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Smith Announces Winners of $1.8 Million Grant Competition

Texas Tech vice president for research Dean Smith had to increase his million-dollar challenge to $1.8 million after he saw the quality of the researchers’ proposals.

Research/Academic Showcase

When new vice president of research Dean Smith came to Texas Tech University, he wanted to jumpstart research on campus.

So, he offered researchers $1 million with no stipulation on what they should research to earn it.

“My mission is to increase research capacity at Texas Tech University,” Smith said. “I felt we needed to do something different to ignite the research engine. That’s why we put the $1 million out there with no constraints.”

After he saw the quality of the 95 research applications, he said he increased funding to $1.8 million.

On May 4, researchers in plant genetics, wind science and the geosciences at Texas Tech University shared in the grant awards. The three awards provide funding for modern state-of-the-art equipment that will enhance Texas Tech’s research infrastructure, Smith said.

“This will make TTU researchers more competitive in their applications for state and federal funding,” he said.

Grant money came from the Research Development Fund, which was created by the Texas legislature to support research activities in higher education.

Winners are:

Research Grant Winners Dr. John Schroeder, left, Dr. Melanie Barnes, center left, and Dr. Randy Allen, right, all were recipients of a grant money challenge offered to university researchers by Dr. Dean Smith (center right) vice president for research at Texas Tech University.

Randy Allen, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, earned a $315,049 grant for equipment and to pay for graduate research assistants. Researchers hope to find genetic answers to improve plant stress tolerance and improve crop plant production under marginal conditions.

Melanie Barnes, senior research associate in the Department of Geosciences, earned a $506,203 grant for an inductively–coupled plasma mass spectrometer with laser ablation. This machine will enable researchers to analyze the chemical composition of water, soil and other compounds to detect elements in parts-per-billion. In geology, the device can be used to determine the age of rocks and how they were formed.

John Schroeder, assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, earned a $1 million grant for two high-resolution mobile research Doppler radars for the Wind Science and Research Center. These will be used to study the lower atmosphere and create four-dimensional wind flow simulations to better understand weather patterns near Earth’s surface.

- John Davis