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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.]
UT Austin Honors Goodenough and Heller as Inventors
  Engineering professors John Goodenough, left, and Adam Heller, right, were recognized at a Dec. 6 ceremony as Inventors of the Year for their work in energy and health care devices.
Goodenough is the Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering. He invented and developed the lithium-ion battery, the rechargeable power supply for electronics including cellular and smart phones, music players, tablets and electric and hybrid vehicles. Goodenough received at least five U.S. patents from 1999-2003.
Heller is the Ernest Cockrell Sr. Chair Emeritus in Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering. He invented and developed a painless method for people with diabetes to measure their blood glucose levels. The device has made it easier for millions of people to manage the disease. Heller received at least 79 U.S. patents from 1991-2001.
The university's Office of Technology Commercialization organized the event. Also recognized were the 48 university researchers who received patents in the university's fiscal year.
Harrington Fellows Bring World-Changing Ideas to UT Austin
    A biomedical engineer hoping to grow human organs, a psychologist examining why employees sometimes act in ways that destroy economic value, a mathematician exploring the limits of modern signal acquisition techniques and a historian studying the intersections among Jewish, Greek, Roman and Christian traditions are spending much of this year at The University of Texas at Austin as Donald D. Harrington Fellows.
The Donald D. Harrington Fellows Program is one of the best endowed visiting scholar and graduate fellow programs in the nation, and the most prestigious fellowship program at The University of Texas at Austin. Sybil Harrington established the program as a tribute to her husband, Don. The fellowships support young faculty members and graduate students who have academic records of success and ingenuity.
The four Faculty Fellows, pictured, who have been on campus this fall and their areas of inquiry and home institutions are:
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Ra'anan Boustan, left
— Early Judaism, Jewish-Christian Relations, UCLA
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Ali Khademhosseini, left center
— Microfabricated materials for tissue regeneration, Harvard-MIT's Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School
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Lamar Pierce, right center — Organizational strategy and ethics, Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis
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Rachel Ward, right
— Mathematical signal processing,
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University
The eight Graduate Fellows are:
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Elizabeth Frederick-Rothwell — Historic preservation, University of California – Berkeley
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Addison Kemp — Physical anthropology, Mount Holyoke College
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Amanda Lanza — Cellular and metabolic engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Katherine Lininger — Geography and the environment, University of Wisconsin – Madison
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Kathleen McElroy — News media studies, New York University
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Thomas Rosenberg — Film production, Columbia University
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Michael Turner — Middle Eastern languages and cultures, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
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Han-Gyol Yi — Communication sciences and disorders, Northwestern University
News and Information
NSF highlights new interdisciplinary grant initiative
In a "Dear Colleague letter," the National Science Foundation explains a new grant initiative to support bold interdisciplinary projects in all NSF-supported areas of science, engineering, and education research.
OSP, OIE hold holiday open house
The Office of Sponsored Projects and the Office of Industry Engagement invite members of the campus community to a holiday open house.
It is 2-3:30 p.m., Dec. 13, 2011 in rooms 5.300, 5.200 and 4.308 in North Office Building A.
View the invitation online.
Quoted-UT Researchers in the News
 (In an article about cyber security efforts in Central Texas, the Austin American-Statesman talked to Suzanne Barber, director of the university's Center for Identity and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.)
Barber likens the cyber security industry to where the Internet was in the early 1990s as far as the potential for jobs.
The Center for Identity will bring the disciplines of business, law, education, engineering and science to the problem: What are the pieces of information used to identify a person? Where is it, and how is it being used or misused? What are the threats? And how best can people be alerted when their identities are stolen?
"It will truly make a difference in people's lives and commerce," Barber said.
She said the center has volunteered to help with a White House initiative, announced in April, to create a trusted Internet ID through the private sector.
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
National Institutes of Health
NIAMS Small Grant Program For New Investigators
Deadline: March 20, 2012
Identifying Heart, Lung, and Blood Disease-Causing Variants
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Jan. 8, 2012; Application, Feb. 8, 2012
Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, Diabetes, and Chronic Kidney Disease in Military Populations
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Jan. 14, 2012; Application, Feb. 14, 2012
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award in Metabolomics
Deadline: Jan. 31, 2012
National Science Foundation
Research on Gender in Science and Engineering FY 2010
Deadline: Feb. 8, 2012
Plant Genome Research Program
Deadline: March 5, 2012
Arts, Humanities and Culture
Institute of Museum and Library Services
National Leadership Grants
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2012
W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research
Noble Group Fellowships for Chinese Students and Scholars (scroll down page to find details)
Deadline: March 15, 2012
Dirksen Congressional Center
Congressional Research Awards
Deadline: March 1, 2012
Other Funding Opportunities
The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program
Deadline: Feb. 6, 2012
Senior Scientist Mentor Program
Deadline: Sept. 12, 2012
Global Gateway Foundation
Competitive Grants
Deadline: Pre-proposal, Jan. 9, 2012
Please submit proposals through the Office of Sponsored Projects via the Proposal Review Form. For questions, please call 471-6424 or email osp@austin.utexas.edu.
Research Project
 RESEARCHER: Carolyn Heinrich., professor, Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs and Department of Economics, principal investigator; co-principal investigators, Patricia Burch, associate professor, University of Southern California, and Rob Meyer, research professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
AGENCY: Department of Education
AMOUNT: $2,996,753 (four years)
Supplemental educational services (SES) are a major federal intervention introduced by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. This project seeks to improve student learning and achievement by identifying successful approaches (or the variables that will increase success) in the organization and management of SES programs within school districts and effective strategies for the design and delivery of SES programs by approved SES providers.
We are employing a longitudinal mixed-method study design including in-depth field research on the implementation of SES and rigorous non-experimental evaluation methods to estimate its impact on students' mathematics and reaching achievement and their performance in regular school courses.
The field research involves repeated observations of SES sessions with different providers, interviews with SES tutors and program directors, interviews with district and state officials, focus groups and parents and analysis of relevant policy and instructional documents. We are using an interrupted time series design with internal comparison groups and multiple non-experimental approaches to estimate SES impacts.
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