Undergraduate and Graduate Student Participation in Research at LSU

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell

Panelists: Dr. Mark Batzer, Biological Sciences

Dr. Ram Ramanujam, Electrical and Computer EngineeringDr. Gerald Kennedy, English

Dr. Randy Duran, Office of Undergraduate Research

Flagship Agenda 2020 Goals• Increasing nationally-recognized research and

creative activities• Expanding interdisciplinary solutions to significant

social, environmental, economic, cultural and educational problems

• Increasing partnerships with industry to develop intellectual property and foster commercial applications

ORED Strategic Plan Focal Areas

Submissions and Funding

FY 2008

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

FY 2012

1150

1200

1250

1300

1350

1400

1450

1,250

1,3641,396 1,399

1,259

Total Proposals Submitted

84.7 59%

34.9 24%

23.2 16%

FY 2012 Awards: $142.8 million

Federal State Other

Outline

1. Introduction

2. Graduate Training

3. Undergraduate Training

4. Future Directions

Comparative Genomics 1) Comparison of genomes to deduce the structure and function

of genes and genomes.

2) How do transposable elements ‘jumping genes” impact the genome? Utilize transposable element based variation to study human population genetics, forensics, phylogenetics and human disease.

4) Over 260 publications, 175 since arrival at LSU in 2001. Five patents in forensic genomics since 2001.

3) Extramural funding from NIH, NSF, NIJ, CIA, DOD, DOE, TSWG, LaBOR.

Graduate Training

1) Sixteen graduates students at LSU including two presently in the program.

2) Students from throughout the U.S. and around the world (Africa, China, Korea, United Kingdom).

4) Faculty members at Rutgers, University of Utah, Ohio State University, Dankook University, Industry, postdoctoral fellows at Oregon Health and Sciences University, NIH, Washington University in St. Louis.

3) Students major in Biological Sciences or Biochemistry and graduate in 4 years with multiple publications (typically at least two senior authored and multiple junior authored). Participated in 61 published studies from LSU.

Undergraduate Training 1) Fifty undergraduates since 2001 including twelve presently in

the laboratory.

2) Students from a variety of different programs, Chancellor’s Future Leaders in Research, Chancellor’s Aide, NSF REU, INBRE, HHMI, NIH.

4) Multiple students have received national recognition: Truman finalist, Goldwater scholar. Over twenty physicians, two dentists, two optometrists, one patent attorney several graduate students.

3) Students have participated in multiple projects at LSU and have co-authored over 30 publications on population genetics, phylogenetics, and genome structure in Science, Molecular Biology and Evolution, PNAS, Genome Research.

Future Directions

1) Increase undergraduate participation in extramural research through federal training grants and individual supplements.

2) Increase graduate participation in extramural research through federal training grants and individual supplements and awards.

4) Increase stipend levels for graduate students to nationally competitive rates.

3) Increased emphasis on recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students using research as a conduit.

Computation and Data: Research and Education Across Disciplines

by

J. “Ram” Ramanujam

Computation and Data-Enabled Research

• Computation is now the third pillar along with theory and experimentation for research in science, engineering and other fields

• Computation and Data-Enabled research crosses many disciplines, requires all scales of collaborations– Individuals, groups, teams, communities– Multiscale Collaborations: Beyond teams– Researchers (faculty, graduate students, postdocs, undergraduate

students, …) collaborate, work by sharing data and co-developing algorithms and software

– Impacts “scientific” culture, reproducibility, access, university structures• Several multi-disciplinary projects at LSU and elsewhere in the

state

• 7 campuses across the state

• Five research universities

• Two predominantly undergrad institutions

• Three HBCU’s

• 55 senior investigators + ~50 collaborators (in-state and out)

• ~60 graduate students & postdocs

LSU PI and Co-PI’s:PI: Mark Jarrell, LSUco-PI: Juana Moreno, LSUco-PI: J. Ramanujam, LSU, …

Other PIs: Michael Khonsari, EPSCoR & LSULawrence Pratt, TulaneB. Ramu Ramachandran, LA Tech

UNO, Tulane, Xavier

LSU, Southern

LA Tech, Grambling

Computational Materials

Coastal Modeling

• Coastal Emergency Risks Assessment (CERA): Automated visualization tool for storm surge and wave guidance during hurricanes– Predicts water heights and flooding in coastal

areas under storm conditions (near real-time); multi-state effort (LA, NC, MS, OK, private sector)

