CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Joe Manchin today presented 12 grants to help advance scientific research at West Virginia colleges and universities. The grants, which totaled more than $770,000, were funded competitively through the state’s Research Challenge Fund (RCF) and the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts (E&A).
The grants were awarded in association with Undergraduate Research Day, an annual event at the State Capitol highlighting research projects conducted by college and university students from around the state.
Presenting the grants, Manchin noted that scientific research is one of the keys to West Virginia’s future success. He added that by increasing the number of active researchers in the state, grants for research will ultimately give the state a competitive edge and create high-paying, high-tech jobs.
“As I have always said, the jobs of the new knowledge economy will not go to the places with the richest resources or the richest lands, but to those with the richest minds,” he said. “Through these grants, and programs like our ‘Bucks for Brains’ research trust fund, we intend to make West Virginia fertile ground for researchers and the great minds of tomorrow.”
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission administers the RCF, as well as grants for research from E&A and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Paul L. Hill, the commission’s vice chancellor for science and research, said, “The fact that we have all these student researchers here at the Capitol today, presenting their work, is an indication of the breadth and depth of young talent across the state. The grants presented today will help our colleges and universities prepare these young scientists for careers in high-tech fields, and to make significant contributions to solving some of the greatest technological and healthcare questions of our time.”
Grants presented by the governor today included Instrumentation Grants to fund scientific equipment for advanced undergraduate laboratories; Innovation Grants for creative improvements in scientific equipment and facilities, curriculum, classroom instruction or delivery; International Innovation Grants to support development of an international component in science, technology, engineering or mathematics programs; Summer/Semester Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) stipends and STEM Fellows Grants for graduate students. A complete list of all today’s grant recipients is on page two.
Sponsors of the Undergraduate Research Day events included the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the Council on Undergraduate Research, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium and WV-INBRE.
To learn more about scientific research in West Virginia or the state’s Vision 2015 strategic plan for science and technology, call (304) 558-4128 or visit
www.wvresearch.org.
AWARDS
Instrumentation GrantsInstitution Amount Principal InvestigatorConcord University $20,000 Dr. Dana Alloway
Concord University $18,618 Dr. Thomas Ford
West Virginia State University $10,000 Dr. Andrew Schedl
Wheeling Jesuit University $14,485 Dr. Bryan Raudenbush
WVU Institute of Technology $10,283 Dr. Didem Kivanc-Tureli
West Virginia Wesleyan College $20,000 Dr. Joseph Wiest
Innovation Grants
Institution Amount Principal Investigator
WVU Institute of Technology $39,730 Dr. Ufuk Tureli
West Virginia Wesleyan College $40,000 Dr. Edward Wovchko
International Innovation Grant
Institution Amount Principal Investigator
West Virginia Wesleyan College $36,880 Dr. Luke Huggins
STEM Fellows Grants
Institution Amount Principal Investigator
Marshall University $200,000 Dr. Richard Niles
West Virginia University $300,000 Dr. Peter Gannett
Summer/Semester Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Stipend
Institution Amount Principal Investigator
West Virginia State University $60,060 Dr. Katherine Harper