UTSA Research’s internal seed funding programs supports top-tier research by awarding UTSA faculty members seed funding to obtain preliminary data that can be cited in applications for extramural funding and enhance the breadth of scholarly and creative activity taking place on campus. These grants support new areas of research for UTSA faculty and advances our goal of reaching Tier I status. In the latest round of funding, the VPR awarded a total of $520,000 for 32 research projects at UTSA and with collaborators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®).
“It was a difficult decision based on the quality of the proposals received. We encourage our faculty to continue submitting their research proposals. It’s a wonderful opportunity for UTSA faculty to take advantage of internal funds to work out new ideas, unique collaborations or explore further avenues in their research. These funds also help faculty finesse their research proposals to apply for additional federal funding,” said Jaclyn Shaw, Director for Research Support, who administers the VPR internal research grants.
Internal Research Awards (INTRA)
September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017
$100,000 awarded: $5,000 per researcher x 20 new research projects
The Internal Research Awards (INTRA) program is part of the UTSA Vice President for Research’s coordinated efforts to promote research and scholarship of the highest quality.
College of Architecture
Jae Yong Suk, Ph.D., Department of Architecture
Development of Shading Control Algorithm for Enhanced Occupant’s Thermal and Visual Comfort in Buildings
College of Business
Edgar A. Ghossoub, Ph.D., Department of Economics
What were the effects of the Federal Reserve’s Term Discount Window Program?
Emeka T. Nwaeze, Ph.D., Department of Accounting
Seasons of Auditor-Client Relation: Auditor performance and accounting quality
Hu Harrison Liu, Ph.D., Department of Accounting
Corporate Responses to the Repatriation Incentives and Domestic Production Activities Deduction of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004
Juan Mao, Ph.D., Department of Accounting
Individual Auditor Audit Workload and Job Turnover: Evidence from China
Matthew W. McCarter, Ph.D., Department of Management
It’s a trap! Examining the relationship between self-control and population growth in the 18th century Swedish commons
Victor De Oliveira, Ph.D., Department of Management Science and Statistics
Modeling Geostatistical Binary Date: Models, Properties and Connections
Zhongxia (Shelly) Ye, Ph.D., Department of Accounting
Consequences of Voluntary Disclosures in the Audit Committee Report
College of Education and Human Development
Kristen Lindahl, Ph.D., Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
The Intersection of Language Awareness and Ideology among In – service Teachers of Emerging Bilinguals
College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Andrew Konove, Ph.D., Department of History
The Black Market in Mexico City
Bridget Dinka, Ph.D., Department of English
The International Conference on Historical Linguistics
LaGuana Gray, Ph.D., Department of History
Black Women and Delta Pride: A Tale of Mississippi Catfish
Luis Hestres, Ph.D., Department of Communications
New Directions for Research Framing and Networked Gatekeeping
Matthias Hofferberth, Ph.D., Department of Political Science
Get your act(ors) together! Theorizing Agency in World Politics
Thad Bartlett, Ph.D., Department of Anthropology
The Singing Apes of Fraserâs Hill: Gibbon Density in a Human Modified Landscape
Viviana Rojas, Ph.D., Department of Communications
Iraqi Refugees and Their Integration to the Texas School System
Walter Wilson, Ph.D., Department of Political Science
From Inclusion to Influence: Latino Representation in Congress
Whitney Chappell, Ph.D., Department of Modern Languages
A Sociophonetic Perception of Spanish Speakers in San Antonio
College of Public Policy
Francine Romero, Ph.D., Department of Public Administration
Political and Policy Dynamics of Municipal Annexation in Texas
Megan Augustyn, Ph.D., Department of Criminal Justice
Using the National Crime Victimization Survey to better understand the determinates of help-seeking behavior among victims of intimate-partner and sexual assault
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Grants for Research Advancement and Transformation (GREAT)
September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017
$120,000: $20,000 awarded to each researcher
The Grants for Research Advancement and Transformation (GREAT) program, sponsored by the VPR, provides seed grants to support new areas of research for faculty at UTSA.
