Rice names IDEA winners

Multidisciplinary awards support high-risk, high-reward initiatives

Rice University’s Creative Ventures Funds Program has awarded grants to five Rice researchers and their colleagues through the InterDisciplinary Excellence Awards (IDEA), which support new research or academic partnerships by at least three faculty members across two schools.

This year’s winners are chemical and biomolecular engineer Xue (Sherry) Gao, civil and environmental engineer Qilin Li, theoretical physicist Andriy Nevidomskyy, bioengineer Robert Raphael and psychologist Eduardo Salas.

The awards of up to $75,000 over two years are for high-risk, high-reward initiatives that lead to proposals to generate new centers or programming with multiple principal investigators (PIs). The proposals are reviewed by Yousif Shamoo, vice provost of research, with input from the University Committee on Research.

The program supports the university’s goal to invest in faculty to achieve preeminence, as well as to elevate research achievement and reputation, both goals of Rice’s Vision for the Second Century, Second Decade.

Xue Sherry Gao

Gao, the Ted N. Law Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, proposed a study of how to achieve more precise control of the CRISPR-Cas gene editing system through theoretical analysis and experimentation. Her co-PIs are Anatoly Kolomeisky, a professor of chemistry and of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and George Phillips, the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Qilin Li

Li, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering, plans a pilot study of integrating resource management on the Rice campus to encourage sustainable urban food, energy and water infrastructure. Co-PIs are Laura Schaefer, the Burton J. and Ann M. McMurtry Chair in Engineering and a professor of mechanical engineering, Juan José Castellón, an assistant professor of architecture, and Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Andriy Nevidomskyy

Nevidomskyy, an associate professor of physics and astronomy, is investigating the emergent electronic and optical properties of strongly correlated materials, including low-dimensional nanomagnets, that can be used to improve future generation of materials. Co-PIs are Jun Lou, a professor of materials science and nanoengineering, and Junichiro Kono, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, of physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering.

Robert Raphael

Raphael, an associate professor of bioengineering, is working on a signal processing model of the auditory system to learn how the inner ear’s cochlea perceives music and speech. Co-PIs are Santiago Segarra, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, Simon Fischer-Baum, an assistant professor of psychological sciences, and Anthony Brandt, a professor of composition and theory.

Eduardo Salas

Salas, the Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Chair of Psychological Sciences and a professor of psychological sciences, will mount an investigation of the human experience of work in the 21st century, with an eye toward establishing Rice as a leader in the investigation of the topic and its psychological underpinning. Co-PIs are Antonio Merlo, dean of the School of Social Sciences and the George A. Peterkin Professor of Economics, and Moshe Vardi, the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor of Computational Engineering and a professor of computer science.