Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Funded Projects
NOTICE : These funded projects contains information about current and historical sponsored projects. Project titles, program names, and descriptions may reflect terminology used at the time of the award and do not necessarily represent current MTSU policies, eligibility requirements, or institutional practices. MTSU administers its programs and activities in accordance with applicable federal and state law and University policy.
The chart below is updated weekly.
| PI/Co-PIs | Department/Center | College | Grant Period | Sponsor | Award Amount | Project Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deb Zsigalov (PI) | Information Technology | Office of the President | 7/1/2026-6/30/2028 | US Department of Homeland Security (through the TN Department of Finance and Administration) | $77,842.26 | Phish-Proof MFA FFY24 – State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program | This project will allow MTSU’s Information Technology Department to acquire and provide Yubikey security authentication tokens to students, which support phish-proof multi-factor authentication (MFA). This will reduce the number and frequency of compromised student accounts and enforce MFA on all MTSU accounts. |
| Chaney Mosley (PI), Cynthia Chafin (Co-PI) | Agriculture; Center for Health & Human Services | College of Basic & Applied Sciences; V Provost, Research | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | US Department of Agriculture (through North Carolina State University) | $49,372.99 | Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN): Southern Region | This project positions MTSU as the Tennessee Lead Partner Organization within the Southern Region Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN South). The team will convene and coordinate statewide partners to strengthen awareness of farm stress, expand access to behavioral health resources, and enhance community-based support systems for agricultural populations. |
| Chuck Higgins (PI), Racha El Kadiri (Co-PI), Henrique Momm (Co-PI), Mark Abolins (Co-PI), Andrea Georgiou (Co-PI), Saeed Foroudastan (Co-PI) | Physics & Astronomy; Assoc. Dean, Graduate Studies; Geosciences; Geosciences; Aerospace; Engineering Technology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 6/4/2025-6/3/2029 | National Aeronautics & Space Administration (through Vanderbilt University) | $9,900.00 | The Tennessee Space Grant Consortium 2025-28 | The purpose of the Space Grant Program is to contribute to the 2022 NASA Strategic Plan by “strengthening STEM education through inspirational missions and collaboration with the academic community. The grant encourages cooperative programs among universities, the aerospace industry, and Federal, state, and local governments. |
| Greg Rushton (PI), Seth Jones (Co-PI), Keith Gamble (Co-PI), Kevin Krahenbuhl (Co-PI) | TN STEM Education Center; Womack Teaching, Learning, & Innov; Economics & Finance; Leadership, Dev, & Educ Systems | College of Basic & Applied Sciences; College of Education; Jones College of Business | 6/15/2024-5/31/2029 | National Science Foundation | $1,212,554.00 | LEADS: Leaders in Education Advancing Data Science. | This project is a partnership between MTSU, Bedford County, Cannon County, Murfreesboro City Schools, and the Concord Consortium. It addresses the critical need for highly skilled STEM teacher leaders in Data Science Education by training teachers to become leaders in their local schools and districts. |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 7/7/2025-6/30/2027 | Williamson County Government | $52,041.00 | Williamson County Opioid Abatement and Remediation Community Grant Program – Continuation. | In a continuation of an agreement with the Williamson County Opioid Task Force, MTSU will provide application and rubric assistance, proposal scoring and recommendations, and grantee data tracking and evaluation services to aid in the implementation of the County’s opioid abatement and remediation Community Grant Program. | |
| Vajira Manathunga (PI), Ramchandra Rimal (Co-PI) | Mathematical Sciences | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 8/10/2026-1/31/2027 | Casualty Actuarial Society | $44,946.00 | Using Large Multimodal Models to Automate Casualty Loss Assessment from NHTSA Crash Investigation Data. | This project will develop and validate a four-modality AI framework for automating casualty loss assessment. The framework integrates crash scene photographs, free-text narratives, structured engineering data, and synthetically generated voice recordings from NHTSA’s crash investigation databases to evaluate whether modern Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) can reliably classify crash types, estimate damage severity, predict injury outcomes, detect claim fraud, and automate First Notice of Loss (FNOL) processing. |
| Hanna Terletska (PI) | Physics & Astronomy | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 6/1/2026-5/31/2028 | National Science Foundation (through Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) | $52,185.00 | POSE: Phase II: Ecosystem of the Applications and Libraries for Physics Simulations (ALPS) | This project aims to put the ALPS software environment on a sustainable long-term footing, transferring it from an effort that was led by a single research group whose PI has since left science to a broadly supported, distributed community effort with a clear leadership structure. The project will also establish infrastructure to sustain maintainability and quality of the code base, establish clear on-boarding protocols and strategies, improve accessibility and documentation, and provide user training materials, thereby laying the foundations of a self-sustaining open-source ecosystem. |
| Daniel Smith (PI) | Political Economy Research Institute | Jones College of Business | 9/1/2026-11/14/2026 | Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University | $20,000.00 | America has Lived Up to the Promises of its Founding | A grant was received from the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University for their America at 250th project to host a Steamboat Institute debate on America’s Founding on October 13, 2026 at MTSU. The debate will feature Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal and another speaker that is not yet determined. |
| Rafet Al-Tobasei (PI) | Computer Science | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 2/1/2026-1/31/2028 | US Department of Agriculture (through the University of Maryland) | $27,596.00 | Genomics and Metagenomics Approaches for Mitigating Stress of Rainbow Trout in Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS) | Dr. Al-Tobasei will collaborate with a scientist at the University of Maryland to provide the bioinformatics support needed for the microbiome/metagenomics prediction/analysis and the differential usage of exons analysis required for this research. |
| Amy Kostine (PI) | Center for Historic Preservation | College of Liberal Arts | 9/16/2022-9/15/2027 | US Department of Agriculture/US Forest Service | $40,500.00 | Development of a Lessons Learned Project for the Trail of Tears Remediation MOA. | A third round of funding has been received for this project to finalize concept development and lessons learned multi-media products. MTSU will participate in consultation meetings with the signatory Tribes and other signatories to the MOA to request review and comments. |
