Seed Grants for Interdisciplinary Research Awardees

The Seed Grants for Interdisciplinary Research (SGIR) program consisted of 2 rounds with 10 teams receiving up to $150,000 each, providing $1,200,000 in total awards. This program was initiated by TTU Faculty in conjunction with the Office of the President to cultivate an interdisciplinary approach to research at our university. The federal agency trends appear to be focusing in this area and are anticipated to expand the interdisciplinary components/requirements in the near future.

Round 1 awarded 4 proposals a total of $531,000. Round 2 of the SGIR awarded 6 proposals nearly $669,000. There are no additional rounds of the SGIR planned at this time, but please monitor TechAnnounce, Competition Space, Scholarly Messenger, etc. for official announcements and other funding opportunities.

For more information about the program, please see the Seed Grants for Interdisciplinary Research (SGIR) description.

Round 2 Awardees

Teaching Foreign Language Pronunciation through Educational Avatars

Principal Investigator: Kimi Nakatsukasa, Department of Classical and Modern Languages, College of Arts and Sciences

Co-PI: Aaron Braver, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences; Miranda Scolari, Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts and Science; Tommy Dang, Department of Computer Science, Whitacre College of Engineering

TURTLES: TTU Research Team Linking Education and Sciences

Principal Investigator: Celine Godard, Department of Environmental Toxicology, College of Arts and Sciences

Co-PI: Angela Peace, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences; Jerry Dwyer, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education

Arts Initiative In Medicine Interactive Environments to Facilitate Communication Between Post-Stroke Aphasia Patients and Health Care Providers

Principal Investigator: Stacy Elko, School of Art, J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts

Co-PI: John Velez, Department of Journalism and Electronic Media, College of Media and Communication; Melinda Corwin, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, TTUHSC School of Health Professions

Economic Decisions Under Stress

Principal Investigator: Darren Hudson, Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Co-PI: Breanna Harris, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences; Jessica Alquist, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences; Ryan Williams, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; Donna Mitchell, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Assessing the Livability and Technological Compatibility of an Independent, Interactive, and Sustainable Water and Power Home Utility System

Principal Investigator: Brian Ancell, Department of Geosciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Co-PI: Mahshid Naeini, Department of Computer Science, Whitacre College of Engineering; BeiBei Ren, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whitacre College of Engineering; Carol Lindquist, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences; Nadia Flores-Yeffal, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences; Thomas Arsuffi, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Natural Resources Management, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Toxicology, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, and College of Education; Andrew Jackson, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, Whitacre College of Engineering; Gary Brown, Department of General Pediatrics, School of Medicine

Technology for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the South Plains

Principal Investigator: Fethi A. Inan, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, College of Education

Co-PI: Amani Zaier, Teacher Education Program, College of Education; Keith S. Jones, Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts and Science; Robin Lock, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership, College of Education; Sherry Sancibrian, Department of Speech Language Pathology, TTUHSC School of Health Professionals

A Multidimensional Approach to Assess Olfaction in Dogs with Application to Explosives Detection

Principal Investigator: Nathaniel Hall, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Co-PI: Rao Kottapalli and Chiquito Crasto, Center for Biotechnology and Genomics; Paola Prada, Institute of Forensic Science, College of Arts and Sciences; David White, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, College of Education

Round 1 Awardees

The Use of Therapy Dogs in Conjunction with Applied Behavior Analysis-Based Educational Programs for Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Principal Investigator: Alexandra Protopopova, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Co-PI: Jeanne Donaldson, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, College of Education; Breanna Harris, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Building Capacity for Music Therapy Research: Revealing the Neural Basis of Music Skill Learning Using MR-Safe Instrumentation

Principal Investigator: Tyler Davis, Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences

Co-PI: Carla Cash, School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts; Changzhi Li, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Whitacre College of Engineering; Gregory Brookes, School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts

Developing Reflective Engineers with Artful Methods (DREAM) 

Principal Investigator: Danny Reible, Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, Whitacre College of Engineering

Co-PI: Jeong-Hee Kim, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education; Chongzheng Na, Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, Whitacre College of Engineering; Roman Taraban, Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences; Gary Morgan, Museum of Texas Tech University; Jill Hoffman, Museum of Texas Tech University

STEM+ Confluence: Converging Disciplines, Teachers, Administrators, Parents and Practitioners to Improve Learning

Principal Investigator: Hansel Burley, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, College of Education

Co-PI: Faith Maina, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education; Craig Cox, School of Pharmacy, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center; Bolanle Olaniran, Department of Communication Studies, College of Media and Communication; Tom Arsuffi, Department of Natural Resources Management, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Llano River Field Station