high electron mobility.
Specifically, the research will address the following vectors in the area of nanowire growth and fabrication: (1) Design and grow high mobility one-dimensional electron systems using radial band-structure engineering and modulation doping in Si/Ge core/shell structures. (2) Develop new methods to fabricate low resistance contacts to semiconductor nanowires, which will make it possible to explore the intrinsic electronic properties, as well as to enable high performance nanowire transistors. (3) Investigate the magneto-transport properties of nanowire devices down to low temperature as a spectroscopic method, and in particular to measure electron density and intrinsic mobility.