| Leah Lyons (PI), Rehab Ghazal (Co-PI), Meredith Dye (Co-PI), Jeff Gibson (Co-PI) | College of Liberal Arts, Planning and Effectiveness | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Lilly Endowment Inc. (through Wake Forest University) | $47,399.00 | The True Blue Character Blueprint: Building Character Education at MTSU. | The College of Liberal Arts will expand upon and unify existing character education initiatives into a comprehensive infrastructure that equips students, faculty, and staff with the moral, civic, and intellectual dispositions to lead proactively. Using CLA’s values of explore, engage, enrich, and earn as a framework, the project involves several core elements: a faculty learning community, a character-focused blueprint added to the core curriculum, a book club open to the campus community, and student-focused fireside chats. | |
| Souvik Banerjee (PI), Kevin Bicker (Co-PI), April Weissmiller (Co-PI) | Chemistry, Biology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 7/22/2024-6/30/2028 | National Institutes of Health | $169,233.00 | Discovery of Fused Heterocyclic Pyrazine Based Novel Anti-Mitotic Agents for Metastatic Melanoma | This project, now in its third year, aims to discover new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, focusing on a new scaffold of tubulin inhibitors, fused heterocyclic pyrimidine (FHP). |
| Manuel Gionnoni Guzman (PI) | Biology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 8/1/2026-7/31/2028 | US Department of Agriculture | $200,000.00 | Unraveling the Neuromolecular Mechanisms of the Honey Bee Circadian Clock: Towards Sustainable Pollinator Health and Resilience | Honey bees play a crucial role in crop pollination, a process intrinsically linked to their 24-hour circadian clock, which governs behaviors such as navigation and time memory. The tools developed in this project will allow us to comprehensively study the circadian rhythms of bees and other insects, helping to ensure the stability of pollination-dependent resources. |
| Jing Kong (PI) | Chemistry | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 7/24/2026-5/31/2030 | National Institutes of Health | $125,700.00 | Enhancing Computer-Aided Drug Discovery through Integration of Quantum Mechanics | This project aims to enhance drug design by integrating and benchmarking various quantum methods into the computer-aided drug design (CADD) process, and applying them to design novel inhibitors for the tubulin. |
| Racha El Kadiri (PI) | College of Graduate Studies | 8/15/2026-7/31/2031 | National Science Foundation | $106,000.00 | Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) 2026 | The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), established in 1952, recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including STEM education. | |
| Ashley Riley-Sousa (PI) | History | College of Liberal Arts | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Rutherford County | $43,500.00 | Rutherford County Archives Interns Grant FY27 | In a cooperative program in existence since 1997, the Rutherford County Government has contracted with MTSU to provide two graduate assistants with 9-month internships to help staff the Rutherford County Archives. |
| Katy Hosbein (PI) | Chemistry | College of Basic and Applied Sciences | 9/1/2024-5/31/2027 | Underwriters Laboratory Inc. | $198,201.00 | Exploring Mentor Dynamics: Science Norms and Border Crossing for First-Generation College Students | Funding has been received for Year 2 of this project, the aim of which is to explore the specific impacts that mentor relationships have on the norms (rules, roles, and values) perceived by first-generation students and how these interact with their STEM professional identity development and in turn, career intentions across various institutional types. |
| Edwin Kaup (PI) | University Police | 7/1/2026-6/30/202 | US Department of Justice (through the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs) | $60,000 | STOP Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Law Enforcement Investigators FY27 | This grant funds a full‑time, dedicated DV/SA Detective to investigate domestic and sexual assault related crimes. This role will also strengthen campus safety planning by leading prevention initiatives, officer training, and community education. | |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 6/1/2026-5/31/2027 | Cannon County | $2,977.00 | Cannon County Abatement Task Force Grant Program | MTSU will provide administrative and technical support to the Cannon County Opioid Abatement Council in creating their grant process, providing evaluation and technical assistance to the Council and their grantees, and supporting state abatement reporting requirements. | |
| Van West (PI) | Center for Historic Preservation | College of Liberal Arts | 2/3/2025-12/15/2026 | US Library of Congress | $274,654.13 | Teaching with Primary Sources – Southern Regional Partner | The Library of Congress has provided additional funding and a six-month time extension on this project. As a Regional Partner, MTSU assists regional awardees in benefiting from association with the thousands of awardees, educators, and learners who make up the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) community. Regional Partners also monitor educational trends in the states that they service and advise Library staff on the development of the overall TPS Regional Program. |
| Vajira Manathunga (PI), Jaishree Ranganathan (Co-PI), Salvador Barbosa (Co-PI), Joshua Phillips (Co-PI) | Mathematical Sciences, Computer Science | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Nashville Innovation Alliance | $40,000.00 | Automated Narrative Transcription and Analysis | MTSU will partner with the Metro Nashville Family Safety Center, which serves survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and child abuse, on this project. Staff currently convert thousands of spoken survivor accounts into written reports. MTSU will work with Metro to reduce administrative workload, restoring staff capacity for high-impact advocacy, safety planning, and emotional support. |
| Maddison North (PI) | Psychology | 5/6/2026-5/5/2027 | American Psychological Foundation | $2,000.00 | Adaptability Fit as a Predictor of Job Satisfaction, Motivation, and Well-Being | Participants in this research study will respond to a variety of scales that assess individual adaptivity, job adaptivity requirements, job satisfaction, work motivation, burnout, turnover intentions, and personality. Polynomial Regression and Response Surface Analysis will be used to assess how the congruence or incongruence between individual adaptivity and job adaptability requirements relate to job satisfaction, work motivation, burnout, and turnover intention. | |
