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NSF EPSCoR Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Research Fellowships

Funded by a grant to Nevada from NSF EPSCoR: Research Infrastructure for Nevada’s Growth – Targeting Research with Uniqueness and Excellence (RING TRUE III)

 
Introduction

Fellowship Program Details

NSF Research Areas and Contacts:
SENSORS Group - SEPHAS Group - CIP Group

Application Guidelines and Deadlines

Reporting and Other Requirements

Further Information

Review Process

*** Download the Application Form ***
 

Introduction

The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) is offering a small number of one-year Research Fellowships to graduate students who will conduct cross-disciplinary research bridging the following fields: Sensor Technology (SENSORS), Scaling Environmental Processes in Heterogeneous Arid Soils (SEPHAS), and Cognitive Information Processing (CIP).  This research may be conducted at any of the three research institutions in Nevada: UNLV, UNR, or DRI (North and South).  Each successful Fellow will receive a $20,000 Fellowship, fringe calculated at the institutional rates, tuition costs for 18 credits, and $2000 in supply funds.

Fellowship Program Details

Each Research Fellow must work with two or more faculty mentors affiliated with at least two of the three research areas supported by Nevada’s current NSF EPSCoR grant, SENSORS, SEPHAS, or CIP.  Mentors must be faculty at UNLV, DRI, or UNR engaged in research in one of these three areas.  The vision of this program is to stimulate collaborative research involving diverse sets of faculty members and graduate students.  In collaboration with their mentors, Fellows will be expected to develop and conduct specific research projects in an area of mutual interest.

Fellowship applicants are expected to contact prospective mentors to discuss possible research projects prior to submitting a jointly prepared application.  For your convenience, contact information for faculty members directly involved in this program is provided below.

NSF EPSCoR Research Areas and Contacts

The SENSORS Group

Introduction to the SENSORS Group

A unique aspect of the SENSORS research program is a “vertically integrated” approach focused on scientific and technological issues of sensor development, system integration, and deployment, using actual performance (e.g., sensitivity, specificity, robustness, and failure modes) to feed back directly to scientists and engineers in the program.  The formation of new collaborations, bringing together a number of interdisciplinary teams, is the foundation for the program.  For further information on the SENSORS program, contact Dr.  Alan Gertler (775-674-7061; Alan.Gertler@dri.edu).

Key research components of the SENSORS program include:

  • Preparation of biological detector molecules for biosensors. The Hunter and Kozel laboratories at UNR collaborate on genetic engineering of biological detector molecules, in particular monoclonal antibodies, for a variety of chemical and biological agents (e.g., nerve gas, T-2 toxin, and anthrax) and environmental contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals.
     
  • Synthesis of detector molecules and interfacial chemistry. Design and synthesis of receptor molecules (e.g., Hg22+ chelators) and signaling reporters (e.g., fluorescent and redox probes), and the properties of their interfaces to sensor substrates, are critical to sensor design and function.  The Bell, Hatchett, and Tam-Chang laboratories at UNLV and UNR work interactively in these areas.
     
  • Electrochemical, fluorescence, and optical fiber-based analysis techniques. The Das and Hatchett laboratories at UNLV work on a variety of electrochemical and fluorescence-sensing techniques.  The Publicover laboratory at UNR and the Moosmüller laboratory at DRI have expertise in the design of optical-fiber microarrays and a variety of optical-sensing systems, including systems for measuring single-molecule fluorescence.  Promising combinations of these techniques are being explored.
     
  • Sensor materials, system integration, and microdevices. Sensor materials (micro- and nano-materials, in particular), polymer coatings for analyte specificity, construction of sensor platforms, connectivity to microelectronic systems, and the delivery of small volumes of analyte-containing fluids represent additional challenges in sensor design.  Micro-robotic approaches will play an important role in the fabrication of sensor platforms.  The laboratories of Das and Hatchett at UNLV and Kim at UNR collaborate in these areas.
     
