Thirty-two teams representing colleges across the university and several centers were selected for 2022 Seed Funding awards, the third year the program has been available to faculty.
The program, a result of a collaboration between the Office of Research and the Office of the Provost, is aimed at facilitating research, which is likely to attract external funding while enhancing the visibility of UCF.
A total of $1 million was awarded in two categories: Exploratory Research Awards (ER1) and Interdisciplinary Awards (IR). ER1 is for those projects that initiate new high-risk, high-reward activities, which will strengthen faculty credentials and make them more competitive by allowing them to collect preliminary data appropriate to their discipline prior to submission of external grant funding applications. IR awards are meant to encourage new or expanding interdisciplinary teams to engage in convergence activities that lead to externally funded, large grant proposals requiring preliminary data and proof of established multi-PI engagement. This category promotes research that can only be achieved through collaboration.
Exploratory Research Awards (ER1)
More than 50 applications were received for ER1 and 23 were selected. The recipients include the following:
Stephen Hopkins
College of Arts and Humanities
Research at Cornell University’s Fiske Icelandic Collection for an Article and Book Chapter
Herbert James
College of Arts and Humanities
Pipeline to Better Placemaking: Using Digital Realities to Observe, Teach & Engage in the Creation of Place
Vijay Ganesh Hariharan and Douglas Eric Boyd
College of Business
Effect of Corporate Actions on Consumer Perceptions
Jennifer Peck and Kristina Childs Fisher
College of Community Innovation and Education
A Longitudinal Analysis of School-Based Referrals to Florida’s Juvenile Justice System
Varadraj Gurupur
College of Community Innovation and Education
Developing the Causal Network to Identify Factors Leading to Data Incompleteness of Electronic Health Records
Yue Ge
College of Community Innovation and Education
Managing Emergency Operations by Public-Private Partnerships: A Pilot Study
Zhaomiao Guo
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Optimizing Resilience of Transportation and Power Systems with Decentralized Medium- and Heavy Duty Electric Vehicles
Kausik Mukhopadhyay and Kaitlyn Crawford
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Thermally Functional, Mechanically Durable, UV-Resistant Coatings for Dust Mitigation
Ka Wai Kwok
College of Engineering and Computer Science
In-space Manufacturing of Large Composite Structural Architectures
Paul Gazzillo
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Studying How Programmers Express Ideas as Code to Improve Software Security
Nancy McIntyre and Jeanette Garcia
College of Health Professions and Sciences
Mindfulness-based Judo to Enhance Engagement in Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction for Students with Autism: A Feasibility Study
Eunkyung Lee and Cassie Odahowski
College of Health Professions and Sciences
Understanding the Disparities of Quality of Life Among Hispanic Breast Cancer Survivors in Florida
Annette Khaled and Yelena Piazza
College of Medicine
Exploratory Biospecimen Collection for Validation of New Clinical Markers
Wencai Zhang and Xiaoman Li
College of Medicine and College of Engineering and Computer Science
Kynurenine Signaling Promotes Tumor Initiation in Early-Stage Lung Cancer
Melinda Donnelly and Linda Walters
College of Sciences
Building Capacity for Large-Scale Seagrass Restoration in Florida’s Estuaries
Denisia Popolan-Vaida
College of Sciences
Ozone: A Promising Agent to Enhance and Control Combustion and Ignition Processes; Understanding the Mechanism of Ozone-assisted Oxidation Reactions
Anna Forsman
College of Sciences
Purple Popsicle Purging: Extreme Climate Events as Major Selective Agents Shaping Population Genomics of Migratory Purple Martins
Mihai Vaida
College of Sciences
Implementation of a Transient Reflectivity Setup for Ultrafast Charge Carrier Investigations in Dye and Plasmonic Sensitized Devices
Xiaoming Yu
College of Optics and Photonics
Preliminary Research on Laser Patterning of Hydrophobic Surface for Ocean-going Vessels
Eric Bradley
Florida Space Institute
Measuring Particles Above an Airless Body Using a Dual CubeSat Laser Transmitter and Receiver
Sean Mondesire
Institute for Simulation and Training
Adaptive Tutoring System for Data Analytics
Yajie Dong and Shuo “Sean” Pang
NanoScience Technology Center and College of Optics and Photonics
Solution Processed Lead-free Perovskite Photodiode for Monolithic Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) Image Sensors
Tingting Zhang
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Healthy Returns, “Healthy” Care: Supporting New Mothers in Direct Care Workforce
Interdisciplinary Awards (IR)
More than 23 applications were received for IR and nine were awarded. The recipients include the following:
Emily Johnson, Anastasia Salter, Amy Giroux and Mel Stanfill
College of Arts and Humanities
CAH*LAB: Multiplying Interdisciplinary Innovation
Michelle Taub, Joel Schneier, Angela Rounsaville and Dawn Eckhoff
College of Community Innovation and Education, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Nursing
Tracking College Students’ Self-regulated Writing Processes During Revision-based Tasks Across Disciplines: Are Writing Processes Domain-general or Domain-specific?
Jihua Gou, Subith Vasu and Artem Masunov
College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, College of Sciences, Institute for Simulation and Training, and NanoScience Technology Center
Ultra-high Temperature Ablative Composites for Thermal Protection Systems in Extreme Environments
Necati Catbas, Joe Kider and Lori Walters
College of Engineering and Computer Science, Institute for Simulation and Training, and College of Arts and Humanities
MAPS – Mobile Assessment for Civil Infrastructure Preservation using Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Building Information Modeling (BIM)
Nicole Dawson and Lauren Bislick Wilson
College of Health Professions and Sciences
Investigating the Interplay between Cognitive, Linguistic and Physical Function in Adults with Aphasia
Christa Cook, Blake Scott, Nathan Holic, Sandy Galura and Clint Bowers
College of Nursing, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Sciences
Strengthening Hospital Nurses’ Mental Well-being Through a Peer Support Training Program Involving Comic Testimonials
Ladda Thiamwong, Joon-Hyuk Park, David Fukuda and Rui Xie
College of Nursing, College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Health Professions and Sciences, and College of Sciences
Development of Light Physical Activity (LPA) Guidelines for Safe and Effective Physical Activity Intervention in Ethnically Diverse Older Adults
Shana Harris, Barbara Andraka-Christou, Anya Andrews and M.H. Clark
College of Sciences, College of Community Innovation and Education, and College of Medicine
The Co-use of Opioids and Methamphetamine: Causes, Practices and Harm Reduction Responses to an Emerging Polysubstance Use Trend in the United States
Alison Cares, Kim Anderson and Amie Newins
College of Sciences and College of Health Professions and Sciences
Life Happens: The Impact of Adverse Life Experiences on College Students’ Well-being and Academic Performance
These award recipients will present an update about their work at next year’s Research Week celebration. Award recipients from 2021 will present on their work at this year’s Research Week, March 28-April 1.