| David Butler (PI) | Vice Provost for Research/Dean, College of Graduate Studies | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Launch Tennessee | $300,000 | TTAC FY27 – Ideation, Development, and Commercialization of Intellectual Property | MTSU’s FY27 commercialization strategy centers on translating research activity in four high-potential areas—quantum technology, agriculture, life sciences, and artificial intelligence—into measurable commercial outcomes. Building on FY26 achievements (5 invention disclosures, 3 patent filings, and 1 faculty startup launched), MTSU will advance technologies through a managed pipeline toward startup formation, licensing transactions, and industry-sponsored research partnerships. | |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Rutherford County | $118,391.00 | FY27 Rutherford County Opioid Board (ROB) | This is the fourth year that the Office of Prevention Science and Recovery, housed within the Center for Health and Human Services at MTSU, will assist Rutherford County in reviewing and approving applications for County funds related to opioid litigation settlements for opioid and substance abuse abatement measures. The Office also serves as a resource to other TN counties through collaboration and sharing of best practices. | |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 8/1/2026-7/31/2027 | US Department of Health & Human Services (through the Tennessee Department of Health) | $45,000.00 | Safe Stars Evaluation Project (Year 5) | The Safe Stars Evaluation Program, an injury prevention initiative from the TN Department of Health, is in its 5th year at CHHS. Project participants provide outreach to non-member schools and community leagues involved in extramural and intramural sports with the goal of a Safe Stars designation for the organization. A recruitment plan and evaluation tools are among the results of this grant effort. | |
| Murat Arik (PI) | Business & Economic Research Center [BERC] | Jones College of Business | 5/14/2026-9/30/2026 | Consolidated Utility District (CUD) of Rutherford County | $6,325.00 | Economic and Fiscal Impact Study of the Consolidated Utility District (CUD) of Rutherford County (2) | This is the second part of a research study that assesses the broader economic and fiscal impacts of the Consolidated Utility District’s operations, capital investments, and ongoing maintenance activities on Rutherford County and the surrounding region. |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Director, Center for Health & Human Services | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development | $249,929.00 | Rural Health Care Workforce Training | This training creates a rural health workforce pipeline by providing college students with industry-recognized credentials and practicum experience, enabling them to serve in critical entry-level roles during their degree program and transition seamlessly into rural health careers upon graduation. | |
| Henrique Momm (PI) | Geosciences | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 10/1/2025-11/30/2026 | US Department of Agriculture | $75,000.00 | RUSLE2 Development and Maintenance Support | This collaborative agreement provides support and expertise for the science development and operational maintenance of the USDA-RUSLE2 model, the official conservation planning technology of the US Department of Agriculture. |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 7/1/2026-6/30/2031. | US Department of Health & Human Services (through the Tennessee Department of Health) | $184,800.00 | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Death Scene Investigation (Year 1) | This project conducts Death Scene Investigation (DSI) trainings for emergency personnel, hosts and maintains 2 virtual classrooms for DSI training, maintains and updates online DSI training, revises 2 in-service manuals, and updates and prints the Bereavement Support Services booklet. The project also pays expenses for up to 3 medical examiners to attend an annual pediatric forensic conference. | |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services | $172,149.00 | Infrastructure and Research Capacity Building for the Office of Prevention Science and Recovery (Year 3) | MTSU’s Office of Prevention Science and Recovery, in the 3rd year of partnership with Hustle Recovery, will expand infrastructure and capacity for the Residential Aftercare Program. Hustle Recovery currently offers a 6-month Residential Aftercare program for individuals returning from a 30-day residential treatment facility who are continuing to engage in the recovery process. MTSU will continue to manage the fiscal and evaluation aspects of the program. | |
| Kristi Stringer (PI) | Health and Human Performance | College of Behavioral and Health Sciences | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council (through the Prevention Coalition for Success, Inc.) | $25,558.00 | Peers for Success – Opioid Abatement Council – Community Grants (Year 3). | Peers for Success Certified Young Adult Peer Support Specialists (CYAPSS) will collaborate with MTSU to develop substance misuse prevention and recovery programs. Peers for Success CYAPSS and MTSU Public Health and Social Work student organizations will mobilize youth to develop a mental health and substance misuse prevention annual event, and CYAPSS will collaborate with MTSU Public Health faculty to develop a student-led collegiate recovery program. This is Year 3 of the project. |
| Paul Eubanks (PI), Noel Lorson (Co-PI) | Sociology & Anthropology, Art & Design | College of Liberal Arts | 10/1/2025-9/30/2027 | US Department of the Interior (through the Tennessee Historical Commission) | $8,000.00 | Designing, Printing, and Distribution of Posters for Tennessee Archaeology Awareness Month 2026. | This grant provides two years of funding for Tennessee Archaeology Awareness Month Posters, which the MTSU archaeology faculty have been involved in producing and distributing since the late 1990s. The posters will also be submitted to the Society for American Archaeology’s annual state archaeology poster contest, where MTSU has enjoyed past success. |
| Mark Frame (PI) | Psychology | College of Behavioral and Health Sciences | 5/13/2026-5/12/2027 | Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc. | $9,688.50 | Examining the Criterion Validity of Supervisory Leadership In-box and SJT Assessments. | This study will use competency level inbox assessment and Situational Judgement Tests (SJT) data from supervisors and their direct reports to determine the extent to which the overall ratings and competency scores for supervisors are predictive of the overall ratings and competency scores for their direct reports. The study will be of interest to practitioners using assessment center simulations and SJTs for selection, promotion, and leadership development. |
| Sharon Scott (PI) | Home and Community Based Early Intervention Program | College of Education | 7/1/2026-6/30/2027 | US Department of Education (through the Tennessee Department of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities) | $1,716,000.00 | Home and Community Based Early Interventions through MTSU Early Intervention Resource Agency (HCBEI) – Year 3 | The MTSU Home & Community-Based Early Intervention (HCBEI) Program provides Early Intervention (sometimes identified as Developmental Therapy) to children from birth to three who have been diagnosed with a developmental delay or disability and qualify for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This funding is for Year 3 of a five-year grant. |
