Discovery @TWU

Grant program application materials available

Application materials for the Proposal Development Grant Program for Fall 2018 now are available. Proposals will be due Tuesday, July 24. The program provides release time or summer salary to a faculty member or research team for development and submission of a proposal for external funding. The grant will provide funds to support the cost of a replacement instructor for one 3-credit-hour course during the academic year and summer salary. The amount of funding provided will be based on the actual cost of the replacement instructor during the academic year. Program guidelines and application materials are available on the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs website. (6-20-18)

Hersch awarded Veterans Affairs grant

Gayle Hersch (occupational therapy, Houston) has been awarded a $6,000 grant from the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center for her study to adapt and develop Montessori Activity Programming for use with veterans residing in VA long-term care settings. The intent of the project is to test the implementation and sustainability of the programming in these community living centers by systematically evaluating intervention questions of treatment frequency duration, efficient training approaches for new sites and necessary modifications for uptake in the VA healthcare system. (6-13-18)

Keele, Lewis receive nursing research grant

Rebecca Keele (nursing, Denton) and Audra Lewis have been awarded $5,000 from the National League of Nursing (jointly funded with the Southern Nursing Research Society) for Lewis’ dissertation research, “Development of the Nurses’ Attitudes to Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) Interaction Scale.”

EPA grant to start next phase of Butterfly Garden

Biology faculty members Camelia Maier, Diana Elrod and Claire Sahlin (biology and multicultural women’s and gender studies) have been awarded $75,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency for their project to start phase II of the TWU Butterfly Garden and research the practices that enhance the habitat for wild pollinators and domesticated bees. The gardens will create habitats for pollinators, become educational observatories and research laboratories, and contribute to water conservation and pollution reduction. 

Grant aimed at educating rural librarians

Ling Hwey Jeng (School of Library and Information Studies) has been awarded $500,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program for a three-year project aimed at creating a comprehensive and sustainable Master of Library Science/Community Informatics curriculum to educate a cohort of 20 librarians from small, rural communities in Texas. Co-principal investigators are library sciences faculty Carol Perryman and William Senn.

TEA grant focuses on rural school districts

Gina Anderson (College of Professional Education) was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Texas Education Agency. The grant focuses on developing well qualified teaching candidates through a yearlong clinical teaching assignment in a rural and/or small school district. Teacher candidates will commit to teaching in the school district for a minimum of one year after graduation. Co-principal investigators are Brandon Bush (Educator Preparation Services) and Sarah McMahan (teacher education).

Keating awarded grant

AnaLouise Keating (multicultural women's & gender studies) was awarded $5,000 from the American Council of Learned Societies for her project, Bridges, Borderlands, Nepantlas: Gloria Anzaldúa’s Decolonial Vision. Keating is an internationally recognized scholar on Gloria Anzaldúa’s work. 

Grants deadline extended

Because the application process transitioned from SharePoint to a different process, the deadline for the submission of applications to the Creative Arts and Humanities Grants program has been extended and applications must now be submitted no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, April 19. Refer to the program page for more information.

Research homepage gets new look

The new Research & Discovery page on TWU's website takes a fresh look at what research means at the university.

The page reflects TWU's unique approach to research — the focus on addressing community challenges, solving business problems and improving quality of life. It features links to the latest research news, faculty experts, resources, research partnerships and more.

The research page is accessible via a link in the maroon menu bar at the top of the TWU home page.

Project may aid in treating obesity

Christopher Brower (biology) and graduate research assistant Yasar Kasu have been awarded $1,500 from the Texas Society for Microscopy for Kasu’s graduate proposal, “Developing High-throughput screen for Modulators of the Arginylation Dependent N-end Rule Pathway.” Brower and Kasu propose the development of a high throughput screen utilizing dual fluorescent reporters to identify small molecule modulators of ATE1 and the N‐end rule pathway. This project involves modern molecular biology techniques including extensive use of fluorescent confocal microscopy. Ultimately, this project may help in designing treatment strategies against obesity.

Research study awarded grant

Graduate teaching assistant Todd Castleberry (kinesiology) has been awarded a $1,500 Student Research Development grant from the American College of Sports Medicine (Texas Regional Chapter) for his thesis work with Vic Ben-Ezra (kinesiology). The research study examines the independent and combined effects of whey protein and acute exercise on glycemic responses. There are four trials: no exercise/no whey; exercise/no whey; no exercise with whey; and exercise with whey protein. Both exercise and whey protein have independent effects on glycemic responses; however, his will be the first study where they will be combined.

Chancellor's Research Fellows applications due March 22

Applications for the 2018-19 Chancellor’s Research Fellows Program are due by 5 p.m. Thursday, March 22. The program provides support to promising scholars and their mentors to enable completion of a specific project.

Grant Week workshops scheduled

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Center for Research Design and Analysis have teamed up to present a series of workshops during Grant Week March 19-23. Learn “Tips and Tools for External Funding,” “Elements of Research Grant Proposals” and more. Got questions? Get them answered during the panel discussion that wraps up the week. Workshops will take place in Denton, with video conference to Dallas and Houston. Register today to reserve your seat and receive room locations.

TWU Nutrition and Food Science faculty receive USDA grant

Nutrition and food science faculty Xiofen Du and Shanil Juma were awarded a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their project to develop mushroom egg white blends and investigate their palatability and satiety promotion. Consumer tests will investigate the preference and acceptance of the blends, and clinical trials will investigate effects of the target blends on body weight management and satiety. The results will increase knowledge in sensory properties and health benefits of egg white blends, with consequences of increased recognition and consumption of mushrooms.

Research Enhancement Program applications now open

Application materials for the 2018-19 Research Enhancement Program now are available. Proposals will be due via SharePoint by 5 p.m. Thursday, April 12. The program provides up to $10,000 to enable faculty members to compete more successfully for larger research grants from external sources for continuation of their research.

TWU team to host sexual assault prevention conference

Texas Woman's University, leader of Texas's Cultivating Safe College Campuses (CSCC) grant team, is conducting its inaugural "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Campus Assault Prevention and Response" conference March 1-2 at Southern Methodist University's Dallas campus.