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NSF PR 96-73 - November 21, 1996
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Faculty Early Career Development Grants Drive Both
Research and Education
The National Science Foundation (NSF) honored 346
outstanding faculty nationwide in fiscal 1996 with
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grants.
NSF invested $40 million in these new grants in 1996,
and the awardees were selected from nearly 1,865 applicants.
NSF established the awards to help scientists and
engineers develop simultaneously their contributions
to research and education early in their careers.
CAREER funds are awarded by the federal agency to
junior-level faculty at colleges and universities.
These awards are for 4-5 years and range from $200,000
to $500,000 each.
"At the best universities in the U.S., research and
education go hand-in-hand," said NSF Acting Deputy
Director Joseph Bordogna. "Because of this unique
integration, the U.S. educational system is envied
worldwide. NSF wants to keep it that way."
The CAREER program encompasses all areas of NSF-supported
research and education in science and engineering.
Here are examples of the broad range of CAREER grants
awarded in 1996:
- Ramesh S. Bhatt, a psychologist at the
University of Kentucky, seeks to understand what
information infants extract from their environments
and how this affects behavior. Research includes
a study of the development of basic mechanisms
that permit infants to perceive and remember objects.
He plans to create audio-visual teaching materials
and lab manuals to enhance research methods and
psychology courses, and develop activities to
involve minority high school and college students
in research projects.
- Linda J. Broadbelt, a chemical engineer
at Northwestern University, will explore ways
to efficiently and ecologically recover valuable
by-products of waste resulting from the industrial
production and consumer disposal of plastics.
She plans to use the results of her experiments
and theoretical studies to develop a data base
of general rules that can be used to produce model
catalytic reactions for resource recovery. She
also is creating an educational plan involving
computers and chemistry to link her research with
teaching undergraduate chemical engineering students.
- Richard O. Chapman, a computer engineer
at Auburn University, will conduct research on
system verification methods used in high-level
synthesis of computer chips. This is a complex,
critical research area that helps the U.S. uphold
its world leadership in the design of Very Large
Scale Integration (VLSI) computer technology.
In the near future, VLSI chips will contain several
hundred million transistors with the ability to
function as supercomputers. Chapman will develop
related classroom curricula and courses.
- Tasso J. Kaper, a mathematician at Boston
University, studies how air bubbles respond to
acoustic waves, such as ultrasound used in medical
procedures. As the micron-sized bubbles absorb
energy from these waves, they rapidly expand and
violently collapse, substantially damaging cells.
Kaper will apply dynamical systems theory to determine
the causes of the problem. He also will collaborate
with a private firm to analyze models in particle
accelerators. He plans to incorporate his findings
at all teaching levels, including a complete revision
of an advanced undergraduate course in applied
mathematics and a new graduate course in bubble
dynamics.
- Jian-xing Ma, a biologist at the Medical
University of South Carolina (MUSC), will integrate
his research on the molecular mechanisms of vision
with educational activities that bring molecular
biology techniques into high school classrooms.
As the vision of all vertebrates (including humans)
occurs in dim light through rod cells, Ma seeks
to determine which part of proteins in rod cells
are critical for controlling rod function and
color sensitivity. The studies will be integrated
into the MUSC Summer Institute for training precollege
teachers.
- Urin Wilensky, a mathematician, computer
scientist and educator at Tufts University, will
explore how his theory of Connected Mathematics
may be used to put advanced mathematics within
the reach of younger students -- allowing fourth
graders to understand concepts once taught only
at the college level, and college students to
learn what once was reserved for advanced researchers.
He is developing computer software for students
to use to study diverse but related real-life
phenomena, such as the growth of a snowflake crystal,
the ecology of a coral reef or the dynamics of
the Dow Jones. The approach also should help teachers
gain valuable insights into students' thinking
processes about complex systems.
Editor's note: For a complete list of fiscal 1996 CAREER
grant recipients, their institutions and their projects,
see:
http://www.nsf.gov/crossdir/award/start.htm
or contact Janell Richardson at jrichard@nsf.gov,
(703) 306-1070.
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