| Scott Handy (PI) | Chemistry | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 1/8/2026-12/31/2026 | Ascendium Education Group (through the Tennessee Board of Regents) | $1,500.00 | TBR (Tennessee Board of Regents) High Impact Practices Ambassador | The Ambassador is a faculty member who has successfully utilized high impact practices (HIP) in teaching and is eager to share this professional expertise with other faculty across the TBR system and locally governed institutions (LGIs). The program includes an orientation, virtual faculty meetings, networking within the HIP Ambassador community of practice, and reporting. |
| Angela Google (PI) | Biology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 11/1/2025-10/31/2027 | Howard Hughes Medical Institute | $40,000.00 | Impact of BioInteractive Resources on Students’ Conceptualization of Science and their Science Identity Formation for Undergraduate Biology Students | This study aims to inspire students through authentic, accurate and story-driven science resources to strengthen students’ understanding of science. Woven within this goal is the hypothesis that by engaging authentically with science, students are more likely to see themselves as active and contributing members of the scientific community. |
| Kristin England (PI), Kristen Hargis (Co-PI) | Center for Energy and Sustainability | Facilities Services | 2/1/2026-1/31/2031 | The Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) | $11,618.00 | Expanding Campus Recycling Capacity through Equipment and Education | This project aims to enhance campus sustainability by investing in modern recycling equipment and launching an educational campaign to improve recycling practices among students, faculty, and staff. These efforts will foster a culture of environmental responsibility, reduce landfill contributions, and position our campus as a model for sustainable and worker-friendly operations. |
| Antionette Van Zelm (PI) | Center for Historic Preservation | College of Liberal Arts | 4/1/2026-12/31/2026 | Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Cooperative (MTEMC) | $21,957.00 | Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Cooperative 90th Anniversary Project | A research report will be provided to MTEMC using national, state and local primary sources, and building on previous 50th and 75th Anniversary documents. Themes to be highlighted include the Cooperative’s New Deal origins; the significance of rural electrification; milestones in the Cooperative’s history; and its growth in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. |
| Lei Miao (PI), Hongbo Zhang (Co-PI), Yi Gu (Co-PI) | Engineering Technology, Computer Science | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 3/17/2026-7/31/2026 | Federal Highway Administration (through the Tennessee Department of Transportation) | $50,000.00 | Fiscal Year 2026 National Summer Transportation Institute | The goal of the National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) summer program is to use experiential learning, hands-on activities, and field trips to promote rising 9th -12th graders’ interest in transportation-related careers and STEM disciplines in general. Recruitment of 18 students will begin in April 2026, and the summer residential program will have a four-week duration. |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 7/1/2026-9/29/2026 | US Department of Health & Human Services (through the Tennessee Department of Health) | $28,100.00 | Safe Stars Mental Health Training Expansion (Yr 2) | This project continues the provision of mental health training to adult impactors of youth who participate in youth sports to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and provide resources to youth, impactors, and parents. | |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI), Adam Rennhoff (Co-PI) | Economics and Finance | Center for Health & Human Services, , Jones College of Business | 4/1/2026-6/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Health | $48,000.00 | Return-on-Investment Evaluation of Tennessee’s Quitline and GIFT Programs | This project will conduct a return-on-investment (ROI) and cost-effectiveness evaluation of two statewide tobacco cessation programs in Tennessee: the Tennessee Tobacco Quitline (TTQL) and the GIFTS program. The evaluation will assess program costs in relation to smoking cessation outcomes and associated healthcare and productivity impacts, using established economic modeling approaches commonly applied in public health program evaluation. |
| Joyce Heames (PI) | Jones College of Business | 1/27/2026-7/27/2026 | United States Air Force (Arnold AFB) | $50,000.00 | United States Air Force (Arnold AFB) – Supervisor Training Course | This training course is a customized Leadership Development Series delivered by faculty members at MTSU’s Jones College of Business through Executive Education. The program is built to strengthen a leadership team’s desire and ability to lead with clarity, accountability, and strategic awareness—aligning daily decision-making with organizational goals, talent development, and long-term operational excellence. | |
| Paul Craig (PI) | Aerospace | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 6/30/2025-6/29/2027 | Tennessee Department of Transportation | $25,000.00 | 2025 Aviation Education Program | The Tennessee Teachers Aerospace Education Workshop is an MTSU graduate course that will be offered without tuition cost to TN educators who teach grades K-12 in public or private schools, to promote aviation and science education. An interdisciplinary approach is used, making the workshop experience valuable regardless of subject area or grade level. |
| Jennifer Vannatta-Hall (PI) | Center for Teaching and Mentoring | Office of the Vice Provost, Faculty & Strategic Initiatives | 7/1/2025-6/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Education | $200,000.00 | Tennessee Arts Academy (TAA) Summer Institute Host 2025-27 | MTSU will utilize this funding to host the Tennessee Arts Academy Summer Institute, an arts education professional development program for K-12 educators. This involves planning and coordinating a six-day professional development program for a minimum of 200 participants. Applicants will be accepted from among Tennessee’s K-12 teachers of art, music, theatre, dance, general classroom, other curricular areas (e.g., library, physical education), and school administrators and supervisors. |
| Gauhar Sabih(PI), Abdul Qudoos (Co-PI) | Concrete & Construction Management | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 2/23/2026-2/22/2027 | Tennessee Department of Transportation | $93,703.00 | Characterization of Concrete Materials, Concrete Mixture Design, and Development of Material Input Datasets for TDOT Aeronautics Concrete Specification Development | The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Aeronautics Division is modernizing its pavement engineering tools and concrete specifications to improve performance, safety, and cost efficiency across the state’s airfield pavement systems. The research team at MTSU’s School of Concrete and Construction Management (SCCM) will develop standardized concrete mixture designs, conduct mechanical and durability testing, and generate performance datasets needed by TDOT and the consultant teams for LCCA calibration and concrete specification development. |
