Previous Research Council Grant recipients Betsy Baker and David Crespy made the most of their funds.
The University of Missouri’s Division of Research, Innovation and Impact awarded the first round of 2023-24 Research Council Grants on Oct. 2 to faculty from five colleges and schools.
This internal funding of up to $15,000 supports research, scholarship and creative endeavors that lead to book contracts, juried theatre and music performances, art exhibits, peer-reviewed articles and the generation of pilot data to bolster proposals for external funding.
Several years ago, Research Council funding enabled Betsy Baker, professor of learning, teaching and curriculum, to do initial fieldwork with first graders.
“I was able to examine the feasibility of using speech recognition (e.g., Siri, Alexa) to support young children’s reading development,” Baker said. “Based on these findings, I collaborated with the eMINTS National Center and secured a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop and provide professional learning for nearly 100 teachers in rural Missouri who impact over 1,900 elementary students.”
Last year, David Crespy, a professor in the Department of Theatre, used Research Council funds to extend and amplify his efforts as a Fulbright Scholar when he took on the daunting task of writing six plays about the Spanish roots of the Jewish communities of Thessaloniki and Veria.
“The Fulbright funds cover your travel and living expenses; however, this leaves little money for additional research costs,” Crespy said. “To write and research the plays, I visited more than 15 Jewish quarters. Without my Research Council Grant, I would not have been able to afford to travel to each location, which often required several days of visiting Jewish heritage sites, libraries and museums.”
During the 2023-24 academic year, faculty will have three more opportunities to apply for Research Council funding through InfoReady. Deadlines:
- Oct. 9, 2023.
- Jan. 16, 2024.
- March 12, 2024.
For more information, email Internal Funding staff.
First round of funded projects
Chosen from Research Council Grant proposals submitted Aug. 21, 2023.
ARTS, HUMANITIES, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
| Investigator | Project Title |
| Claire Altman Associate Professor, Health Sciences | Climates of Exclusion and Immigrants' Occupational Health |
| Katina Bitsicas Assistant Professor, Digital Storytelling | Glyphosate Dreams |
| Stephen Karian Professor and Catherine Paine Middlebush Chair, English | English Digital Images for Oxford Pope Poems Edition |
| Hannah Paul Assistant Professor, Government and Public Affairs | Does Intergroup Empathy Bias Influence How Race Affects Support for Resettled Refugees? |
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS
| Investigator | Project Title |
| Mark Daniels Associate Professor, Surgery and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology | The Role of the Scaffold Molecule POSH in B Cells |
| Richard Ferrieri Research Professor, Chemistry | Validating a New Grafting Approach for Maize Using Radiotracer Imaging and Nuclear Counting Techniques at MURR |
| Diana Gil Pagés Associate Professor, Surgery, Bioengineering, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology | Development and Characterization of a Novel Murine Model of Canine Osteosarcoma to Study Performance of T Cell-Targeted Immuno-Therapeutics |
| Kun-Eek Kil Assistant Research Professor, Radiochemistry and Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry | Collaborative Research for the Development of Carbon-11 PET Radiotracers for Mu-Opioid Receptors |
| Jian Lin Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | 4D Printing of Personalized Left Atrial Appendage Occluders for Atrial Embolism Patients |
| Hyeong Suk Na Assistant Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering | Optimal Deployment of Capacitated Fast Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles on a Directed Highway Network |
| Patrick Shiu Professor, Biological Sciences | Identification of Silencing-Deficient Mutants in Neurospora |
| Emma Teixeiro Associate Professor, Surgery and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology | Identifying Novel Factors That Control Long-Term Immunity Against Respiratory Infections |
| Steven Van Doren Professor, Biochemistry | Enzyme Controlling Synthesis of Oils and Biofuel in Crops: Validation of Structural Models |