Congressional Appropriations Strengthen University Research Projects

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers will receive almost $3 million in congressional appropriations this year to fund initiatives in nanoscience, logistics, rural education, rural water quality and petroleum engineering.

Four University of Arkansas projects will receive $2.9 million, up from $1 million received last year, said Collis Geren, dean of the graduate school and vice provost for research. The increase in direct federal appropriations demonstrates the university’s continuing maturation as a research university, he said.

"This is just one more avenue for pursuing funds to support faculty scholarship," Geren said.

The appropriations include $1 million for nanoscience research, with Greg Salamo, University Professor of physics, as the principal investigator. Salamo and his colleagues in physics and engineering have made great strides in building semiconducting materials at the atomic level that one day may be used in everyday electronic devices.

John English, department head of industrial engineering, also received $1 million for work in logistics. The Logistics Institute within the industrial engineering department will use the funds to develop a series of logistics solutions to ensure the rapid global mobility and agile combat support for the military.

Sean Mulvenon, associate professor of education, counseling, leadership and foundations, received $500,000 for his research evaluating the quality of rural education. Mulvenon, a statistician who runs the Office of Research, Measurement and Evaluation, uses test scores and other rubrics to determine how schools fare when preparing students.

Indrajeet Chaubey, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, received $450,000 for studies of rural water quality. Chaubey uses satellite imagery and Global Positioning Systems technology to build comprehensive predictive models of water quality from existing information. He and his colleagues will use the funds to develop a decision support system for improved surface and ground water quality management. This will help government agencies, researchers, educators and farmers make knowledge-based decisions about the availability of water for agricultural, urban and ecological uses.

Finally, Buddy Babcock, professor of chemical engineering, will receive funds as part of an integrated petroleum clean up project headed by the University of Texas.

These funded projects were chosen from 12 proposals sent to Congress by the university. Each fall Geren puts out a campus-wide call for proposals. Selected researchers make presentations to a group of campus administrators, who decide which projects have a chance at getting funded.

"We try to identify projects that fit a national need," Geren said. Successful funding requires convincing a lot of people that the research has potential benefits for all Americans.

"If we convince them, then we know we have a good project," he said.

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