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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 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv鈥檚 flagship campus in Baton Rouge. This is the largest 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv 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. 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv,鈥� said 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv Interim Vice President of Research & Economic Development Robert Twilley. 鈥溎⒐絫v 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.

鈥溎⒐絫v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 蘑菇tv Department of Geology & Geophysics Associate Professor Suniti Karunatillake, who brings together 17 researchers from three 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv 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, 蘑菇tv College of Engineering
• Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering Ipsita Gupta, 蘑菇tv College of Engineering
• Associate Professor of Pathobiological Sciences Weishan Huang, 蘑菇tv School of Veterinary Medicine
• Professor of Environmental Sciences Supratik Mukhopadhyay, 蘑菇tv College of Coast & Environment
• Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Marcio de Queiroz, 蘑菇tv College of Engineering
• Professor of Construction Management Yimin Zhu, 蘑菇tv College of Engineering
• Assistant Professor of Architecture Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, 蘑菇tv College of Art + Design
• Professor of Renewable Natural Resources Terrence Tiersch, 蘑菇tv College of Agriculture
• Assistant Professor of Chemistry Noemie Elgrishi, 蘑菇tv College of Science
• Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics Achim Herrmann, 蘑菇tv College of Science
• Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Yen-Fang Su, 蘑菇tv College of Engineering
• Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Gregory Thom, 蘑菇tv College of Science
• Associate Professor of Geography & Anthropology Jill Trepanier, 蘑菇tv College of Humanities & Social Sciences
• Associate Professor of Geology & Geophysics Suniti Karunatillake, 蘑菇tv College of Science
• Professor of Art Kelli Kelley, 蘑菇tv College of Art + Design
• Professor of English Benjamin Kahan, 蘑菇tv College of Humanities & Social Sciences
• Professor of English Michelle Zerba, 蘑菇tv College of Humanities & Social Sciences

 

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

Faculty Leading Coastal Research Projects

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

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

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

 

On March 29, 2023, 蘑菇tv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 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv Faculty Research Fund, 蘑菇tv Scholarship Fund and 蘑菇tv 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 蘑菇tv surpassing its $1.5 billion Fierce for the Future Campaign goal last year, three years early.