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| Lab Profile: Central Microscopy |
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The Central Microscopy Facility, housed in Morrill 4N
since 1986, provides the campus, the 5-colleges, and
the public with instruments and services for research
requiring advanced microscopy instrumentation. The
facility is home to several different types of
microscopes as well as staff who are available to
train researchers on their use. Over the past twelve
months, more than 36 researchers from 11
departments worked on more than 100 projects that
made use of the facility. Read more.
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| Support for Interdisciplinary Research Expands |
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The Research Liaison and Development team
welcomes our newest staff member, Loren Walker. As
Associate Director for Research Liaison and Economic
Development, Loren is responsible for providing
services and developing resources intended to enable
interdisciplinary research initiatives that can benefit
from industry and government participation. A
biologist by training, Loren is the author of news
articles and technical reports on topics ranging from
science education and research to technology-based
industry. On campus, he will work with faculty to
prepare interdisciplinary proposals, coordinate
support for new initiatives, liaise with off-campus
partners, and create resources intended to facilitate
collaboration. Loren recently completed development
of UMassREFS,
an online directory to campus research equipment,
facilities and services. Contact Loren
(577-3725) to discuss your interdisciplinary research
initiative and learn more about the resources and
services available through RL&D.
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| Funding Opportunities |
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UMass Cancer Center
April 15, 2006 deadline -- One-year, $20,000
individual research grants for junior investigators
conducting research related to cancer diagnosis
and treatment are now available from the
American Cancer Society. Eligible applicants will be
full-time faculty at the Assistant Professor or
Instructor level who are within 8 years of their first
independent research or faculty appointment and do
not currently hold an independent national
competitive research grant. Award priority will be
given to studies that partner scientists with clinicians
to develop novel approaches to tumor biology and
pathology; as well as those focusing on the areas of
psychosocial and behavioral research, prevention and
control, health policy or services, cancer in poor and
underserved communities, or childhood cancer. A link
to the application will soon be added to this page. Contact Betsy
Bronstein (508-856-2696) at the UMass Medical
School for more information.
Tablet PC RFP
Reminder that December 19, 2005 is the
deadline for Microsoft’s Tablet PC Technology
Curriculum, and Higher Education 2005 RFP. The full
proposal is on the Corporate Funding page.
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| Grant Winners Announced |
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Research Leadership in Action
The second round of Research Leadership in Action
(RLA) grants were announced by the Vice Provost for
Research on December 1st, 2005. Awards totaling
$43,000 were made to three top proposals from
Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry/Molecular
Biology, and Communications/Journalism. View the
list of winners here.
Another round of RLA funding will be available in
the spring and proposals are now being accepted for
the May 1st deadline. For more information visit the
RLA
website or contact Karen
Hayes, Program Administrator (545-2706).
Microsoft Grant Awarded to
Campus
The campus has been successful in garnering an
award in the latest round of Microsoft RFPs. Piotr
Parasiewicz, Research Associate Professor in Natural
Resources Conservation and Chris Pal, Research
Scientist in Computer Science are the recipients of a
Smart Clients for eScience grant from
Microsoft Corporation. Their proposal “A Tiered Smart
Client System for Annotating the Land-Water
Interface: Enabling Scientific Simulation” was
selected to be funded at $50,000. The project uses
Tablet PCs and handheld computers to gather
information regarding stream and river habitats to
create simulation models which are an important tool
in water management.
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| Research Information Resources |
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Fall 2005 In Brief Available
Online
In Brief, the semiannual newsletter of the
UMass System’s Office of Economic Development, is
now available online. The newsletter highlights
achievements and new activities of members of the
UMass community in the areas of research,
technology transfer, education and workforce
development and regional economic analysis. The
most recent issue and an archive of previous issues
can
be found online
here. Contact Marla
Michel (577-0092) regarding submissions.
SPHHS Newsletter Available Online
Research Beat, a quarterly online
newsletter of the School of Public Health and Health
Sciences (SPHHS), provides faculty with useful tips
on preparing grants, proposals, news about new
faculty grants, important announcements from the
Research Office and the Grants Office, reports from
the Scholarship Committee, and other information
that will foster the research efforts of the school.