| Hanna Terletska (PI) | Physics & Astronomy | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 2/1/2025-1/31/2027 | US Department of Energy | $535,873.00 | TN-QuMat: Tennessee Quantum Materials Workforce Development and Training, an R2-HBCU-ORNL Partnership | To understand the complex interplay between disorder and collective phenomena in Quantum Materials, the TN-QuMat project brings together a multidisciplinary team with complementary expertise in theory, modeling, simulations, synthesis, and characterization. This is the second year of the project, a collaboration between Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), the state’s largest public R2 university; Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s premier public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) institution; and HBCU Fisk University – along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a world leader in quantum research. |
| Vishwas Bedekar (PI) | Engineering Technology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 9/1/2025-8/31/2026 | the Society of Manufacturing Engineers No. 43 | $5,000.00 | Sponsorship to MTSU SME Student Chapter S239 | This project will engage MTSU students in designing, building, and developing robots such as an autonomous sumo, an autonomous vehicle, and a maze solving micromouse, for competition in the National Robotics Challenge (NRC) 2026. The project will increase student participation in research and scholarly activity and prepare them for lifelong learning experiences using these project-based learning activities. |
| Bionca Washington (PI) | Office of Student Success | University College | 9/1/2022-8/31/2027 | Middle Tennessee State University Upward Bound – Rutherford & Bedford Counties | $298,967.00 | US Department of Education | This is the fourth year of the Upward Bound Program grant at MTSU, which educates, serves and supports 60 students per year in ninth through twelfth grade. The participating students are at-risk, underserved, low-income students from Rutherford and Bedford counties who have limited access to opportunities or resources for post-secondary and career options. Grant activities include tutoring and mentoring, a summer program, college entrance exam preparation, and financial literacy seminars. |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 2/1/2026-9/29/2026 | US Department of Health & Human Services (through the Tennessee Department of Health) | $46,900.00 | Safe Stars Mental Health Training Expansion (Year 1) | This project will provide mental health training to adult impactors of youth who participate in youth sports to reduce the stigma of mental health and provide resources to youth, impactors, and parents. MTSU’s Center for Health & Human Services will recruit and convene a group of mental health and sports injury experts to serve on a Mental Health Training Advisory Group to review and provide guidance for the development of mental health training modules. | |
| Joyce Heames (PI) | Jones College of Business | 12/15/2025-8/28/2026 | Ingram Content Group | $60,000.00 | Jones College of Business Executive Education – Leadership Accelerator with Ingram Content Group | The Jones College of Business Executive Education Program will provide a “Leadership Accelerator” course for up to 20 participants with the following modules: Module 1: Strategic Leadership 1&2, and Communicating with Influence; Module 2: Career Development & Advocacy, Talent Management & Navigating Conflict, and Project Work & Alignment; Module 3: Financial Acumen for Business Leaders, Driving Performance in Sales & Operations, and Capstone/ Senior Leader Panel. | |
| Eric Oslund (PI), Katie Schrodt (Co-PI), Bonnie Barksdale (Co-PI) | Elementary & Special Education | College of Education | 8/1/2025-5/31/2026 | TN SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) | $15,000.00 | TN SCORE: Literacy & Multilingual and Diverse Learners | This project will improve the preparedness of future educators to enact strong early literacy instruction by developing aligned experiences for current and future educators grounded in Tennessee’s ELA (English Language Arts) Standards and high-quality instructional materials. |
| Chuck Higgins (PI), Racha El Kadiri (Co-PI), Henrique Momm (Co-PI), Mark Abolins (Co-PI), Andrea Georgiou (Co-PI) , Saeed Foroudastan (Co-PI) | Physics & Astronomy, Geosciences, Aerospace, Engineering Technology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 6/4/2025-6/3/2029 | National Aeronautics & Space Administration (through Vanderbilt University) | $80,000.00 | The Tennessee Space Grant Consortium 2025-28 | The purpose of the Space Grant Program is to contribute to the 2022 NASA Strategic Plan by “strengthening STEM education through inspirational missions and collaboration with the academic community,” building the future STEM workforce. The grant encourages cooperative programs among universities, the aerospace industry, and Federal, state, and local governments. |
| Joan McRae (PI), Amy Sayward (Co-PI) | World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, & the American Democracy Project | College of Liberal Arts & University Honors College | 1/1/2026-12/31/2026 | National Endowment for the Humanities | $25,000.00 | Celebrating America’s Semiquincentennial at Middle Tennessee State University | This grant award will be used to fund MTSU celebrations of America’s Semiquincentennial in 2026, including speakers (Convocation and Constitution Day) and other events. |
| Vishwas Bedekar (PI) | Engineering Technology | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 2/16/2026-6/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance | $22,795.00 | Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners Grant 2025-26 | The grant will assist in covering NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination expenses, travel expenses for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) robotics competitions, the Engineering in Italy study abroad program, senior capstone projects, and laboratory consumables for Engineering and Technology majors. |
| Murat Arik (PI) | Business & Economic Research Center [BERC] | Jones College of Business | 12/8/2025-8/31/2026 | US Department of Agriculture (through Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association) | $65,000.00 | Labor Market Dynamics in Middle Tennessee: A Survey of Manufacturing Companies in Middle Tennessee and Upper Cumberland Regions | The Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) will provide an assessment of the labor market conditions and human resources practices in the manufacturing and warehousing sectors in 15 Middle Tennessee and Upper Cumberland regions to the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association (MTIDA) after administering a comprehensive survey and analyzing the results. |