  • Air, water, and biological sampling technology. The Arnone, Gertler, Moosmüller, and Papelis laboratories at DRI are pooling their expertise in a variety of sampling technologies important for analyte sensing.
     
  • Deployment. The Arnone, Gertler, Moosmüller, and Papelis laboratories work with the other core teams to develop deployment techniques, initially in conjunction with existing monitoring stations and environmentally sensitive sites throughout Nevada.  In addition, Prof.  Eun-Woo Chang (Physical Science Division) is participating in both sensor research and sensor education.

SENSORS Group Contact Information:

The SEPHAS Group

Introduction to the SEPHAS Group

The vision of the SEPHAS research area (http://hydro.nevada.edu/sephas) is to stimulate collaboration among student and faculty researchers to better understand the response of various hydrological and biological processes at different distance scales in arid soils.

Relevant research areas include:

  • Influence of soil structure on desert environmental processes;
     
  • Flow and solute transport in arid soils;
     
  • Energy and mass partitioning in arid-soil ecosystems and the role of biogeochemical cycling;
     
  • Development of new computational and theoretical methods to understand various physical processes;
     
  • Discrepancies among laboratory and field measured and numerically simulated variables at different scales; and
     
  • The creation of a facility to test and benchmark sensors.  For further information on the SEPHAS program, contact Dr.  Michael Young (702-862-5489; Michael.Young@dri.edu).

Key research components of the SEPHAS program include:

  • Lysimeter installation.  Two large weighing lysimeters were installed in Boulder City, NV during spring 2007.  These large soil tanks will be filled with soil and fully instrumented.  This activity, led by Young (DRI) and Yu (UNLV), offers an excellent opportunity to participate directly in the setup of a unique research facility.
     
  • Soil hydraulic properties and water movement.  Soil hydraulic properties have a significant influence on short-term water balances and plant-water availability.  The laboratories of Young (DRI) and Buck (UNLV) specialize in the characterization of soil hydraulic and physical properties through laboratory experiments.  Field experiments are also conducted by these faculty as a means to upscale the laboratory results to more realistic field scales.
     
  • Water use and conservation.  Demands for water by urban areas are placing greater pressures on desert ecosystems.  The labs of Devitt (UNLV) and Young (DRI) are assessing water use of native plant communities.  In particular, they are assessing how water is partitioned between evaporation, transpiration, and soil moisture redistribution.
     
  • Desert restoration.  Arid landscapes disturbed by human activities are very difficult to restore, especially in short time frames.  Work by Caldwell and McDonald (DRI) is focused on landscape characterization and landscape restoration, using both field and numerical techniques.
     
  • Physiological response of plants to environmental change.  Changes in global climate will lead to an increase in atmospheric CO2 levels; other possible changes include higher precipitation and nitrogen inputs.  The laboratories of Smith (UNLV) and Nowak (UNR) seek to quantify these changes through field experiments, to better predict how desert ecosystems will function in the future.
     
  • Numerical modeling of water flow in deserts.  The research of Yu (UNLV) and Zhu (DRI) mainly deals with computer modeling that aggregates field/lab soil hydraulic property measurement to more realistic field scales.
     
  • Soil carbon sequestration and global climate change.  Soils play an important role in the global carbon cycle and can act as either sources or sinks for atmospheric CO2.  The laboratory of Verburg (DRI) is assessing the response of organic and inorganic carbon to global climate change using manipulative field and laboratory experiments.

SEPHAS Group Contact Information:

The CIP Group

Introduction to the CIP Group

Cognitive information processing (CIP) systems and techniques provide common tools to research the four interconnected application areas of security and surveillance, modeling and inversion, bioinformatics, and bio-robotics within the CIP focal area.  For further information on the CIP program, contact Dr.  Sushil Louis (775-784-4315; sushil@sce.unr.edu).