Visit the SPHHS
homepage for the December issue and archives.
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| CVIP Patents Filed in September 2005 |
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During the month of September, CVIP has filed
patent applications for six inventions produced by
UMass Amherst researchers and graduate students.
Congratulations to the following researchers for their
recognized accomplishments:
Dan Schaubert (Electrical and Computer
Engineering) with graduate student
Alan Stigliani--developed the Contoured Triangular
Dipole
Antenna--a high quality, compact, flat,
Ultra-Wide-Band antenna, which is an innovation in
the
field of wireless communications.
Robert X. Gao (Mechanical and Industrial
Engineering) with graduate student
Ruqiang Yan--developed software which will benefit
commercial and
industrial applications entitled Multi-Scale
Enveloping Spectrogram (MuSEnS) for Machine
Condition and Health Diagnosis. The software
analyzes the vibration signals of machinery and
reports it to a user-friendly interface. A human
operator can then determine what measures are
necessary to ensure safe operation.
D. Julian McClements and Eric Decker
(Food Science)--recognized for 2 separate patent
applications describing procedures for preparing
stable acidic beverage emulsions and improved
encapsulation of particulate materials.
Jochen Weiss (Food Science) is a
co-inventor with McClements and Decker on a patent
application for nano-laminated edible films and
coatings for food items. He is the primary inventor of
a Novel Procedure to Form Stable Dispersions of
Charged Antimicrobials and Antibiotics. Both are
valuable in preparation of foods for extending
shelf-life, improving and enhancing palatability and
nutritional attributes, and ease of processing using
materials which are GRAS (generally recognized as
safe).
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| November Grants/Contracts Snapshot |
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Each month ACCESS includes a selection of grants
and contracts awarded to faculty from across
campus to provide a sense of what's going on in
research at UMass Amherst. These listings reflect
only a small fraction of the total sponsored activity
for any given month. Since this is just a snapshot in
time and grant/contract terms vary, actual award
totals may be higher than the amounts listed.
Raymond S. Bradley
Geosciences
Sponsor: Nat'l Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin
Title: Climate System Variability: Past, Present and
Future
Total Award: $683,800
E. Brian Coughlin
Polymer Science and Engineering
Sponsor: University of California (Los Alamos National
Lab)
Title: New Concepts for High Temperature Fuel Cell
Membranes
Total Award: $85,000
Eric Decker
Food Science
Sponsor: Bunge Oils Inc
Title: Food Proteins and Lipids
Total Award: $12,000
Sara McComb
Finance & Operations Management
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research
Title: Mental Models: Content, Structure,
Convergence, and Team Performance
Total Award: $49,999
Kathryn A. McDermott
Educational Policy Research & Admin
Sponsor: MA Dept of Education
Title: DOE School Leadership Project
Total Award: $59,707
Andreas Muschinski
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: Collaborative Research: Structure and
Evolution of Diurnal Cold-Air Pools and Seiches in
Small Closed Basins
Total Award: $100,240
Sankaran Thayumanavan
Chemistry
Sponsor: US Dept of Energy
Title: Design, Synthesis, and Study of Dendrimers as
Nanoscaffolds for Solar Energy Harvest
Total Award: $91,000
Shelley L. Velleman
Communications Disorders
Sponsor: US Dept of Education
Title: Training School Speech-Language Pathologists
to Maximize Oral Communication in Children with
Autism
Total Award: $139,163
Beverly Park Woolf
Computer Science
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: Customized Resources for NSDL (National
Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology
Education Digital Library)
Total Award: $460,000
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Staff Profile |
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Animals Big and Small, Researchers Need Them
All
Director Steve Plouff and the staff in the Animal Care
Office provide care for 5000 campus residents. With
more than 20 different kinds of animals including
rodents, monkeys, lizards, and alpacas in 8 different
facilities, the Animal Care Office plays an important
role behind the scenes for research. Read more.
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