Research

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september 2015 | vol. 9, no. 4

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This reinforces UMD’s reputation as a leading international research university, seen by funding institutions as a solid investment during uncertain fiscal times.

“This year’s awards reflect the University of Maryland’s leadership in research fields of great societal importance, and the work of our extraordinary faculty, sta� and students who collaborate in the amazingly creative discov-ery and innovation ecosystem we have estab-lished here in College Park,” says Vice President and Chief Research O�cer Patrick O’Shea. “We are uniquely positioned as the model 21st-century research university; our prime geographic location in the DC metro area allows us to leverage our expertise, partnerships and strategic vision to be among the best in the world.”

Several factors drove the increase despite flagging govern-ment spending. Those include partnerships with like-mind-ed institutions, seed grant programs, strategic outreach to funding agencies and cross-disciplinary research projects by Maryland faculty. As the university begins its second year in the Big Ten—a research powerhouse as well as sports conference—it is concurrently diversifying and deepening its research portfolio.

The proactive and strategic e�orts and programs of the Division of Research are helping UMD as a whole thrive in di�cult times, says Associate Vice President for Research Development Ken Gertz.

“We are proud to have achieved this record-setting year in the face of significant funding challenges, when many other universities’ research funding numbers were flat,” says Gertz.

Among a host of funding awards, the university is

partnering with the MITRE Corporation to operate the first and only feder-ally funded research and development center

(FFRDC) solely dedicated to enhancing cybersecu-

rity and protecting national information systems. A significant

number of faculty will contribute research in computer science, public policy, engineer-

ing, business and criminology. MITRE and UMD are also working to advance collaborations in the areas of trusted autonomy, quantum, analytics and the science of logistics.

Innovation from UMD’s world-renowned geographical sci-ences department will orbit Earth on the International Space Station in coming years. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Lidar is being developed by UMD and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, scheduled for comple-tion in 2018. GEDI will use lasers to map forest vegetation worldwide to answer questions about how deforestation a�ects earth’s climate and biodiversity.

The 2015 total surpasses by $5 million the previous record set in 2010, when fiscal stimulus dollars flooded university research co�ers.

“Thanks to our extraordinary faculty, the leveraging of our unique location, a proactive and strategic approach in our outreach to funding agencies and partners, and exceptional administrative support,” O’Shea says, “we were able to accomplish a great deal.”

Six of 22 teams awarded Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grants by the Department of Defense feature Uni-versity of Maryland researchers, tying the university for most MURI grants received this year. Only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford Univer-sity received as many.

The research arms of the Army, Air Force and Navy solicited proposals covering 19 topics vital to the Pentagon. Of 76 resulting proposals, DOD chose 22 teams to receive awards totaling $149 million over five years.

Maryland will lead one of the studies. Wolfgang Losert (physics) is the lead investigator on the pro-posal “Understanding and Controlling the Coupled Electrical, Chemical and Mechanical Excitable Networks of Living Systems.” UMD biology, chemistry and biochemistry faculty will also participate. Maryland faculty will also play key roles in other MURI projects: • “Engineering Exotic States of Light with

Superconducting Circuits.” • “Harnessing Strong-Field MidInfrared (IR)

Lasers: Designer Beams of Relativistic Particles and THz-to-X-ray Light.”

• “A 4D Nanoprinter for Making and Manipulating Macroscopic Materials.”

• “Metalloid Cluster Building Blocks and Their Inclusion with Composite.”

• “Evolutionary Mechanics of Impulsive Biological Systems: Guiding Scalable Synthetic Design.”

Research Funding Surges 15%, Setting New Record

UMD Faculty Lead in MURI Grant Awards

The University of Maryland’s dynamic faculty, students and sta�, along with innovative approaches by the Division of Research, brought in a record $550 million in outside research awards in fiscal 2015, a one-year increase of more than $70 million at a time when research income at most universities was stagnant.

Wolfgang Losert

Seed Grants Grow UMD-Smithsonian Partnership The University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution are reinforcing years of fruitful research collaboration through continuing support of the Seed Grants for Research Program.

Now in its sixth year, the program encourages teams of in-vestigators to cross institutional and disciplinary boundaries. Seed grant recipients have secured more than $4 million in external funding.

“The funded projects are a wonderful cross-section of the diversity of our two organizations, involving dozens of Smith-sonian museums and centers and University of Maryland departments, all with impressive outcomes, presentations and publications,” says Amy Marino, senior program o�cer for Seed Grants for Research at the Smithsonian.

The current funding cycle features four collaborations:

1. Researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engi-neering and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Insti-tute will develop a microfluidic system to grow cultures of testicular matter of rare mammals to aid in the genetic rescue of species.

2. The Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory will collaborate on using graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, to improve radio telescopes.

3. Department of Geographical Sciences and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute researchers will study how natural catastrophes a�ect large mammals in arid and semi-arid ecosystems to ensure that protected wildlife survive.