College of Architecture
Shelley Roff, Ph.D., Department of Architecture
The Inventory and Analysis of the Tools and Building Materials of Eighteenth-Century Spanish Mission Architecture in the Texas Region
College of Engineering
Jie Huang, Ph.D., Department of Civil Engineering
Converting Ubiquitous Biomass into Sustainable Civil Engineering Materials Based on Polymerization and Cross-linking
Pranav Bhounsule, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering
Highly customizable, light weight artificial legs based on embedding actuators and sensors in 3D printed parts.
Xiaowei Zeng, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering
Advancing Cohesive Interface Zone Model for Biomechanics Applications
College of Public Policy
Michael Caudy, Ph.D., Department of Criminal Justice
Elucidating the Mechanisms of Reentry
College of Sciences
Yongli Gao, Ph.D., Department of Geological Sciences
Isotopic Study of Sea Ice: Tracing Moisture Sources of Precipitation and Snow Accumulation in the Polar Regions
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Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect)
September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017
$250,000 awarded: $125,000 per team
The Connect program was founded to enhance scientific collaboration between SwRI and UTSA and increase their research funding base. Over the past six years, 11 projects have been funded under the joint SwRI-UTSA Connect Program. The two selected projects will investigate biofilm corrosion in pipelines and an ultrasound drug delivery methodology.
“When we leverage the research expertise of both institutions and cross-pollinate efforts through the Connect program, we can spark innovation and progress,” said Dr. Bernard Arulanandam, UTSA interim vice president for research. “Our funding selection committee is looking to fund research that finds solutions for specific challenges. This year, with the two chosen projects — precision medicine and pipe corrosion in the petroleum industry — the research we fund can have a systemic impact on the people, and the industries, of Texas.”
Heather Shipley, Ph.D, UTSA and Tony Reeves, Ph.D, SwRI
Molecular characterization and quorum sensing of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) bacteria in pipeline populations
Jing Yong Ye, Ph.D., UTSA and Jian Ling, Ph.D., SwRI
Ultrasound Mediated Drug Delivery in 3D Tissue Model Quantified by Photoacoustic Tomography
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The San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) has awarded $400,000 through its innovation and research excellence grants to lead scientists at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducting research on technology solutions in health care and brain health, both initiatives being system-wide priorities for the UT System, per Chancellor McRaven’s Quantum Leaps.
SALSI, a collaborative partnership established between the Health Science Center and UTSA by the Texas Legislature in 2003, has strengthened research in the life sciences, one of the fastest growing industries in our state and a $30.6 billion industry in San Antonio.
The global issues and challenges that research institutions are working to address are complex and occur at the intersection of disciplines. In order to make advancements in research there must be an integration and convergence of disciplines.
SALSI Clusters in Research Excellence: Brain Health
June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017
$200,000: $100,000 per team ($50,000 per institution)
SALSI solicited applications for participation in the Clusters in Research Excellence program, with the aims to develop two new strategic research clusters that bridge UTSA and UTHSCSA through capacity building and collaborative, interdisciplinary research. To this end, SALSI established and supported two institutionally driven clusters in the area of Brain Health over a 12-month period.
Stephen Bach, Ph.D, UTSA and Bess Frost, Ph.D, UTHSCSA
Utilizing Imaging Mass Spectrometry and Electron Microscopy to Investigate Nucleoplasmic Reticulum Expansion in Alzheimer’s Disease
Todd Troyer, Ph.D., UTSA and Hye Young Lee, Ph.D., UTHSCSA
Elucidating social communication deficits in autism
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SALSI Innovation Challenge (full news release)
June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017
$200,000: $100,000 per team ($50,000 per institution)
The grants awarded through the Innovation Challenge are high-risk, high-reward studies that have the potential to create groundbreaking research directions in health informatics and bioinformatics.
Yufei Huang, Ph.D., UTSA and Yidong Chen, Ph.D., UTHSCSA
A Cloud Computing Pipeline for Precision Medicine
David Akopian, Ph.D., UTSA and Amelie Ramirez, Dr. P.H., UTHSCSA
An Interactive Automated Mobile Messaging Service for Mobile Health Promotion Interventions
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