Honors College Faculty Equipment and Technology Grant Applications Due Sept. 27

Shaelyn Frauenhoffer (right), an honors food science major, establishes a research study employing eye tracker technology under the guidance of her advisor, Han-Seok Seo, professor of sensory and consumer science in the Department of Food Science.

Students were given a glossary of Italian terms that would assist with the gameplay and basic controls and spent half of the class time playing the game, Assassin's Creed II on Playstation 5.

Sophomore Lucia Silva uses a Hololens headset and Fologram software, funded by the Honors College, to compare a physical hanging chain model with its digital twin, modeled using physics simulation.

Jayden Timms, mechanical engineering major, operates a laser for etching of copper layer and an electronic board design set up under the mentorship of David Huitink, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

Honors research project on PMU missing data recovery using P4 switch equipment in Kevin Jin’s Lab. From left to right: Jack Norris, computer science major; Eva Casto, computer science major; Dr. Kevin Jin, associate professor of engineering.

Emilee Walden works remotely on a workstation funded by an Honors College grant.

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Ariadna Ramirez, mechanical engineering major, uses an optical microscope for her research project under the guidance of Wan Shu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

You have a brilliant idea that will provide solid research experience for an honors student in search of a thesis topic — but need nationwide data so your student can crunch the numbers. Or perhaps a very small (and very pricey) lens will support a new line of undergraduate inquiry in your lab. The Honors College can help.

U of A faculty members are encouraged to apply for the Faculty Equipment and Technology Grants. 

These grants are designed to help clinical, tenured and tenure-track faculty purchase specialized equipment or technology to advance undergraduate research at the U of A. Grants will be awarded once per fiscal year; this year's application deadline is Sept. 27. Requests for up to $7,500 will be considered.

The Honors College launched the new Faculty Equipment and Technology Grants in 2016 and has awarded more than $630,000 to date. Faculty members have used grant monies to purchase materials ranging from a world-class, cutting-edge petroleum dataset to a machine that can be used to develop new technologies for counterfeit detection in jewelry, apparel, art, drugs and more.

This year, up to $100,000 in grant funds will be awarded.

For details on how to apply, please visit the Honors College Faculty Resources page of the Honors College Sharepoint site. You may be prompted to login using your UARK credentials when visiting this site. Please submit your application here.

The grant is funded by a portion of the $300 million gift made by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation in 2002. The grants are designed to help tenured and tenure-track faculty, individually or in teams, purchase specialized equipment or technology that will make a transformational difference in their undergraduate research programs. For more information visit the Honors College website.