As with many early-phase ventures, research projects often need support - seed money - to gain momentum. With that, a researcher hopes to make early findings that demonstrate the value of the study, point to anticipated results and expected benefits and draw support for future research.

The University of Delaware's General University Research Grants provide that kind of support to early-career faculty pursuing research, scholarly or creative projects. The grants provide a maximum of $15,000 for up to two years and can be used for up to one month of the primary investigator’s summer salary, technical assistance, equipment, supplies, travel and graduate student salaries.

The Research Office has awarded 110 such grants in the past five years, including the 12 new grants just announced, according to Leigh Botner, research development director.

The new recipients include:

* Anjana Bhat, associate professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Sciences. "Comparing fNIRS-based cortical activation during social cooperation between children with and without ASD."       

* Pascha Bueno-Hansen, associate professor of women and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. "The Emerging LGBTI Rights Challenge to Transitional Justice in Latin America."

* Abigail Donovan, professor of art and design in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Considerations relating to the shape of equilibrium."

* Chad Forbes, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Enhancing performance for at-risk women in STEM contexts: Retraining complex &
 persistent stress responses with neural feedback."

* Laura Helton, assistant professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Collecting, collectivity and the making of African-American archives."

* Jason Hill, assistant professor of art history in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Criminal visibility: Photographic culture of crime and punishment in the United States, 1839-present."

* Paul Jackson, assistant professor of geography in the College of Earth, Ocean and the Environment. "Mapping the lives of chronic pain sufferers and access to disability assistance."

* Xiaopeng Ji, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences' School of Nursing. "The relationship among sleep, executive function and diabetes management in late adolescents with Type 1 diabetes."

* Peter Mende-Siedlecki, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Psychological and perceptual contributions to biased and accurate pain care."

* Isai Munoz, assistant professor of music in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Visca L'Amor! A reference audio recording documenting the tenor voice in underrepresented classical vocal repertoire by Catalan composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."

* Georgina Ramsay, assistant professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Humanitarian exploits: Exploring the livelihood strategies of women in situations of displacement."

* Junbo Son, assistant professor of business administration in the Lerner College of Business and Economics. "Data analytics framework for the smart asthma management system with Bluetooth-enabled personal inhalers."