4. Researchers from the Department of Govern-ment and Politics and the Smithsonian’s Of-fice of the Under Sec-retary for History, Art, and Culture will study the causes of deliber-ate destruction of cul-tural heritage during armed conflicts.

PACKED HOUSE ON HILL FOR UMD WORKSHOP

A standing-room-only crowd of 100+ attendees from government, industry and academia partici-pated in a UMD-organized panel of experts discussing unmanned aerial systems at the Russell Senate O�ce Building in July.

Corine Wegener, Smithsonian cultural heritage preservation of-ficer, project 4

Joseph Owen Sexton, assistant research profes-sor, geography, project 3

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SPOTLIGHT

The Division of Research publishes research@maryland several times per semester. Its goal is to better inform and connect the research community at the University of Maryland. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Please email them to Tara Burke, Director, Research Development Resources, at tburke13@umd.edu.

Produced by University Publications for the Division of Research Patrick O’Shea, vice president for research and chief research officer

Executive editor: Tara BurkeManaging editor: Chris CarrollArt director: Jennifer Paul

research@maryland the of

Office of the Vice President for Research2133 Lee BuildingUniversity of MarylandCollege Park, MD 20742-5121 www.umresearch.umd.edu

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Research ≤aryland@

IN THIS ISSUE:

Funding Powerhouse: Maryland Research Raises Record $550M in FY 15

Seed Grants Grow Innovative Smithsonian-UMD partnership

$1.25M Mellon Grant Strengthens Digital Humanities, African-American Studies

A $1.25 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) will energize the study of African-American history and culture at the University of Maryland while expanding the field of digital humanities on campus.

The grant focuses on the themes of African-American migration, artistic expression and labor, and draws on Maryland’s exceptional faculty, staff and centers in the digital humani-ties and African American literature, history and culture.

“This ambitious project enables scholars in the region to leverage the remarkable resources we have on campus,” says ARHU Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill, professor of women’s studies and principal investigator of the Mellon grant. “To explore the histories of the African-American population in the U.S., scholars will work with the rich and diverse data sets and archives found in these interdisciplinary centers.”

Scholars and stu-dents will work on migration-oriented projects in collaboration with ARHU’s Center for the History of the New America, while embarking on visual art-themed studies with the David C. Driskell Center and delving into labor issues using the Univer-sity Libraries’ recently acquired George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archive.

The grant supports a faculty project director, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and staff in ARHU and the University Libraries. It also funds workshops, public programming, digitizing of materials from large archival collec-tions, support of faculty research and integration of digital humanities work into the undergradu-ate curriculum.

500 laborers from Barbados/Deck Scene, September 2, 1909, Panama

FA C U LT Y AWARDS & HONORS

Robert W. Lent, professor of counseling, higher educa-tion and special education, received the 2015 Eminent Career Award from the National Career Development Association. The highest honor given by the association, Lent’s award recognizes decades of major contributions to the theory, research and practice of career development and counseling.

Zhanqing Li, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, received two awards: the American Geophysical Union’s 2014 Yoram J. Kaufman Unselfish Cooperation in Research Award, for “exceptional creativity… mentoring, international collaborations, and unselfish cooperation in research;” and the 2015 Humboldt Research Award, presented yearly by the German president to a foreign academic for fundamental discoveries.

Catherine Plaisant, senior research scientist in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), was elected to the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction Academy for her pioneer-ing work in human-computer interaction and information visualization.

Oscar Barbarin is chair and professor of African American Studies. His research has focused on the social and familial determinants of ethnic and gen-der achievement gaps beginning in early childhood.

Heidi Fisher is an assistant professor of biology, investigating the evolution of sexually selected traits, and specifically how cooperation, competi-tion and conflict influence the selective regime.

Chantel Rodriguez is an assistant professor of history. Her research examines how Mexican guest workers’ health rights claims in the Ameri-can workplace shaped the boundaries of health citizenship during World War II.

Evan Starr is an assistant professor of manage-ment and organization, studying employee mobil-ity, human capital accumulation, entrepreneurship, contracts and employment law.

N E W F A C U L T YWe introduce you to new faculty and research

scientists in the Maryland research community.

DARPA SEMINAR

Arati Prabhakar, director, DARPA Tuesday, Sept. 29, noonKay Boardroom, Kim Engineering BuildingRSVP to: http://goo.gl/forms/rsJ9ztZPJT

EARLY CAREER FACULTY AND FOUNDATIONS WORKSHOP

Chandrika Rallapalli, director of foundation relations

Vedran Lekic, geologyWednesday, Oct. 21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (lunch included) Benjamin Banneker Room, Stamp Student Union RSVP to : http://goo.gl/forms/HKcH8tmCGo

U P CO M I N G EVENTS & CO N F E R E N C E S

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ARA

ARHU Grant Melds Digital Humanities, African-American Studies

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