$100,000 granted to faculty for interdisciplinary research
The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation at The University of Texas at Arlington has awarded five Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP) grants totaling $100,000 to foster collaboration between groups that would not typically work together.
“Increasingly, the great societal challenges can be solved only with an interdisciplinary approach,” said Kate C. Miller, vice president for research and innovation at UTA. “Many federal, state and private funding agencies also recognize the importance of this type of research, and that’s why many of them have integrated approaches at the core of their solicitations.”
The 2023 recipients of the IRP grants are:
- Public affairs and planning Associate Professor Karabi C. Bezboruah and kinesiology Associate Professor R. Matthew Brothers for their project “Food Accessibility in Dallas: A Needs Assessment.”
- Brothers, bioengineering Professor Hanli Liu, and psychology Assistant Professor Matthew Robison for their project “The Effect of Transcranial Photobiomodulation on Indices of Neurocognitive and Physiological Health in Middle-Aged Non-Hispanic Black Individuals.”
- Public affairs and planning Assistant Professor Evan Matthew Mistur, public affairs and planning Assistant Professor Ariadna Reyes-Sanchez, earth and environmental sciences Assistant Professor Un-Jung Kim, civil engineering and architecture Assistant Professor Michelle Hummel and civil engineering Assistant Professor Xiujuan Chen for their project “Participatory Government and Environmental Justice in Informal Neighborhoods.”
- Industrial, manufacturing, and systems Engineering Assistant Professor Mahmudur Rahman and UTA Research Institute Principal Research Scientist Muthu Wijesundara for their project “Evaluation of an Elbow Exoskeleton to Reduce the Risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders.”
- Nursing Assistant Professor Sohyun Kim, nursing Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Kathryn M. Daniel, social work Associate Professor Noelle L. Fields and information systems and operations management Assistant Professor Jiaxiu He for their project “Promoting Socialization and Family Relationship Quality for Persons Living with Dementia in Nursing Homes and Their Family Caregivers Using Regular Video Chat: Feasibility Study.”
The goal of the IRP grants is to advance interdisciplinary research at UTA in alignment with the guiding themes of the University’s strategic plan: health and the human condition, sustainable communities, global environmental impact, data-driven discovery and cultural understanding and social transformations. Each project lasts one year in duration. At the end of the project, recipients are expected to submit applications for additional funding outside the University with the aim of further developing their findings.