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May 25, 2006

Board of Regents awards seven grants to ULM

Louisiana Board of Regents awarded the University of Louisiana at Monroe seven grants totaling $494,624 in 2005-2006. ULM received $27,600 in Undergraduate Enhancement funds, $352,585 in Traditional Enhancement funds and $114,439 in Research Competitiveness funds.

The Board of Regents grants are important to the university in many ways, said Virginia Eaton, director of Graduate Studies and Research at ULM. "They allow us to improve the equipment in our laboratories and classrooms, support research, and enhance technology on campus. This, in turn, provides our faculty with a better means of educating students and instilling the knowledge needed to succeed in such a competitive environment."

ULM received the following grants:

• In the Research Competitiveness Subprogram, Louisiana universities submitted 131 grant proposals and the Board of Regents accepted only 28, including a proposal submitted by ULM's chemistry department. Gary Findley, chemistry, secured a $114,439 grant that will allow selected ULM chemistry students to participate in an experimental physical chemistry research program intended to better prepare students for a graduate program. For this project, ULM will collaborate with the University of Wisconsin and Queens College, NY.
  
  
• ULM secured $352,585 in Traditional Enhancement funds, which includes Biological Sciences (three grants), Computer & Information Sciences (one) and Multidisciplinary (social sciences and biological sciences) (one).
  
  
• Biological Sciences: ULM's toxicology department received $24,000 for equipment to upgrade a tool (used in the College of Pharmacy) that can quantify multiple cell types. The upgrade will enhance cell toxicology and pharmacology research. Sharon Meyer, Harihara Mehendale, Benny Blaylock, Kevin Baer, David Roane, Paul Sylvester, Kalid El Sayed and Sami Nazzal co-authored the grant.
  
  
• Biological Sciences: Karen Briski, basic pharmaceutical sciences, obtained a $200,000 grant that will help establish an Electron Microscopic Imaging and Chemical Analysis Facility at ULM. This equipment will support innovative research and instruction in nanostructural and compositional diagnostics in biomedical/biological and pharmaceutical research at ULM.
  
  
• Biological Sciences: Chris Gissendanner and Ann Findley, biology, received a $47,000 grant that will provide students the equipment needed to access and analyze genomic data in the laboratory and conduct experiments that address specific biological questions. The movement from descriptive teaching labs to more experimental, discovery-based labs is a current trend that premier institutions are implementing, according to the grant proposal.
  
  
• Computer & Information Sciences: William Barnett and Allen Johnston, computer information systems, secured a $33,585 grant that will provide equipment to develop an Information Security and Computer Forensics Lab, which will support teaching and research in computer information security and forensic investigation. This lab is part of the department's ongoing effort to develop a focused program in information security, a growing field of expertise in an expanding job market for CIS majors, according to the grant proposal. This grant was one of three fully-funded grants of the 14 funded Traditional Enhancement grants.
  
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• Multidisciplinary (social sciences and biological sciences): James J. Bulot, gerontology, secured a $48,000 grant for faculty enhancement and program accreditation. The grant will provide faculty training, expanded online gerontology journals in the ULM Library, and the pursuit of further accreditation. ULM is the only university in Louisiana to provide graduate education in gerontology.

ULM secured $27,600 in the Undergraduate Enhancement category.

The grant, secured by Carl Gilbert, Ann Findley and Davis Pritchett, will allow the biology department to purchase computers and microscope video imaging equipment. The broad-scale usage of computer-assisted instruction and video imaging will increase student comprehension of complex molecular and cellular processes.

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