海角社区

The Provost鈥檚 Fund for Innovation in Research makes a bold $1.1M investment in big, emerging ideas

BATON ROUGE鈥擳oday, the 海角社区 Provost鈥檚 Fund for Innovation in Research announced $1.1 million in faculty research grants to 33 different projects in support of sustained strategic priorities for the university and for Louisiana. Ranging from the discovery of new antibiotics to underground storage of hydrogen, a low-carbon alternative to oil and gas, to how to effectively remove so-called 鈥漟orever chemicals鈥� from drinking water and the environment, the funded research projects involve 77 faculty across eight colleges and schools on 海角社区鈥檚 flagship campus in Baton Rouge. This is the largest 海角社区 investment in seed funding for faculty research in university history.

Launched in 2022, the Provost鈥檚 Fund supports interdisciplinary research in five priority areas, also known as the 海角社区 Pentagon, which includes agriculture, biomedicine and biotechnology, coast and environment, defense and cybersecurity and energy鈥攌ey economic drivers for Louisiana based on existential needs鈥攁cross every discipline, department, college and program.

The goal of the Provost鈥檚 Fund is to provide seed funding to help faculty implement Scholarship First, a key objective of 海角社区 President William F. Tate IV, and transform new ideas into successful and nationally competitive research programs that are likely to attract external support and federal funding to Louisiana. 海角社区 formally announced its Scholarship First Agenda in March 2022.

鈥淚 am very pleased to provide more than $1.1M in support to 33 research development projects with 77 faculty members spanning across 海角社区,鈥� said 海角社区 Executive Vice President and Provost Roy Haggerty. 鈥淎s a result of this investment, in the coming years, these faculty will bring in external funding and recognition worth many times this initial investment, and will help lift 海角社区 to the next level of research, scholarship and creative activity to benefit all of Louisiana.鈥�

鈥淗elping the Provost鈥檚 Office in managing these awards aligns with our mission to elevate the research experience for all faculty at the university,鈥� said 海角社区 Interim Vice President of Research & Economic Development Robert Twilley. 鈥満＝巧缜� is the best place to do research in some of the most-needed areas, and this round of seed funding for faculty is a great example of how we advance the research enterprise by investing in our people.鈥�

The Provost鈥檚 Fund has established two seed funding programs for faculty: Emerging Research Grants, which typically involve a single investigator, as well as Big Idea Research Grants for interdisciplinary research teams. The Big Idea awards are categorized into Phase 1 with $10,000 grants to help researchers get organized; Phase 2 with $75,000 grants to develop preliminary data and create a long-term research agenda; and Phase 3 with $250,000 grants to develop large, center-scale grant proposals and gain national recognition of research results.

In the current round of funding, more than half of the researchers who applied to the program received awards.

鈥満＝巧缜�鈥檚 seed-fund makes reality of faculty dreams in scholarship, empowers rising scientists and brings upcoming NASA solicitations of up to 1 billion dollars within our reach,鈥� said 海角社区 Department of Geology & Geophysics Associate Professor Suniti Karunatillake, who brings together 17 researchers from three 海角社区 colleges and beyond to develop a Martian glacier mission concept in line with NASA鈥檚 recently established Moon to Mars, or M2M, program. 鈥淥ur project will bridge key knowledge gaps in planetary exploration, including how to grow food in resource-restricted environments on Earth and Mars, and enable 海角社区 to defend American leadership in space.鈥�

In addition to seed-funding for research, the Provost鈥檚 Fund also supports dissemination of research, such as through travel, talks and conferences and research infrastructure improvements, including equipment repair. While many of the projects fall within a priority area, several span multiple priority areas.

 

- Agriculture, Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Coast and Environment, Defense and Cybersecurity and Energy 

• Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Dimitris Nikitopoulos, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering Ipsita Gupta, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Associate Professor of Pathobiological Sciences Weishan Huang, 海角社区 School of Veterinary Medicine
• Professor of Environmental Sciences Supratik Mukhopadhyay, 海角社区 College of Coast & Environment
• Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Marcio de Queiroz, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Professor of Construction Management Yimin Zhu, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Assistant Professor of Architecture Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, 海角社区 College of Art + Design
• Professor of Renewable Natural Resources Terrence Tiersch, 海角社区 College of Agriculture
• Assistant Professor of Chemistry Noemie Elgrishi, 海角社区 College of Science
• Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics Achim Herrmann, 海角社区 College of Science
• Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Yen-Fang Su, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Gregory Thom, 海角社区 College of Science
• Associate Professor of Geography & Anthropology Jill Trepanier, 海角社区 College of Humanities & Social Sciences
• Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics Suniti Karunatillake, 海角社区 College of Science
• Professor of Art Kelli Kelley, 海角社区 College of Art + Design
• Professor of English Benjamin Kahan, 海角社区 College of Humanities & Social Sciences
• Professor of English Michelle Zerba, 海角社区 College of Humanities & Social Sciences

 

• Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders Eileen Haebig, 海角社区 College of Humanities & Social Sciences
• Professor of Chemistry Mario Rivera, 海角社区 College of Science
• Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Nicholas Fears, 海角社区 College of Human Sciences & Education
• Professor of Kinesiology Alex Garn, 海角社区 College of Human Sciences & Education
• Professor of Biological Sciences Craig Hart, 海角社区 College of Science
• Assistant Professor of Biological & Agricultural Engineering Kevin Hoffseth, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Yong Lee, 海角社区 College of Science
• Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Karen Maruska, 海角社区 College of Science
• Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Anastasios Vourekas, 海角社区 College of Science
• Assistant Professor of Textiles, Apparel Design & Merchandising Sibei Xia, 海角社区 College of Agriculture

Faculty Leading Coastal Research Projects

• Assistant Professor of Geography & Anthropology Huanping Huang, 海角社区 College of Humanities & Social Sciences
• Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics Carol Wilson, 海角社区 College of Science
• Professor of Renewable Natural Resources Yi-jun Xu, 海角社区 College of Agriculture

• Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Kunlun Ding, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Xiangyu Meng, 海角社区 College of Engineering
• Associate Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Ying Wang, 海角社区 College of Engineering

Read more about the Provost鈥檚 Fund for Innovation in Research at 海角社区: /research/funding/internal/index.php.

 

On March 29, 2023, 海角社区鈥檚 fifth annual Giving Day, supporters will take 鈥淏old Steps Forward鈥� to advance the university鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda. Giving Day unites 海角社区 alumni, friends, students, faculty and staff in making donations to support the areas of the university that are most meaningful to them. Priorities for Giving Day 2023 include the 海角社区 Faculty Research Fund, 海角社区 Scholarship Fund and 海角社区 Scholarship First Agenda Fund. The university鈥檚 impactful research鈥攁nd donors鈥� investment in it鈥攈ad a pivotal impact on 海角社区 surpassing its $1.5 billion Fierce for the Future Campaign goal last year, three years early.