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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.]
Nursing Professor Wins Geriatric Research Award
 Dr. Tracie Harrison, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, has been selected to receive the 2012 Southern Nursing Research Society/John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Research Award.
The award is to be presented Feb. 24, 2012 at the society's annual conference in New Orleans.
The award recognizes the contributions of a researcher whose program of research has enhanced the science and practice of geriatric nursing in the southern United States.
News and Information
Find information and nomination forms (available in Word or PDF) at the Awards, Fellowships and Grants page.
OSP Offers Grant Workshops
SP110 Grants.gov Proposal Submission with Cayuse
10 a.m.–noon
Jan. 23, 2012
NOA 5.318
Attend this free introductory course to learn how to use Cayuse424 to prepare proposals for Grants.gov submissions. The Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) requires Cayuse424 for all Grants.gov opportunities supported by Cayuse.
This course is open to everyone and is ideal for principal investigators, departmental staff, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and others who are new to Cayuse and the Grants.gov submission process. It is also ideal for those who would like a refresher.
Sign up via TXClass.
SP101 Life Cycle of a Sponsored Research Grant - Preaward
9–10:15 a.m.
Feb. 22, 2012
NOA 5.318
Participants will learn about the services available from OSP, which serves as the coordinating office for externally funded research projects submitted by The University of Texas at Austin. OSP assists faculty and professional research staff in their efforts to secure external funding for their research interests. This presentation will provide an overview of the grant award process and will include information and tips on using electronic research administration tools, budget development, and other pre-award issues. Related university policies and procedures will also be discussed. This class is open to everyone but is most appropriate for entry-level research administrators.
Sign up via TXClass.
SP102 Life Cycle of a Sponsored Research Grant - Postaward
10:30–11:45 a.m.
Feb. 22, 2012
NOA 5.318
Participants will learn about the services available from Sponsored Projects Award Administration (SPAA), a section of OSP. This presentation will provide an overview of grant account administration issues. Related university policies and procedures will also be discussed. This class is open to everyone but is most appropriate for entry-level research administrators.
Sign up via TXClass.
Quoted-UT Researchers in the News
 (Art Markman, professor of psychology, was the answerer in a question-and-answer article in USA TODAY. The subject was his new book, Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done.)
“Q: Is your definition of "smart" different from what we consider overall intelligence? If so, how?
A: Smart and intelligent are related, but they really aren't the same. The kinds of problems we give people on intelligence tests typically focus on the ability to solve very abstract problems that don't resemble things you do on a daily basis. But when people are doing smart things in the world, they are solving problems. They are creating new things. They are saying things and thinking thoughts that have not been thought in that way before. Those are the kinds of things that are really smart behaviors.
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 Commerce
NOAA Sea Grant Aquaculture Research Program 2012
Deadline: Pre-proposals, Feb. 7, 2012; Proposals, April 17, 2012
Department of Defense
Propulsion Thruster Reliability Improvement Project
Deadline: Jan. 16, 2012
Merging Virtual Worlds with Virtual Patient Research
Deadline: Jan. 18, 2012
NASA
Pre-solicitation Announcement
Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer Partnership Opportunity
Deadline: Jan. 31, 2012
National Institutes of Health
Pre-solicitation Announcement
New Experimental Medicine Studies: Fast-Fail Trials in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Deadline: Feb. 23, 2012
National Science Foundation
Long-Term Ecological Research
Deadline: March 21, 2012
Chemical Synthesis
Deadline: July 31, 2012
Oceanographic Centers, Facilities and Equipment
Deadline: Feb. 15, 2012
Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction using Earth System Models
Deadlines: May 11, 2012
Arts, Humanities and Culture
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute Documentary Fund
Deadline: Feb. 9, 2012
National Film Preservation Foundation
Basic Preservation Grants
Deadline: Feb. 10, 2012
Other Funding Opportunities
Parkinson Disease Foundation
Mentored Clinical Research Award
Deadline: March 23, 2012
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
2012 Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research
Deadline: Jan. 23, 2012
Research Project
 RESEARCHER: William Carlson, professor, Department of Geological Sciences, principal investigator
AGENCY: National Science Foundation
AMOUNT: $268,208
Metamorphic processes that take place deep in the earth's crust or in its upper mantle cannot be observed directly, and they span time scales much longer than human lifetimes, so knowledge of them must come from study of the rocks they produce. To reconstruct geologic histories -- to learn, for example, how long it takes for a mountain belt to form, how ancient it is, how rapidly it arose or was eroded -- we must be able to read the record of those processes that is encoded in minerals that formed at great depth and have been brought to the surface by tectonic processes.
The central goal of this research is to learn better how to read such records in garnet, a mineral with a remarkable ability to capture details of its history in its chemical composition. Garnet, during growth, commonly develops differences in the concentrations of constituent elements from the cores of crystals out to their rims, and these variations are modified by diffusion, the movement of atoms through the solid crystal structure. Diffusional modifications occur to varying degrees, reflecting the various lengths of time that the crystals spent at different temperatures and pressures during their post-growth histories. The key to transforming these diffusional modifications into detailed information on geologic processes is quantitative knowledge of the rates and mechanisms of diffusion of different elements through the garnet structure.
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