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Research Prizes and Honors
[Have you or a colleague won a research-related prize or honor? Let the Research Alert know.]
Assistant Professors Win CAREER Awards from National Science Foundation
Seven assistant professors received Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards totaling about $3.5 million from the National Science Foundation. The CAREER awards recognize promising young faculty and supports their research with five years of funding. The recipients are:
 Amit Bhasin, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. The $400,000 project is to conduct research and provide the fundamental knowledge to chemically modify asphalt binders that will yield superior self-healing and mechanical properties.
 Constantine Caramanis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The $400,000 project is to develop a new methodological framework to understand high dimensional complex phenomena from potentially corrupted and incomplete data. This research has the potential to significantly affect abilities to discover important structure in complex problems, from bioinformatics to social networks.
 Christopher Ellison, Department of Chemical Engineering. The $500,000 project is to provide better understanding of polymer physics to improve advanced materials design. The research could lead to improvements in hard drive lubricants, to make data storage more reliable, and in microelectronics manufacturing, to make smaller, more efficient electronic components.
 Jung-Fu Lin, Department of Geological Sciences. The $538,000 project investigates the alloying effects of major candidate light elements on the phase diagram and elasticity of iron under relevant pressures and temperatures of the Earth's core in order to address pressing issues of its composition, thermal structures and seismic features.
 Mikhail Matz, Section of Integrative Biology. The $674,000 project will be the first to address genetics of coral adaptation in nature, which will clarify some of the most fundamental mechanisms of evolution in the oceans. The project is to establish genetic markers to assess the risk of extinction of individual reefs, which will help prioritize conservation efforts.
 Alison Preston, Department of Psychology. This $663,692 project will use neuroimaging imaging techniques to understand how the brain makes predictions about the present and future based on memories of the past.
 Michael Walfish, Department of Computer Science. The $450,000 project investigates ways of outsourcing computation without having to trust or assume that the entities providing computing resources are actually working correctly. This could make cloud computing safer, spurring the adoption of cloud services and causing more people to pay less for computing.
News and Information
Center for Identity Hosts Identity Management Meeting
The Center for Identity at The University of Texas is hosting the third annual Identity Management Summit on May 5, 2011 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center.
The summit brings together academia, business, law enforcement and government agencies to discuss the role "trust" plays in establishing a secure identity and a secure transaction in all areas of contemporary life. Leaders from education, financial services, consumer services, health care, energy, homeland security and law enforcement will discuss current capabilities and predictions regarding identity management threats, vulnerabilities, risks and solutions. More information is available at the Center for Identity Web site. RSVP to Stephanie Cardenas, scardenas@identity.utexas.edu, by Friday April 29, 2011.
Office of Sponsored Projects Offers Cost Training
The Office of Sponsored Projects offers a course, "ABC's of Federal Cost Principles," from 1-4:30 p.m. May 11, 2011 in Room 5.318 in the North Office Building.
The course is from the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) and offers participants better understanding of aspects of contract negotiation with federal sponsors. There is no cost, but registration through TXclass is required. More information is at the Office of Sponsored Projects Web site.
Quoted-UT Researchers in the News
(An article about how being drunk affects memory and the impact it has on rape cases in court quoted Dr. Kim Fromme, a professor in the Department of Psychology, who conducts research on drinking and its impact. The story also refers to Dr. Reagan Wetherill, who received her Ph.D. in Fromme's lab.)
 The recollection of an incident during a drunken blackout can also be influenced.
“An individual can’t remember something, but they keep being asked: ‘What about this? What about that?’” Dr. Fromme said. “You have to be cautious about memories becoming contaminated by people’s questioning. People can then take that information you’ve given them and create a false memory that’s not actually true.”
Research Opportunities
Important University Research Deadlines
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The University of Texas at Austin Stimulus Package Web page is online.
Funding Sources
Department of Defense
FY11 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program
Therapeutic Development Award
Therapeutic Idea Award
Deadlines: Pre-application, May 25, 2011; Application, Aug. 24, 2011
FY11 Bone Marrow Failure Research Program
Therapeutic Development Award
Therapeutic Idea Award
Deadlines: Pre-application, June 21, 2011; Application, Sept. 14, 2011
Department of Energy
Advanced Hydropower Development
Deadline:June 6, 2011
Research and Development for Hydrogen Storage
Deadline: Aug. 29, 2011
Department of the Interior
Desalination and Water Purification Research and Development
Request for Proposals FY 2009
Deadline: June 3, 2011
National Institutes of Health
Predictive Multiscale Models for Biomedical, Biological, Behavioral, Environmental and Clinical Research
Deadline: June 5, 2011
Beyond HAART: Innovative Therapies to Control HIV-1
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, June 20, 2011; Application, July 19, 2011
Translational Research for the Prevention and Control of Diabetes and Obesity
Deadline: July 1, 2011
National Science Foundation
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(June deadline is for REU Site proposals requiring access to Antarctica)
Deadline: June 3, 2011
Advances in Biological Informatics
Deadline: July 12, 2011
Improvements to Biological Research Collections
Deadline: July 22, 2011
[Proposals for this grant should be submitted through the Office of Sponsored Projects via the Proposal Review Form. For questions, please call 471-6424 or email osp@austin.utexas.edu.]
Sociology
Deadlines: Aug. 15, 2011 for regular research; Oct, 15, 2011 for dissertation research
Marine Geology and Geophysics
Deadline: Aug. 15, 2011
Law and Social Science
Deadline: Aug. 15, 2011
Physical Oceanography
Deadline: Aug. 15, 2011
Oceanographic Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination
Deadline: Aug. 15, 2011
Economics
Deadline: Aug. 15, 2011
Cognitive Neuroscience
Deadline: Aug. 15, 2011
Arts, Humanities and Culture
The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design
Craft Research Grants
Deadline: July 21, 2011
Other Funding Opportunities
Aspen Institute Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation
William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fellowship
Deadline: July 15, 2011
Research Project
Experimental Investigation of Dynamic Abnormal Grain Growth
 Researcher: Eric Taleff, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, principal investigator
Agency: National Science Foundation
Amount: $125,000 (continuing project)
Dynamic abnormal grain growth (DAGG) is a recently-discovered phenomenon in the field of materials science. DAGG occurs while deforming polycrystalline material at elevated temperature and has been used to grow large single crystals in molybdenum and tantalum for scientific studies.
Beyond this initial practical application, DAGG represents an opportunity to gain new fundamental insights into the evolution of material microstructure. Controlling material microstructure is critical to the manufacture of advanced components in many industries, particularly the transportation industries. Potential impacts of this research include creating new materials and improving the quality of manufactured components. The proposed research will enhance collaborations with General Motors and Sandia National Laboratory. Both graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in the fields of materials and metals science through research activities and as well as mentoring during academic studies. Outreach activities which promote science and engineering to the local community will be supported. |
