Grant supports Argonne, University collaboration on research projects

Researchers from the University and Argonne National Laboratory will join to study topics ranging from archaeology and linguistics to biology and physics thanks to $732,000 in support awarded by the University-Argonne National Laboratory Collaborative Seed Grant Program.

“This is the fourth year these grants have provided seed funding for joint projects between scientists at the University and Argonne,” said Robert Zimmer, Deputy Provost for Research at the University. “A number of them have already led to further joint work, and we are confident that the program will lead to major joint initiatives between the University and Argonne.”

This year, eight new first-year awards for $380,000 and 10 continuing second-year awards for $352,000 have been funded. Total funding has reached more than $3.2 million for 43 research and five conference or workshop awards given over four years. The competitive grants are open to all areas of mutual interest between the University and Argonne and require a principal investigator from each institution.

New grants and their principal investigators are:

“Chicago Center for Advanced Climate Simulation,” Raymond Pierrehumbert, Professor in Geophysical Sciences, and Ian Foster, Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne.

“Physics Beyond the Standard Model and Experimental Tests,” Jonathan Rosner, Professor in Physics, and Edmond Berger, High Energy Physics Division at Argonne.

“Self-organizing Molecular and Polymer Thin Films Studied with Atomic Beam Scattering, Scanning Probe Microscopy, and Synchrotron-based X-ray Scattering,” Steven Sibener, Professor in Chemistry, and Paul Fenter, Environmental Research Division at Argonne.

“Automatic Morphological and Syntactic Analysis of Natural Languages for Large-scale Web-based Information Systems,” John Goldsmith, Edward Carson Walker Distinguished Service Professor in Linguistics, and Craig Swietlik, Decision & Information Sciences Division at Argonne.

“Protein Dynamics in Biological Electron Transfer Reactions,” Norbert Scherer, Professor in Chemistry, and Deborah Hanson, Center for Mechanistic Biology & Biotechnology Division at Argonne.

“Metal Ion Regulation of Biological Catalysis: Activation and Optimization of Photosynthesis,” Gayle Lamppa, Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology, and David Tiede, Chemistry Division at Argonne.

“T-cell Receptor Polymorphisms in Autoimmune Disease: Analysis by Microchip Array Technology,” Jeffrey Bluestone, Director of the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, and Andrei Mirzabekov and Gayle Woloschak, Center for Mechanistic Biology & Biotechnology at Argonne.

“Midwestern Meeting on Stress Response and Chaperones,” Yair Argon, Associate Professor in Pathology, and Fred Stevens, Center for Mechanistic Biology & Biotechnology at Argonne.

“Application of Advanced Pattern Recognition Methods for Identification of Genomic Regions with Susceptibility Genes for Complex Disorders,” Nancy Cox, Research Associate in Medicine; Graeme Bell, Louis Block Professor in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Medicine; and Kenny Gross, Reactor Analysis Division at Argonne.

Continuing grants and their principal investigators are:

“Numerical and Analytical Methods for Ginzburg-Landau Equations,” Todd Dupont, Professor in Computer Science and Mathematics, and Hans Kaper, Mathematics & Computer Science Division at Argonne.

“Chaperone Binding as a Diagnostic Tool for Protein Aggregation Diseases,” Yair Argon, Associate Professor in Pathology, and Fred Stevens and Marianne Schiffer, Center for Mechanistic Biology & Biotechnology at Argonne.

“Can Archaeological Data be Used to Generate the Next Step in Social Modeling?” McGuire Gibson, Professor in the Oriental Institute and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations; Tony Wilkinson, Research Associate in the Oriental Institute and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations; and John Christiansen, Decision & Information Systems Division at Argonne.

“Precision Micromachined X-ray/Gamma-ray Collimators for Medial Imaging,” Chin-Tu Chen, Associate Professor in Radiology, and Derrick Mancini, Experimental Facilities Division at Argonne.

“Developing an Innovative Geographic Information System-based Tool for Enhanced Data Analysis in Studies of Continental Drift, Global Climate Change, Paleontology and Anthropology,” David Rowley, Associate Professor in Geophysical Sciences, and Michael Vogt, Energy Systems Division at Argonne.

“Kinetic and Reaction Pathways of Organic Molecules under Uniaxial Shock Loading Conditions,” Gregory Miller, Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences, and Randall Winans, Chemistry Division at Argonne.

“SAXS and SANS Studies of Alzheimer’s Plaque Forming Protein,” Stephen Meredith, Associate Professor in Pathology; David Lynn, Professor in Chemistry; and Robert Botto, Chemistry Division at Argonne.

“Protein and RNA Folding Studies Using Time-resolved, Small-angle X-ray Scattering at the APS,” Tobin Sosnick, Assistant Professor in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Pappannan Thiyagarajan, Intense Pulsed Neutron Source at Argonne.

“Infrared Thermography as a Quantitative Assessment of Joint Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis,” Michael Ellman, Professor in Clinical Medicine, and Amrit Boparai, Chemical Technology-Analytical Chemistry Divisions at Argonne.

“Patterns in Multi-disperse Vibrated Granular Layers: Year II,” Leo Kadanoff, John MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in Physics and Mathematics, and Igor Aronson, Materials Science Division at Argonne.