Biology seminar: Revealing the transcriptome

JSNN launches program with university in India

The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, with the atrium lit up for event being held there Tuesday evening.

The Joint School of Nanoscience  and Nanoengineering has launched a program with Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University (BVDU) that will bring master’s students from India to the joint school.

“Their students complete the coursework for their M.Tech degree at BVDU, and a small number will come to JSNN to perform their research for their degree,” said Dr. Jim Ryan, JSNN dean.

“The program is very competitive, and the students who will come to JSNN are of the highest caliber. We expect four to arrive in January.”

Some of the students may have an opportunity to stay at the JSNN for their doctoral degrees, Ryan said.

Biology seminar: Structure in unstructured RNA

Aggie researcher in the news: Dr. Ellie Fini

If you’re a reporter in North Carolina, a good story about hog waste is always a  winner. Our state has a lot of hogs, and, once you get near a bunch of them, you don’t necessarily need your sense of sight to find them.

We’ve already seen some news coverage of Dr. Ellie Fini and her technology to use hog manure as a source for the binder used in asphalt.  In addition to usefully disposing of the hog waste, it would also reduce the amount of more expensive petroleum-derived binder needed in asphalt production.  Now News 14, the local Time Warner Cable news channel, checks in with this video report on Fini’s research.

Ag seminars Tuesday: immune modulation by food and faith-based rural collaborations vs. obesity

Research Excellence Award nominations open

North Carolina A&T’s most outstanding researchers are recognized each April with the Research Excellence Awards.  For 2013 there again are five categories:

• Senior Research of the Year: Recognizing outstanding research and/or creative activity by tenured faculty members who have been at the university at least three years.
• Outstanding Junior Researcher of the Year: Honoring tenure-track faculty members in at least their third year of service at A&T and who are currently involved in research and show promise of making a significant contribution to their field.
• Rookie of the Year: Recognizing the work of a tenure-track faculty member in his or her second year of service at N.C. A&T.
• Intellectual Property Award: Recognizing researchers’ work to disseminate, commercialize or publish intellectual property created in the course of their research or creative activity.
• Interdisciplinary Team Award: Honoring research projects that break down the traditional boundaries of academic disciplines.

Deadlines and key dates:

• Departments must submit all nominees to to colleges and schools by close of business, Thursday January 24, 2013.
• Colleges and schools must submit all of their nominees to the Division of Research and Economic Development by close of business, Thursday, February 7.
• Winners will be announced Monday, April 1.
• Winners will be recognized at the Research Excellence Awards luncheon on Thursday April 4.

Eligibility and guidelines

• Click here for details.
• Click here for nomination forms and a printable version of the eligibility and guidelines.

Jazzman, Aggie alum Lou Donaldson honored

Lou Donaldson, in a photo from his website

“Lou Donaldson has been a major force not just as a musician but also as a scout for new talent for the Blue Note label.”

— Rocco Landesman, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

 It’s a big year for one of the all-time great Aggie musicians.  This month, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson will receive the state of North Carolina’s highest civilian honor, the North Carolina Award. Previously, he was  named a 2013 NEA Jazz Master, the nation’s highest jazz honor.

From the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources announcement of this year’s award recipients:

One of the most popular alto saxophonists to record for the famed Blue Note label, Stanly County native Lou Donaldson has played and recorded with jazz legends. He grew up in Badin, attended N.C. A&T State University, and was drafted into the Navy in 1945 where he played with the Great Lakes Navy Band. In the 1950s, several musicians were first recorded with Donaldson, including Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, and Curtis Fuller. He played with Art Blakely, Milt Jackson and Clark Terry, and on the milestone live recording, A Night at Birdland. His most successful albums are Blues Walk, Lush Life, and Alligator Bugaloo. He has toured in the U.S., Europe and Japan, and in 1996 was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame, and was declared a 2013 Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. At 85-years-old, he still plays locally in New York where he lives.

He and the five other honorees will receive their awards Tuesday October 30 at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.

“Sweet Poppa Lou’s” very cool website is at http://loudonaldson.com/.

East Greensboro Summit, Monday October 29

Click image for more details

FYI, it’s ‘Assistant Vice Chancellor Evans’ now

Saundra Yates Evans speaks to the DORED orientation for new and junior faculty members on Wednesday

Saundra Yates Evans has been named Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Services and Project Management at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Ms. Evans had been Director of Research Services at N.C. A&T since 2004.  That office assists faculty members with the development of proposals and budgets, identifying funding opportunities, and training in grant writing and related skills.

In her new position, Ms. Evans also will have responsibility for the Office of Research Compliance and Ethics and for project management, a new capability for the Division of Research and Economic Development.  The project management function will assist researchers in administering complex research projects and managing spending.

5 major new research projects at N.C. A&T

An array of new research, education and community engagement projects at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University will result in new services for young victims of trauma, research on preventing colon cancer, and a new joint program in astronomy to be conducted with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  New programs in social computing and bioengineering are also under way.

Five  of the top new research projects funded recently at North Carolina A&T:

• Child Response Initiative, principal investigator Dr. Kelly Graves, Center for Behavioral Health and Wellness and School of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, $749,905.
• Wheat Bran for Colon Cancer Prevention: A Targeted Metabolomic Approach, principal investigator Dr. Shengmin Sang, Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies (North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis) and School of Agriculture, and Dr. Tracy Hanner, National Institute for Food and Agriculture, $300,000.
• Targeted Infusion Project: Developing a Social Computing Program at North Carolina A&T State University; principal investigator Dr. Justin Zhan, College of Engineering, and Drs. Albert Esterline; Gerry Dozier, Kossi Edoh, and Terrolyn Carter; National Science Foundation; $300,000.
• Targeted Infusion Project Grant: Innovative Learning Experiences in Astronomy for Undergraduate Students at N.C. A&T; principal investigator Abebe Kebede, Department of Physics, and Kenneth Flurchick and Samuel Danagoulian; National Science Foundation; $299,970.
• NUE: Enhancing Undergraduate Students’ Learning and Research Experiences through Hands on Experiments on Bio-nanoengineering; principal investigator Narayan Bhattarai, Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, and Drs. Caroline Booth, Cynthia Waters, Debasish Kuila, Devdas Pai,  Dhananjay Kumar, Matthew McCullough, and Yeoheung Yun; National Science Foundation, $199,997.

The complete list of projects receiving external sponsored funding in September