| Murat Arik (PI) | Business & Economic Research Center [BERC] | Jones College of Business | 12/9/2025-3/31/2026 | Consolidated Utility District (CUD) of Rutherford County | $12,650.00 | Economic and Fiscal Impact Study of the Consolidated Utility District (CUD) of Rutherford County | The Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) will provide an assessment of the labor market conditions and human resources practices in the manufacturing and warehousing sectors in 15 Middle Tennessee and Upper Cumberland regions to the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association (MTIDA) after administering a comprehensive survey and analyzing the results. |
| Joyce Heames (PI) | Jones College of Business | 1/1/2026-12/31/2026 | US Small Business Administration (through the TN Small Business Development Center) | $186,000.00 | MTSU Service Center for the Tennessee Small Business Development Center 2026 | The mission of the TN Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) at MTSU is to provide high-quality consulting and training solutions to start, grow and/or sustain small business. The MTSU Service Center is a subaward funded through an MOU with the TSBDC. | |
| Amy Elleman (PI), Timothy Odegard (Co-PI), Eric Oslund (Co-PI) | Literacy Studies Ph.D. Program, Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies, Department of Elementary and Special Education | College of Education | 9/1/2025-12/31/2030 | The Hollyhock Foundation | $1,198,000.00 | MTSU Literacy Studies Ph.D. Program Scale-Up: To Support the Continued Growth and Success | The Literacy Studies Ph.D. program at MTSU is designed to address one of education’s most pressing needs—the shortage of scholars, PK-12 leaders, non-profit leaders, and policymakers equipped to bridge the gap between growing research in literacy and educational practice, policy, and professional preparation. Drawing on faculty from the College of Education, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, and College of Liberal Arts, our interdisciplinary program offers deep content courses, field experiences, and research opportunities designed to provide professionals in various spheres of influence with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively improve literacy in the United States and beyond. This proposal continues the existing project. |
| Michael Hein (PI), Patrick McCarthy (Co-PI) | Psychology | College of Behavioral & Health Sciences | 6/10/2025-1/31/2026 | American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology | $27,600.00 | Proposal for the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology | This project will engage the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN) community to collectively develop the mission, vision, values, and strategic goals for the organization. The resulting strategic plan report will provide a framework of guiding principles and priorities for AACN. In turn, this may serve as a strategic reference point for subsequent decision-making by AACN leadership. |
| Murat Arik (PI) | Business & Economic Research Center [BERC] | Jones College of Business | 9/15/2025-9/14/2026 | Tennessee Housing Development Agency | $9,500.00 | Tennessee Housing Market Reports 2025-2026 | BERC will provide quarterly reports to the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) that include an overview of the current housing market conditions and a short-term outlook of housing construction and residential real estate activity. An analysis will also be included that compares Tennessee’s current data with other states in the southeastern region of the United States and explains how Tennessee compares to these southeastern states in terms of overall economic activity, construction activity, and housing price appreciation. |
| Murat Arik (PI) | Business & Economic Research Center [BERC] | Jones College of Business | 11/1/2025-10/31/2027 | Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) | $61,267.00 | Tracking Tennessee’s Economy: Website for Economic Indicators | BERC will create and maintain web-based economic indicators for Tennessee, providing users with a one-stop site to learn about the current state of Tennessee’s economy. A usage report of web hits will also be made available to the sponsor. The site will provide information at various levels of detail, including brief analyses of economic conditions, tabular and graphic data, and searchable databases for more advanced users. |
| Patrick Geho (PI), Kayla Retherford-Miller (Co-PI) | Tennessee Small Business Development Center | 1/1/2026-12/31/2026 | US Small Business Administration | $2,693,283.00 | Lead Center, TN Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) Program CY2026 | The Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) was established by state statute in 1984 to provide small businesses with counseling and training. The TSBDC network consists of the Lead Center, 14 TSBDC network service centers and 2 affiliate offices located across the state. Six of the TSBDC’s network service centers are hosted by state universities with the remaining 8 hosted by community colleges. Online training and assistance is available and hosted by the Lead Center. The TSBDC Lead Center is the contractor for all TSBDC service centers and affiliate offices. | |
| Kristi Stringer (PI) | Health and Human Performance | College of Behavioral and Health Sciences | 7/1/2025-6/30/2026 | Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council (through the Prevention Coalition for Success, Inc.) | $24,813.00 | Peers for Success – Opioid Abatement Council – Community Grants (Year 2) | Peers for Success Certified Young Adult Peer Support Specialists (CYAPSS) will engage transition-age youth and young adults in Rutherford and Cannon Counties. This project collaborates with MTSU to develop substance misuse prevention and recovery programs. Peers for Success CYAPSS and MTSU Public Health and Social Work student organizations will mobilize youth to develop a mental health and substance misuse prevention annual event, and CYAPSS will collaborate with MTSU Public Health faculty to develop a student-led collegiate recovery program. |
| Deborah Lee (PI),Lisa (Kay) Murphree (Co-PI) | NHC Chair of Excellence in Nursing | College of Behavioral & Health Sciences | 7/1/2025-6/30/2026 | US Department of Health & Human Services/HRSA (through Vanderbilt University) | $140,853.00 | Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (Middle Tennessee Collaborative Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP)) Year 2 | The primary goal of the Middle Tennessee Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), currently in Year 2, is to educate and train the primary care and geriatrics workforces and other appropriate specialties to provide age-friendly and dementia-friendly care of older adults. This geriatric education and training includes team training conferences, an RN apprenticeship program, and a CNA apprenticeship program. The GWEP encourages the development of reciprocal partnerships between academia, primary care sites, and community organizations. |
| Katie Schrodt (PI) , Stuart Bernstein (Co-PI) | Elementary and Special Education | College of Education | 5/15/2025-3/31/2027 | Jeannine Herron | $65,000.00 | Efficacy of the Encoding to Decoding Curriculum in Prekindergarten: A Quasi-Experimental Study with Longitudinal Follow-up | This study will evaluate the efficacy of the Encoding to Decoding curriculum in prekindergarten classrooms through a randomized controlled trial design. The research will follow approximately 120 students from prekindergarten implementation through the first semester of kindergarten to assess both immediate and sustained effects on early literacy development. |
