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.]
EDUCATION PROFESSOR NAMED AAAS POLICY FELLOW
Kevin Michael Foster, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, is among the newest group of Science and Technology Policy Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The fellows learn about science policy while providing thier expertise to the government.
Foster, will work with the National Science Foundation’s Math-Science Partnerships Program. An educational anthropologist, Foster’s work addresses the social, cultural and structural factors affecting students’ academic outcomes.
News and Information
TEXAS’S CANCER INSTITUTE SEEKING PROPOSALS
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas is seeking proposals for its High-Impact/ High-Risk Research Awards 2009-2010 program.
The University of Texas at Austin can submit three proposals. The university deadline is 4:30 p.m. Sept. 4, 2009. Send applications to limitedsub@austin.utexas.edu.
Submission materials are a dean’s letter of nomination; an abstract of one to two pages written in lay language describing the aims of the proposed research project; and a bio sketch of the lead researcher.
GRANTS FROM OFFICE OF VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH
Funding will soon be available for 2009-2010 Research Grants, Special Research Grants, Subvention Grants, and Undergraduate Research Fellowships.
Find information and applications online. Early application is recommended.
The grants are:
Research Grants for 2009-2010 in amounts up to $6,000 are awarded to tenured and tenure-track faculty in a single competition. The application deadline is Monday, Sept. 8, 2009.
Special Research Grants for 2009-2010 in amounts up to $750 are awarded to tenured and tenure-track faculty throughout the year until funds are expended. Applications will be accepted beginning Sept. 1, 2009.
University Cooperative Society Subvention Grants for 2009-2010 are awarded to faculty authors and members of the research staff (Code 1000). These grants have no submission deadline, and are available until current fiscal year funding is expended.
University Cooperative Society Undergraduate Research Fellowships in amounts up to $1,000 are awarded through two competitions, Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Faculty, lecturers, and full-time research scientists/engineers may supervise undergraduate students in independent research projects. The deadline for the Fall 2009 competition is Sept. 28, 2009. The Spring 2010 deadline will be Feb. 1, 2010.
Please direct questions to Liza Scarborough at liza@austin.utexas.edu or 471-2877.
WELCH FOUNDATION CHANGES GRANT GUIDELINES
The Robert Welch Foundation has updated the guidelines for its research grant program.
The grants cannot be used for a summer research stipend for the principal investigator after June 1, 2010. Also, initial proposals should be for two years rather than three.
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
August 24, 2009
HEADLINE: Federal Carbon Storage Grants Awarded
(Michael Webber, a professor in engineering and geology, talked about the challenge of dealing with coal as an energy source. The article is about $27.6 million in Department of Energy research grants for projects intended to simulate the underground storage of carbon dioxide. Among the grant recipients is the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin, which received financing for two projects: one studying seismic data in brine-filled rock layers that carbon could be stored in, and the other examining the risks of storing emissions in brine reservoirs.)
Carbon capture and storage technology or C.C.S. is especially important for coal-fired power plants, which account for close to half of the country’s electricity use and a substantial portion of its carbon emissions.
“People think the elephant in the room is coal and what we’re going to do with coal,” said Michael Webber, an energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Basically,” Mr. Webber said, “this deals with the elephant in the room.” He also said that the government outlays appeared generous by research grant standards.
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 SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Science Master’s Program
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Oct. 5, 2009; Proposal, Nov. 20, 2009
Limited Submission
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Technology and Media Services for Individuals With Disabilities–Research and Development Center on Digital Images and Graphic Content in Accessible Instructional Materials (Opens Word document)
Deadline: Oct. 19, 2009
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Epigenetic Processes in Development
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Oct. 18, 2009; Application, Nov. 18, 2009
Community-Based Participatory Research at National Institute of Mental Health
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Jan. 5, 2010; Application, Feb. 5, 2010
Community Participation in Research
Deadline: Feb. 5, 2010
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience: Innovative Approaches to Science and Engineering Research on Brain Function
Deadline: Nov. 17, 2009
Mechanics of Materials
Deadline: Oct. 1, 2009
Sociology Program
Deadline: Oct. 15, 2009
Political Science Program
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2010
International Collaboration in Chemistry between U.S. Investigators and Their
Counterparts Abroad
Deadlines: Preliminary Proposal, Nov. 3, 2009; Full Proposal, Jan. 29, 2010
Economics Program
Deadline: Jan. 18, 2010
Biological Oceanography
Deadline: Feb. 15, 2010
ARTS, HUMANITIES AND CULTURE
Folger Shakespeare Library
Research Fellowships
Deadlines: Long-term Fellowships, Nov. 1, 2009; Short-term Fellowships, March 1, 2010
Institute for Aegean Prehistory
2010 Rip Rapp Doctoral Fellowship
Deadline: Nov. 15, 2010
OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Thermo Scientific Genomics
This unique Grant Program awards more than $400,000 in RNAi-based reagents. Life science researchers are encouraged to submit grant applications for projects using RNAi-based screening.
Whole Genome RNAi Screening Package Award
Gene Family and Pathway Screening Packages
Whole Genome microRNA Screening Libraries
Deadline: Sept. 7. 2009
American Councils for International Education
Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Program
Deadline: Oct. 1, 2009
Research Project
[Let the Research Alert know about your research projects.]
The Chemical Compositions of Galactic Halo Field and Cluster Stars
FACULTY: Christopher Sneden, research professor, Department of Astronomy
AGENCY: National Science Foundation, funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
AMOUNT: $262,651
Two major surveys of Galactic field halo stars will be carried out in order to illuminate and constrain models of early chemical evolution in the Milky Way Galaxy. In one, a detailed study of high resolution spectra of over 100 stars with known space motions and metallicities less than 1/300 that of the sun will be undertaken, with the goal of discovering abundance trends with kinematic properties of the stars. The second is a comprehensive survey of very evolved so-called horizontal branch stars using multi-object spectra of about 10 globular clusters.
The Broader Impacts of this program include dissemination of computer codes and atomic line data to the astronomical community, and participation in a program involving secondary school teachers.