Key research components of the CIP program include:

  • Evolutionary computation and machine learning.  The Evolutionary Computing Systems Laboratory (ECSL) at UNR (http://ecsl.cse.unr.edu/) investigates new CIP tools and techniques and helps apply them to problems in science, engineering, and the arts.  Algorithms developed in the lab have been used in decision support, engineering design, modeling and inversion, computer vision, bio-informatics, robotics, and computer games.  This area is collaborative with all four application areas listed below.
     
  • Security and surveillance.  The Bebis and Louis laboratories at UNR have experience using machine learning and evolutionary computing techniques to create better vision systems to detect, recognize, and track objects (including people), and interpret their actions.  Better vision systems are a must for developing autonomous robots to effectively operate in real-world environments and interact with humans and other robots.  This work is collaborative with modeling and inversion researchers at DRI (see below).
     
  • Modeling and inversion.  Machine learning and data-mining techniques from CIP are designed to build models from sensor data.  Once valid models are generated through the scientific process, they can be used for engineering and decision support applications – i.e., model inversion.  The common threads of modeling and inversion have brought together UNR and DRI faculty from the physical and natural sciences (Koracin, Wetzel, Mancini) with CIP scientists (Bebis, Louis, Varol) for building and inverting computational models of complex phenomenon for which traditional modeling techniques do not work.  They are developing new collaborations and strengthening existing ones with a special emphasis on biological sciences.
     
  • Bioinformatics.  The tools and techniques of CIP are well-suited for complex, nonlinear-biosystems modeling and have been used at UNR, DRI, and UNLV in phylogenetic analysis, data mining protein and nucleic-acid sequence data, discovering gene-expression patterns in DNA, and protein folding (Louis, Murray, Roberts).  Nanoscale biosystems, particularly those macromolecular biological complexes and biosensors that require DNA and protein-sequence information for their design and fabrication, provide a natural connection between bioinformatics and bio-robotics.
     
  • Bio-robotics.  The best functioning CIP systems are biological.  Robotics research at UNLV and UNR has begun to acknowledge this and investigate building (or evolving) robotic CIP systems that closely mimic biological systems (Bebis, Kim, Louis, Yim).  This application area integrates strengths in novel sensor and actuator materials with bioinformatics and CIP for modeling, reasoning, planning, and control in new bio-mimetic robotic systems.  Furthermore, sensors based on electroactive polymer materials can be used to gain a better view of cell migration needed for understanding biosystem pathways, feeding back to bioinformatics.  Integrating this expertise could lead to multidisciplinary answers to research questions in CIP, bioinformatics, and bio-robotics.

CIP Group Contact Information:

Application Guidelines and Deadlines

Review of applications will begin on July 16, 2007.  Please note only complete files will be reviewed.

  1. A complete Graduate Fellowship application consists of:
    1. Application form
    2. Transcripts
    3. Three-page Project Proposal
    4. Letters of recommendation from faculty mentors
       
  2. Application form:  Available below.
     
  3. Transcripts: Please provide transcripts for undergraduate and graduate institutions attended.  We accept transcripts which have been downloaded from Universities as PDF files, or are delivered by the application deadline by regular post or by hand.
     
  4. Project Proposals are limited to three pages.  Font type (size) should be Arial (10 points or larger) or Times (11 points or larger).  If you choose to use double spaced, the Project Proposal can be six pages.  We expect the research proposal to be the product of a collaborative effort by the applicant and the faculty mentors.  The proposal should be a clear, concise, and original statement, describing the proposed research topic, including clear hypotheses or questions to be asked.
     
    The proposal should include:
    • a discussion of the roles of the applicant and the mentors;
    • project milestones; and
    • a plan for dissemination of research results.
       
  5. Letters of recommendation from faculty mentors: As part of the application, students are required to identify at least two faculty mentors.  Because Fellowships are intended to build interdisciplinary research, the mentors should have expertise in disciplines represented in the project proposal.  Mentors must submit electronic recommendation letters expressing their commitment to jointly advise the applicant through the Fellowship period.  The reference letters should provide details explaining the nature of the relationship to the applicant, comments on the applicant’s academic potential and prior research experiences, and any other information to enable reviewers to evaluate the application according to the NSF Merit Review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.

