 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Default | NEWS
6/12/2008 Thirteen Faculty Initiatives Fund proposals awarded grants
Rice News staff Research ranging from the causes of childhood obesity to the information Houstonians use to decide whether to evacuate prior to a hurricane are among the 13 Faculty Initiatives Fund (FIF) proposals that were awarded grants this year. The recipients will share more than $600,000 that Rice provides to help faculty members develop adventurous projects that might lead to larger endeavors, research breakthroughs, external funding or unusually creative work. The review process was changed this year to have proposals reviewed by an external committee that also provided feedback to all the applicants. Vice Provost for Research Jim Coleman worked with the American Association for the Advancement of Science to put together an experienced and accomplished panel to conduct the external review. After the external panel submitted their recommendations, Coleman made final decisions on funding the highest-rated proposal in consultation with a committee of Rice faculty chaired by Neal Lane, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor, senior fellow in science and technology policy at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and professor of physics and astronomy. “I am very pleased with both the process and the outcomes of the Faculty Initiatives Fund competition this year,” Coleman said. “There was truly an excellent set of proposals to select from, which made the competition fierce. The review process was deliberative, thoughtful and fair. The proposals that were selected were outstanding -- as were many that we weren’t able to support -- and all have potential to dramatically advance the goals of Rice’s Vision for the Second Century (V2C). The external reviewers were very impressed with the proposals and with Rice.” The new FIF recipients and the titles of their research proposals are: • Kate Beckingham, professor of biochemistry and cell biology, and Bruce Weisman, professor of chemistry, “Toward Nanotube-based Detection and Treatment of Melanoma” • Anthony Brandt, associate professor of composition and theory, “Music and the Mind Conference”
• Leonardo Duenas-Osorio, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering; Devika Subramanian, professor of computer science and in electrical and computer engineering; Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science; and Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering, “Informative Household-level Risk Assessment to Support the Evacuation Decisions of Houstonians” • Fares El-Dahdah, associate professor of architecture, “A Workshop on the Rice Campus to Bring Together Visual Databases of Latin American Art and Architecture and to Make Them Available Online to the Public" • Jane Grande-Allen, assistant professor in bioengineering, and Joel Moake, senior research scientist and associate director in bioengineering, “Role of Hemodynamics in Initiation of Valvular Endothelial Dysfunction” • Nonya Grenader, professor in the practice of architecture; Brent Houchens, assistant professor in mechanical engineering and materials science; and Danny Samuels, the Harry K. Smith Visiting Professor of Architecture, “Zero Energy Row House – 2009 Rice Solar Decathlon” • Rachel Kimbro, assistant professor of sociology, “Federal Food Assistance Programs: Part of the Childhood Obesity Problem?” • Edison Liang, the Andrew Hays Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics, “Antimatter Creation Using the Texas Petawatt Laser” • Jianpeng Ma, associate professor in bioengineering, “Using Computational and Experimental Methods to Identify New High-Affinity Compounds to Treat Influenza” • Ka-Yiu San, the E.D. Butcher Professor in Bioengineering and professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, and George Bennett, the E. Dell Butcher Professor and chair of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, “A Multiscale Biocatalysis Initiative” • Tatiana Schnur, assistant professor of psychology, “Language and Neuroanatomical Change During Recovery from Stroke” • Yousif Shamoo, associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology, “Structural Biology Collaborative Pilot Project” • Joan Strassmann, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor and chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and David Queller, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, “Self and Kin Recognition in a Model Organism” FIF multiyear grants can range in amount from $5,000 to $100,000. Selection criteria include the project's contributions to the V2C; the quality, significance and potential impact; the likelihood of subsequent external funding; and the potential for enriching research opportunities for students. The deadline for submitting proposals for next year's FIF grants will be sometime in the spring semester. For more information, visit http://facultyinitiativesfund.rice.edu/. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
