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.]
ENGINEERING PROFESSOR WINS ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY MEDAL
Grant Willson, a professor of chemical engineering, and chemistry and biochemistry, has been awarded the 2009 Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology by the Electrochemical Society.
The award, which includes a prize of $7,500, recognizes Willson’s work on microelectronic materials processing.
News and Information
OSP SCREENS PROGRAM FOR RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS
The Office of Sponsored Projects offers two chances to see the second program in the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) TV Broadcast series titled “Cost Sharing: Why No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.”
The screenings are June 9th from 10:15 a.m.-2 p.m. in ACE 2.402, and June 16th from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the EME/CEER Building (Building 133) on the Pickle Campus.
Register through TXClass SP202 (requires UT EID), or contact Maria Winchell.
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.]
The New York Times
May 25, 2009
HEADLINE: In Hot Pursuit of Fusion (or Folly)
(From an article about the National Ignition Facility, the new laser system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.)
Even friends of the effort are cautious. “They’ve made progress,” said Roy Schwitters, a University of Texas physicist who leads a federal panel that recently assessed NIF’s prospects. “Ignition may eventually be possible. But there’s still much to learn.”
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-NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Recovery Act Limited Competition: NCMHD Dissertation Research Award to Increase Diversity
Deadlines: Letter of Intent (not required), May 29, 2009; NIH Full proposal, June 30, 2009; OSP, four business days before the deadline
[This is a limited submission. For more information, contact limitedsub@austin.utexas.edu.]
Recovery Act Limited Competition: NCMHD Exploratory Centers of Excellence
Deadlines: Letter of Intent (not required), June 1, 2009; NIH Full proposal, July 1, 2009; OSP, four business days before the deadline
[This is a limited submission. For more information, contact limitedsub@austin.utexas.edu.]
ARRA–NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
NSF DETAILS ARRA PLANS
The ARRA supplements the National Science Foundation’s funding with $3 billion. The NSF May Newsletter explains the plans for the ARRA funds.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Collaborative Minority Alcohol Research Center Development
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Sept. 21, 2009; Application, Oct. 21, 2009
Basic HIV Vaccine Discovery Research
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Oct. 9, 2009; Application, Nov. 9, 2009
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
International Research Network Connections
**Production network environments [This is a limited submission. For more information, please contact limitedsub@austin.utexas.edu.]
**Experimental networking activities in support of cyber-science applications
**Special projects
Deadline: Aug. 21, 2009
Documenting Endangered Languages (NSF in partnership with National Endowment for the Humanities and the Smithsonian Institution)
Deadline: Sept. 15, 2009
ARTS, CULTURE AND HUMANITIES
Association of Performing Arts Presenters
Creative Campus Innovations Grant program
Deadline: June 30, 2009
OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Active Living Research: Investigating Policies and Environments to Support Active Communities (program area: childhood obesity)
Deadline: July 29, 2009
Research Project
[Let the Research Alert know about your research projects.]
New Approaches and Rapid Assessment of Key Avian Fossils from the Cretaceous of Antarctica
RESEARCHER: Julia Clarke, associate professor, Department of Geological Sciences, principal investigator
AGENCY: National Science Foundation
AMOUNT: $22,431
The project studies bird evolution from the perspective of Antarctic fossils. Little studied, these fossils were recently recognized as definitive evidence that birds coexisted with dinosaurs and survived the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction.
They also offer key insights into bird diversification and radiation by contributing new calibration points for the dating of molecular divergences–changes in DNA–that are currently the subject of intense study by the broader paleobiology community.
This award brings paleontologists from the United States and Argentina together with all of their specimens collected over the last 20 years of Antarctic fieldwork. New methodologies will be brought to bear, including computed tomography X-ray scans and rare earth element analyses. The outcomes will address questions such as: 1) How diverse is this avifauna? 2) What avian lineages are represented? and 3) Was Gondwana a center for avian origination and radiation?