| Michelle Stevens (PI), Lisa Strayer (Co-PI) | Center for Fairness, Justice and Equity | College of Education | 7/1/2025-6/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Education (through TN SCORE) | $101,883.00 | Tennessee Teach Back Initiative FY26 | This is a renewal grant supporting the Tennessee Teach Back Initiative, a teacher recruitment program that partners with school districts throughout Tennessee to provide low-cost funding to MTSU initial teacher licensure students from rural and underserved communities. Upon successfully completing the Teacher Education Program, students will be required to teach in their sponsoring school district for as long as they are supported by that district. |
| Zada Law (PI) | Geosciences | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 10/1/2025-9/30/2027 | US Department of the Interior/National Park Service (through the Tennessee Historical Commission) | $136,000.00 | Geospatial and Computing Services for the Tennessee Historical Commission. | Since the 1990’s, MTSU’s Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology has provided comprehensive geospatial and computing services to the Tennessee Historical Commission to facilitate the management and preservation of Tennessee’s historical and architectural resources. MTSU’s services include scanning historic resource survey maps, digitizing historic property locations as GIS data layers, and creating GIS data from legacy historic survey records. |
| Van West (PI) | Center for Historic Preservation | College of Liberal Arts | 9/14/2022-9/30/2027 | US Department of the Interior/National Park Service | $500,000.00 | Operational Support of the Tennessee Civil War Heritage Area, Year 4 | Following the Management Plan goals for this project, the Center for Historic Preservation strives to provide an exceptional heritage area experience for Tennesseans and visitors, now and in the future. Through heritage tourism, education, and interpretation, Tennessee’s irreplaceable Civil War experience is being preserved and promoted. |
| Trevor Cheney (PI), Jonathan Leverette (Co-PI) | University Police | 10/1/2025-9/30/2026 | US Department of Transportation (through the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security) | $10,000.00 | Tennessee Highway Safety Office High Visibility Enforcement Grant 2026 | The objective of this project is to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury crashes on Tennessee roadways as detailed in the triennial Highway Safety Plan. High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) will be conducted at hot spot locations identified through analysis of crash, citation, crime, and other data. This is a proven traffic safety approach designed to create deterrence and change unlawful behavior. | |
| Van West (PI) | Center for Historic Preservation | College of Liberal Arts | 7/1/2025-9/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Agriculture | $208,500.00 | Revision of Tennessee’s Pioneer Century Farms Book | The original Tennessee Pioneer Century Farms book was written by Dr. West and tells the story of Tennessee’s Century Farms, also drawing attention to the rapid loss of farmland in the state. This revision would update the work and verify the eligibility of 125 Pioneer farms highlighted in the book with new pictures and histories. |
| Greg Rushton (PI), Kimberly Evert (Co-PI) | TN STEM Education Center, Womack Educational Leadership | College of Basic & Applied Sciences , College of Education | 10/1/2025-9/30/2028 | National Science Foundation | $1,232,951.00 | Collaborative Research: Improving Teacher Retention and Effectiveness through Knowledge Sharing (iTREKS): Studying STEM Teachers in High Need Schools across a Community of Practice | This is a collaborative project with 9 other institutions with the goal of creating a national STEM preparation community of practice working together to study teacher persistence and effectiveness. The focus will be on STEM education in HNSDs, ultimately improving access to effective STEM teachers for students in high-need school districts and increased likelihood to consider STEM focused careers. |
| Kevin Ragland (PI) | TN STEM Education Center | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 7/15/2025-6/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Education | $35,000.00 | From Education to Employment: Building Regional STEM Readiness (Battelle) | The goal of this project is to empower educators, schools, and stakeholders throughout the Middle Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub by aligning K-12 STEM education with postsecondary pathways that lead to high-wage, high-skill careers and recognized impact credentials. Three Innovative Educator Workshops will be held during the 2025-26 school year, as well as Science Olympiads for elementary, middle, and high school students. |
| Katie Goodwin (PI) | Governor’s School for the Arts | 10/1/2025-9/30/2026 | Tennessee Department of Education | $1,000,000.00 | Governor’s School for the Arts 2026 | The Governor’s School for the Arts, an annual three-week intensive summer arts program at MTSU for high school students, includes classes and performance opportunities in instrumental and vocal music, visual arts, theater performance, theater technical design, filmmaking, and dance. The grant provides tuition and fees as well as lodging and meals for the approximately 275 student attendees. | |
| Greg Van Patten (PI) | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 9/1/2020-8/31/2026 | US Department of Energy | $126,329.00 | Light Harvesting in Semiconductor Quantum Dots | Dr. Van Patten, who is receiving additional funding for Year 6 of this project, will continue to work with multiple research assistants to synthesize and characterize high quality quantum dot samples to be used in 2D Electronic Spectroscopy (2DES) studies by the Beck Group at Michigan State University. He will also continue to develop and optimize Direct in Real-Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS) as a highly sensitive and quantitative tool for analysis of ligands on QD surfaces. | |
| David Butler (PI) | College of Graduate Studies | 7/1/2025-6/30/2026 | Launch Tennessee | $300,000.00 | TTAC FY26-Ideation, Development, and Commercialization of Intellectual Property | This project funded by the Tennessee Technology Advancement Consortium (TTAC) seeks to boost invention activity and commercialization readiness. In FY26, MTSU will prioritize educating faculty and graduate students on intellectual property (IP) concepts, the disclosure process, and TTAC’s role in supporting innovation. This will streamline workflows, enhance communication, and build engagement to foster a campus-wide innovation culture. | |
| Melissa Towe (PI) | Student Support Services | 9/1/2025-8/31/2030 | US Department of Education | $306,514.00 | TRIO Student Support Services at Middle Tennessee State University | This Student Support Services grant is being renewed for another five years at approximately $300K per year, for a total of $1.5 million in funding from the US Department of Education. This will allow the MTSU program to continue its mission of supporting first-generation, low-income, and disabled college students in achieving academic success and graduating on time. The program has been an integral part of MTSU’s commitment to student success and retention, helping participants overcome barriers to higher education. | |