Required Format

All application materials are to be submitted as PDF documents to Ms.  Alice Ward at alice_ward@nshe.nevada.edu.  You MUST follow this format:

  • In the "subject" line of your email, put your last name and first name initial, underscore, the acronym "INTER", underscore, and the type of document you are sending.  So for instance, when Tom Rodriguez submits his transcripts, in the e-mail subject line he would type: (rodriguez t_INTER_transcript).
     
  • Sending your application materials in ONE email will reduce the chance your application file will be incomplete at the time of the review process, in which case, if Tom Rodriguez was to send his Project Proposal, Statement, and Transcripts as attachments to one e-mail, the e-mail subject line for Tom Rodriquez could read:  (rodriguez t_INTER_proposal_stmnt_transcripts).
     

Reporting and Other Requirements

Awardees must submit a final report to the NSF EPSCoR Project Director, Dr.  Gayle Dana (Gayle.Dana@dri.edu).  All funded Fellows are asked to provide demographic data material to the Nevada EPSCoR office.  This form is available at:   http://www.nevada.edu/spo/demodata.html.  This information is provided to NSF for statistical purposes only.

Successful applicants are expected to work full-time on the research project described in the proposal.  The award period is expected to begin August 1, 2007, and Fellowship activity must be completed within 12 months.

Please note that the income generated from acceptance into this program may impact other loans and financial assistance opportunities.  Before proceeding with this application process, it is strongly recommended that each applicant meet with a financial aid officer at his/her institution to learn how receipt of these funds could impact current and future opportunity for funding.  If there are questions about possible tax liabilities, refer to the IRS web site:  http://www.irs.ustreas.gov.

*** All publications and presentations must cite NSF-EPSCoR support from the Ring True III Award #EPS0447416.
 

Download the Application Form

Complete this form and send it as a PDF attachment to: 
Alice Ward at alice_ward@nshe.nevada.edu.

Further Information

For technical questions, potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact one of the faculty members listed above or the NSF EPSCoR Project Director.  Please direct questions regarding applications to Ms.  Alice Ward, Nevada NSF EPSCoR Outreach Project Administrator (702-862-5590; alice_ward@nshe.nevada.edu).  Further information regarding on-going NSF EPSCoR research activities, as well as further information on the program, can be found at http://www.nevada.edu/epscor/.

Review Process

Proposal review will be coordinated by Nevada’s NSF EPSCoR Project Director.  Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of merit using all available information in the completed application and will be judged based on the relevancy of the proposed research to increase collaborations in two of the three focal areas as described above, and the degree to which the proposed research plan is interdisciplinary.  Proposals leading to new faculty collaborations are strongly encouraged.  In considering applications, reviewers will address the two Merit Review Criteria approved by the National Science Board on March 28, 1997 – INTELLECTUAL MERIT and BROADER IMPACTS.  Applications should address each criterion to provide reviewers with the information necessary to respond fully to both.  The following guidance is provided to interpret these requirements in the context of the NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship Program.

Intellectual Merit

The intellectual merit criterion includes demonstrated intellectual ability and other accepted requisites for scholarly scientific study, such as the ability...

  • To plan and conduct research;
     
  • To work as a member of a team as well as independently; and
     
  • To interpret and communicate research findings.

Reviewers will consider: the strength of the academic record; the proposed plan of research; the description of previous research experience; references; and the appropriateness of the choice of mentors relative to the proposed plan for research.

Broader Impacts

The broader impacts criterion includes contributions that...

  • Effectively integrate research and education at all levels, infuse learning with the excitement of discovery, and assure that the findings and methods of research are communicated in a broad context and to a large audience;
     
  • Encourage diversity, broaden opportunities, and enable the participation of all citizens, women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities-in science and research;
     
  • Enhance scientific and technical understanding; and
     
  • Benefit society.  Applicants may provide characteristics of their background, including personal, professional, and educational experiences, to indicate their potential to fulfill the broader impacts criterion.

NSHE is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.