• Numerical Modeling for Sustainable Wind Energy

• PIs: Jim Chen, Robert Twilley

DHS Impact Award, 2012

Energy Research – DOE EFRC• Center for Atomic Level Catalyst Design – DOE Energy

Frontier Research Center (PI: Jerry Spivey, LSU) – a multi-university effort– Catalysts are critical to the development of virtually every

energy resource– Develop computational methods to accurately model

catalytic reactions– Prepare catalysts identified by simulation through new tools

of materials synthesis and characterization• 9 LSU faculty, 2 from Grambling, 12 from elsewhere;

several graduate students (http://www.efrc.lsu.edu/)

Computing across Arts, Humanities

Digital Media - Education• New graduate program in Digital Media Arts and Engineering (video

game design) starting fall– Recently hired a director of the Digital Media Arts and Engineering program– Inter-disciplinary graduate program (College of Engineering, School of Art,

School of Music, …) that focuses on computation, creativity and collaboration with a focus on industry

– Synergy with the arrival of EA Sports, Louisiana Film Industry

• Undergraduate Digital Media Minors (Arts, Engineering)– Students take foundation courses in the arts and computer programming,

then three courses in digital media within their area of focus and one course from the other area of focus

– Students meet in a senior capstone course that engages both arts and technology applications in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects

Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Jerry KennedyDepartment of English

Why do the humanities and social sciences matter?

College of H&SS includesCommunication Sciences & DisordersCommunication StudiesEnglishForeign Languages & LiteraturesFrench StudiesGeography & AnthropologyHistoryPhilosophy & Religious StudiesPolitical SciencePsychologySociologyROTC

Contributions to higher education & broader society• Knowledge of human cultures

– National, global diversity – Languages; political systems, etc

• Intellectual and practical skills– Inquiry and analysis– Critical & creative thinking– Oral, written, technological communication skills– Visual and information literacy– Problem solving

• Personal, social, and global responsibility– Civic engagement– Intercultural understanding– Ethical reasoning and action

• Higher education is about more than enterprise and economic growth.

• But H&SS also cultivates skills employers most desire.

Research in H&SS

• Some H&SS research involves empirical methods, with hard evidence, data analysis, experiments.

• Much H&SS research involves library/archival research; applying interpretive, analytical, and/or historical methods; finding “lost” materials, hidden connections.

• Nearly all H&SS research aims for insight into human nature, behavior, identity, experience, and/or history.

• Groundbreaking research may question familiar assumptions, discover new meanings in artifacts and texts, or discern revealing patterns in cultural history.

H&SS external funding: $5M-6M per yr. avg.; total awards ca. 70 fellowships, grants per yr.

Research in English

Current major research projects:1. Strange Nation: Literary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict in the Age of Poe,

under contract to Oxford UP2. The American Novel to 1870, co-edited with Leland Person, Vol. 5, Oxford

History of the Novel in English, forthcoming Oxford UP3. The Letters of Ernest Hemingway, 1923-25, Vol. 2, forthcoming Cambridge UP4. Poe’s Republic of Letters: A Digital Archive of Antebellum Print Culture

Poe’s Republic of Letters

U.S. Authors ca. 1850

Undergraduate (UG) Research at LSU

Randy Duran Office of Undergraduate Research

- UGs are “job one” at LSU- UG Research has a proven track record at all campuses

UG Research increases productivity by involving its largest population in LSU’s research/scholarship mission

• Inquiry and analysis• Information literacy • Problem solving

• Ethical reasoning• Critical thinking • Creative thinking

- LSU-CREATE (UG research), the SACS-COC QEP topic 2014-19

- Aligns with Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) “essential learning outcomes”

In Louisiana

Undergrad Research at LSU

Connects Students and Faculty

UG Research Effectively Connects Distant Communities

Across the USAAround the world

R. Duran rduran@lsu.edu

Undergrad Research at LSU

Louisiana’s unique private-public opportunity: enhanced learning environments while supporting

scholarship and workforce needs

Example: “The Keck Louisiana Delta Research Collaborative” around a new research minor - Chevron, Environmental Research Management (ERM), Eskew, Dumez, Ripple (EDR), and the Water Institute of the Gulf, Dow Chem., Albemarle, BASF, Toxicological & Environmental Associates, Inc. (TEA), Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc., and Forte & Tablanda

UG Research Connects LSU Students and Faculty to Industry

R. Duran rduran@lsu.edu