| David Butler (PI), Joshua Phillips (Co-PI), Arpan Sainju (Co-PI), Letian Zhang (Co-PI) | College of Graduate Studies | 9/15/2025-12/14/2026 | Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development | $500,000.00 | TNGO: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Pothole Detection and Rapid Repair Deployment | This grant, part of the Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) Program, aims to develop a system for identifying, analyzing, and mapping road potholes to improve infrastructure maintenance and develop an AI-led road repair system. It leverages citizens and their smartphones, through the Pothole Detection app, to crowdsource data on road conditions through real-time image and sensor capture. | |
| Samuel Haruna (PI) | Agriculture | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 4/1/2025-3/31/2028 | US Department of Agriculture | $84,923.00 | Building Foundations for Perennial Grain Agriculture in the Southeast | As part of this USDA grant, a research site will be located on a plot at the MTSU experiential farm where Intermediate Wheat Grass (IWG) will be planted during the summer of 2025. Dr. Haruna will analyze soil health parameters and use the field for teaching purposes. He will also work to establish another site on a collaborating farm. |
| Yixiang Wu (PI) | Mathematical Sciences | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 9/15/2025-8/31/2027 | National Science Foundation | $246,528.00 | Researchers will investigate the impact of network structure and the spatial dispersal of individuals on the persistence of a single stream species, the competition of two stream species, and the outbreak of waterborne infectious diseases. Applications include preserving endangered stream species and improving sustainability and efficiency in fisheries; understanding the effect of human activities such as building dams and channels and weather conditions such as droughts and floods on the stream species; and helping government agencies optimally respond to waterborne infectious disease outbreaks. | |
| Wandi Ding (PI), Hanna Terletska (Co-PI), Joshua Phillips (Co-PI), Jing Kong (Co-PI), Abdul Khaliq (Co-PI) | Mathematical Sciences | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 9/1/2025-8/31/2030 | National Science Foundation | $2,000,000.00 | This project aims to create an impactful graduate research and training program at MTSU in the fields of quantum information science and artificial intelligence. It is aligned with the national priority to cultivate a skilled workforce in these critical areas, and will offer extensive training and research experiences for up to 40 graduate students. | |
| Yucheng Cao (PI), Amy Elleman (Co-PI), Timothy Odegard (Co-PI) | Literacy Studies Ph.D. Program | College of Education | 6/1/2025-8/15/2026 | HEC Software, Inc. | $75,474.00 | Reading Horizons is a literacy program that employs an explicit, systematic, and multisensory phonics approach to support early and struggling readers. This project aims to evaluate key components of the program with the purpose of systematically strengthening instruction and improving student literacy outcomes. | |
| Jennifer Kaplan (PI) | Mathematical Sciences | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 10/1/2025-9/30/2028 | National Science Foundation | $405,063.00 | This project will bring a set of 10 undergraduate researchers from science and education per year (30 participants total) to MTSU for an eight-week, in-depth research experience aimed to apprentice the students into the STEM Education research community of practice. The project aims to not only assist undergraduate participants in negotiating the complexity of this interdisciplinary research field, but also to create scholars who can work within and across disciplines collaboratively. | |
| Timothy Odegard (PI), Jennifer Stewart (Co-PI) | Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies | College of Education | 7/1/2025-9/30/2029 | Montana Office of Public Instruction | $292,184.00 | Over a four-year period, the MTSU researchers will conduct an external implementation evaluation of the MT Reads literacy initiative for the Montana Office of Public Instruction. | |
| Cynthia Chafin (PI), Christina Byrd (Co-PI) | Center for Health & Human Services | 9/1/2025-8/31/2026 | US Department of Health & Human Services | $975,689.00 | For a third year, this federal grant is enabling MTSU’s Center for Health & Human Services (CHHS) to partner with Cedar Recovery (a local treatment provider) to establish medication-assisted treatment (MAT) access points in six rural Tennessee counties. Cedar Recovery provides direct services, and CHHS provides coordination and support services. | ||
| Souvik Banerjee (PI), Kevin Bicker (Co-PI), April Weissmiller (Co-PI) | Chemistry | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 7/22/2024-6/30/2028 | National Institutes of Health | $169,233.00 | This project, now in its second year, aims to discover new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, focusing on a new scaffold of tubulin inhibitors, fused heterocyclic pyrimidine (FHP). | |
| Jennifer Stewart (PI) | Dyslexia Services | College of Education | 7/1/2025-12/15/2028 | The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Inc. | $32,000 | The primary purpose of this research is to assess the efficacy of the AIM Pathways to Proficient Reading course in improving educator knowledge of literacy and instructional practices. A comprehensive database will be developed from existing data sources for the AIM Institute for Learning & Research that documents the development and impact of the professional development course. Ultimately, this database will be utilized to investigate the impact of the training on educator content knowledge and any perceived change to classroom pedagogical practice to student reading outcomes in participating states and districts. | |
| Hanna Terletska (PI) | Physics and Astronomy | College of Basic & Applied Sciences | 7/1/2025-10/31/2027 | National Science Foundation | $286,822.00 | MTSU will be involved in two projects within this collaborative effort between several universities. The first project aims to develop interpretable descriptors to effectively capture the structural and functional properties of perovskites, such as atomic arrangements, environmental stability, and electronic or optical behaviors. An AI-powered chatbot will be developed utilizing natural language processing techniques to assist researchers. The second project proposes to develop an active learning-driven machine learning workflow to tackle the structural and compositional variability of HOIS (Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Structures) for their properties prediction. This project will advance the understanding of structure-property relationships and accelerate the discovery of HOIS optimized for energy, electronics, and sensor applications. |