The University of Missouri’s Division of Research, Innovation and Impact awarded the second round of Research Council grants in December to 16 faculty members.
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.
Gavin King, professor in physics and astronomy, biochemistry and the Materials Science and Engineering Institute, said Research Council funding helped him develop a new research area and nanofabrication method at MU called ice lithography.
“The funding helped relocate, refurbish, install and commission an ice lithography apparatus at MU,” King said. “This instrument, which we moved from Harvard University, was the first dedicated ice lithography system in the world. With the help of the RC grant, we acquired preliminary data that was instrumental in us landing two new federal grants.”
French horn player Amanda Collins, an assistant professor in the School of Music, is passionate about inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) in music education and performance. She performs with IDE-focused groups, such as the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and supports the work of diverse composers.
“I applied for the Research Council grant to manifest my longtime dream of commissioning works by underserved and underrepresented composers,” Collins said. “As a student of color, it was a rare occasion that I had the opportunity to perform music by someone I could identify with. Representation is everything for young people. This is one step toward my lifelong goal of equity and access in classical music."
During the 2023-24 academic year, faculty will have two more opportunities to apply for Research Council funding through InfoReady. Deadlines are Jan. 16 and March 12.
For more information, email Internal Funding staff.
Second round of funded projects
Chosen from Research Council grant proposals submitted by the Oct. 9, 2023, deadline. Read about first-round grant recipients.
ARTS, HUMANITIES, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
| Investigator | Project Title |
| Bill Horner Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor, Government and Public Affairs | Tim Miller and the Politics of Performance |
| Jennie Ikuta Assistant Professor, Government and Public Affairs | White Losses: Moral Psychology and the Demands of Racial Justice |
| Antoinette Landor Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Science | Understanding Skin Lightening and the Range of Colorism Experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Trudy Lewis Professor, English | FestZero: A Novel-in-Progress, Travel to Monteagle/Sewanee, Tennessee |
| Brian MacNeel Assistant Teaching Professor, Film Studies | Angel Hair |
| Laura Morett Assistant Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences | Illuminating the Neural Substrates of Abnormal Gesture-Speech Integration and Social Communication in ASD: An fNIRS Pilot Study |
| Moshe Naveh-Benjamin Professor, Psychological Sciences | Temporal Dynamics in Young and Older Adults’ Encoding and Retrieving of Different Memory Representations |
| Nancy West Professor, English | Moviemade Girl |
| Andrea Wycoff Assistant Professor, Psychiatry | Effects of Cannabis Use on Alcohol Processes in Adults Seeking Alcohol Treatment |
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS
| Investigator | Project Title |
| Lesa Beamer Professor, Biochemistry | Obtaining Preliminary Data on Enzyme Structure for CryoEM Studies |
| Wes Bernskoetter Professor of Chemistry | Catalysts for Sustainable Acrylate Chemicals |
| Anand Chandrasekhar Professor, Biological Sciences | To Eat or Not? Modulation of Motor Behavior in a Vertebrate Neural Circuit |
| Samniqueka Halsey Assistant Professor, Natural Resources | Identifying Tick-Borne Pathogen Prevalence Among Prairies in Central Missouri |
| Kimberly Laffey Assistant Research Professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology | Differential Gene Expression Programs Activated by Early αβ TCR Signaling in Development and Leukemia |
| Neekun Sharma Assistant Research Professor, Endocrinology | The Role of Endothelial Cell Estrogen Receptor Alpha in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm |
| Zipei Zhang Assistant Professor, Food Science | Development of Novel Biofilm Inactivation Adjuvants to Enhance Food Safety |