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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.]
College of Education Faculty Honored By National Academy of Kinesiology
   Two College of Education faculty members were elected Fellows of the National Academy of Kinesiology (NAK) and a third was given the organization's highest honor at a special banquet and ceremony during the September conference.
Jody Jensen, left, and Jan Todd, center, the newly elected Fellows, are professors in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. Waneen Spirduso, right, a professor emeritus in the department, received the H. Clarke Hetherington Award.
Jensen, who joined the College of Education in 1997, specializes in children’s neuromotor development and is co-founder of the Autism Project, where she studies the interactions between exercise and the symptoms of autism.
Todd, who began teaching at The University of Texas at Austin in 1985, is an expert in the history of sport and exercise and is co-founder and co-director of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports.
Spirduso's award is the NAK’s highest accolade. She is a former chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and founded university's Institute of Gerontology.
News and Information
'Startup to IPO' Happens Oct. 14
 The Office of Technology Commercialization hosts a commercialization colloquium exclusively for University of Texas at Austin faculty on Oct. 14. There is no cost for faculty to attend.
"Startup to IPO: Building for Success" features discussions by attorneys, investment bankers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from around the country including Silicon Valley. They'll provide insight into creating and sustaining quality companies.
The event runs from 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center.
For more information and registration, visit Startup to IPO.
This is the first of a series sponsored by OTC on the discovery and commercialization process. The programs will address challenges facing technology, business, new ventures and funding in today's marketplace.
Quoted-UT Researchers in the News
 (Raymond Orbach, director of the university's Energy Institute, talked to Kate Galbraith of the Texas Tribune about a paper he will have in the Reports on Progress in Physics. Orbach debunks eight myths about climate change in the paper.)
Asked about the climate consequences to Texas, Orbach said: "It's not Texas. It's the globe. We are part of, as [Buckminster] Fuller said, Spaceship Earth. ... If the sea level rises, the people in Corpus Christi are going to get awfully wet. There are consequences everywhere."
However, he added that he would also like to "turn that on its head and say there are opportunities for Texas in light of these dangers, that we can take advantage of."
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
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Graph-theoretic Research in Algorithms and the PHenomenology of Social networks (GRAPHS)
Deadline: Dec. 15, 2011
FY12 Defense Medical Research and Development Program
Department of Defense Forensic Research and Development Program
Deadlines: White Paper, Nov. 10, 2011; Proposal, Dec. 19, 2011
Environmental Protection Agency
9th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet
Deadline: Dec. 22, 2011
National Institutes of Health
Expanding the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) in the Human and Model Organisms
Deadlines: Letter of Intent, Nov. 6, 2011; Application, Dec. 6, 2011
NINDS Program Project Grant
Deadline: Jan. 25, 2012
Advances in Patient Safety through Simulation Research
Deadline: Jan. 18, 2012
Education Research in Sleep Health and Sleep-Circadian Biology
Deadline: Jan. 2, 2012
Translational Scholar Career Awards in Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine
Deadline: Jan. 12, 2012
National Science Foundation
Long Term Research in Environmental Biology
Deadlines: Preliminary Proposal, Jan. 10, 2012; Full Proposal, Aug. 1, 2012
Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems
Deadline: Feb. 7, 2012
Ocean Acidification
Deadline: Jan. 6, 2012
Electronics, Photonics and Magnetic Devices
Deadline: Feb. 7, 2012
Embassy of the United States--Cairo, Egypt
Joint Research Grants
Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Planned Topic Areas for FY 2012
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2011
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
Great Horned Owl (GHO) Program Broad Agency Announcement
Deadline: Nov. 22, 2011
Arts, Humanities and Culture
Center for Jewish Studies
NEH Fellowships for Senior Scholars
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2011
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
East European Studies Research Grants
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2011
Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Recording Program
Deadline: Jan. 17, 2012
Other Funding Opportunities
W.M. Keck Foundation
Science and Engineering Grant Program
Deadline: Nov. 1, 2011 (for Phase 1)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Applying Behavioral Economics to Perplexing Health and Health Care Challenges
Deadline: Nov. 2, 2011
AAAS
2012 Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellows Program
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2012
Edward Jr. Mallinckrodt Foundation
Grants
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2012
Research Project
Green Roof Water-Handling
RESEARCHER: Dr. Mark Simmons, research scientist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
AGENCY: Huntsman International, LLC
AMOUNT: $88,000
 Dr. Mark Simmons will study the performance of vegetated roofs modified to function in hot, dry weather in the Southwest.
The ecologist and others previously demonstrated that green roofs can greatly reduce building temperatures. A 2008 study also demonstrated a marked difference on how different manufactured roofing products handle storm water. The new study will continue to analyze the cooling capacity and storm water processing of green roofs, which can filter pollutants out of rainwater as it percolates through the soil. The grant will also allow the Ecosystem Design Group Simmons directs to see if a green roof layer that traditionally drains water away from rooftop plants can be improved so less irrigation is needed in hot, dry southwestern regions.
Vegetated roofs traditionally were developed for cooler climates with relatively frequent rains. As a result, the roofs usually contain a drainage layer that rests below the soil medium to whisk water off. In cities such as Austin that experience sweltering heat and intermittent, heavy rains, green roof plants would likely benefit if water were retained to help cool roots and provide moisture, as a pilot study on a new drainage layer suggested this spring.
The longer-term study at the Wildflower Center will compare the ability of simulated green roofs to function in a subtropical climate when they contain a drainage layer traditionally used in green roofs or one consisting of a Huntsman VYDRO® foam medium. Different thicknesses of foam and the absence of a drainage layer will be tested. How well plants filter and store storm water on the different roofs, plant growth and other factors will be measured.
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