As traditional sources of research funds continue to decline, faculty researchers received a much-needed boost with the announcement of the first recipients of two Johns Hopkins programs: the Discovery and Catalyst awards. The programs were announced earlier this year by Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels, Provost Robert C. Lieberman, and the deans and directors of the academic divisions as part of a $15 million commitment to cross-university, faculty-led research over three years.
The Discovery Awards will provide research funding to 23 teams, each with members spanning at least two university divisions. (Teams could apply for up to $100,000 to explore a new area of collaborative work, or request up to $150,000 in project planning funds if they are preparing for an externally funded large-scale grant or cooperative agreement.) The financial support will allow scholars to bridge medicine and engineering to create artificial lymph nodes; pair music and pharmacology to better understand treatments for depression and anxiety; and combine archaeology and materials science to understand artifacts from the ancient past. Three projects involve collaborators from the Applied Physics Laboratory.
At the same time, 37 early-career Johns Hopkins faculty members have been chosen to receive up to $75,000 each from the university's Catalyst Awards program. The scholars—more than half of whom are assistant professors—are pursuing research on medical issues that include cancer, HIV, melanoma, sleep disorders, and quality nursing care, as well as projects in astrophysics, climate change, economics, and politics.
"The university's leadership is excited to make a substantial investment in these scholars and scientists at a critical moment in their careers when startup funds and external support can be challenging to secure," Daniels says. See the full list of recipients here.
