The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to offer the SPARC competitive research grant program for program for graduate students from all areas of study. Each academic year, SPARC funds the most competitive applications for research, creative or other meritorious scholarly projects, providing up to $5,000 to each successful graduate student applicant.
Through the SPARC program, graduate students have a unique opportunity not only to gain funding for their scholarly projects, but also to grow their experience in developing competitive grant proposals. Students who apply for SPARC prepare detailed budgets, write a narrative description detailing their plans and research methodology, compile supporting documentation and seek the support of their faculty advisors. This process closely reflects many of the steps they will take throughout their academic careers, giving them an edge on the competition.
This year, we are excited to congratulate 54 students from 9 different academic units who have been awarded SPARC grants for 2016-2017. These SPARC recipients, listed below, will use their SPARC funds to engage in research and scholarly projects over a 15-month period.
Congratulations 2016-2017 SPARC Recipients
| Recipient Name | Department or Program | Proposal Title |
| Hessamaldin Abdollahi | Electrical Engineering | Implementation of an Online Adaptive Impedance-Based Control Scheme for Power Converters in DC Distribution Systems |
| Adewale Adeluyi | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Glia Transcriptome Correlates of Oxidative Stress in Nicotine Dependence |
| Nadia Al-Sammarraie | Biomedical Science | Cell Specific Role of TGFbeta2 in Heart Valve Development |
| Oluwole Babatunde | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Racial Disparities in Diagnosis-to-Treatment Waiting Time and Receipt of Adjuvant Hormonal Therapy among Patients Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in South Carolina |
| Darun Barazanchy | Mechanical Engineering | Detecting Failure Mechanisms in Fiber Steered Panels Using Non-Destructive Evaluation |
| Megan Bennett | History | Cold War Orphans |
| Alycia Boutte | Health, Promotion, Education & Behavior | Diet Quality and Mental Health in Pregnancy Study |
| Michael Brown | Music Performance | Delphine Ugalde: 'Having It All' in Late 19th Century Paris |
| Coleman Calva | Biomedical Science | Localization and Effects of Intranasal Orexin A Delivery in an Aged Rat Model |
| Yoojin Cho | Health, Promotion, Education & Behavior | Novel Tobacco Products with Characterizing Flavors |
| Towhid Chowdhury | Electrical Engineering | Solid-State Position-Sensitive Neutron Detectors for Bio-Crystallography |
| Gregory Clark | Mathematics | A Mathematical Model of Dark Net Markets |
| Garner Cochran | Mathematics | Diameter of Orientations of Graphs Given Minimum Degree and Girth |
| Ekaterina Dolgopolova | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Versatile Platform for Efficient Energy Transfer |
| Zhuo Feng | Comparative Literature | Digesting Gender: The Pleasure of Eating in Late Qing and Republican Chinese Liter |
| Roel Feys | Philosophy | The Ethics of Health Care Commons Institutions |
| Miranda Fisher | Pharmaceutical Sciences | The Role of NRG3-ErbB4 Pathway in Mediating Nicotine Withdrawal Induced Anxiety-like Behaviors |
| Keith Fuller | Biological Sciences | Using Satellite Telemetry to Track Environmental and Geographic Preference of a Juvenile Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini) |
| Stephanie Gray | History | Restoring America: Historic Preservation and the New Deal |
| Mark Guinter | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Development and Application of an Estrogen-Related Dietary Pattern to Predict Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk |
| Claire Hann | Biological Sciences | Modeling Plant Responses to Multiple Stressors |
| Adam Harrison | Exercise Science | Measuring Error Detection during a Continuous Motor Task |
| Melinda Hersey | Biomedical Science | The Role of Serotonin in Comorbid Depression and Obesity |
| Tanya Hundal | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Correlation of Metastatic Potential with Sialic Acid Content in Human Colon Cell Lines to Investigate Binding with Synthetic Lectins: Towards a Cancer Diagnostic |
| Tiffany Jones | Anthropology | Exploring the Socialization and Authentication Practices of Spoken Word Poetry |
| Rasha Karakchi | Computer Science & Engineering | A Special Purpose Compiler and Processor for Pattern Recognition |
| Antony Keane-Dawes | History | Reimagined Community: Imperial Occupation and Liberation in Santo Domingo, 1818-1844 |
| Kristen Larsen | Biomedical Science | The Role of Interleukin 33/ST2 Axis in Growth and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer |
| Jamie Levitt | Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Administration | An Analysis of Food Tourist Perceptions of Restaurant Authenticity |
| Min Li | Biological Sciences | NPR1 Interacts with TCP15 to Negatively Regulate Salicylic Acid Accumulation in Plant Defense |
| Guangfang Li | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Selective Electrocatalytic Glucose Oxidation on Dealloyed Nanosponge Particles |
| Yue Liu | Sociology | When Are Differences Between Members Beneficial – Versus Detrimental – To Group Solidarity? |
| Junyu Lu | Geography | Spatial Patterns of Future Drought Risks in the United States |
| Sara Matherly | School Psychology | Effects of Anxiety on Independence in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Patrick O'Brien | History | What Difference Does a Revolution Make? Reconsidering Loyalty in Eighteenth Century Nova Scotia |
| Erik Palmer | Mathematics | Mathematical Modeling of Multi-Responsive Polymer Gels |
| Kinjal Pandya | Clinical-Community Psychology | Toward Developing and Validating a Tool to Assess Exposure to Ethnic and Gender Focused Campus Microaggressions Among Female Faculty of Color |
| Christopher Perry | Exercise Science | Eye-Hand Coupling Within Predictable Movements |
| Shannon Romagnolo | Counselor Education | A Social Justice-Focused School Counselor Education Curriculum:Trainee Knowledge and Perceived Implementation Efficacy |
| Stephen Ruxton | Political Science | Representation and Democratic Legitimacy: The New Constructivist Role of American Public Opinion in the Creation of Representation and Democratic Legitimacy” |
| Michaela Schenkelberg | Exercise Science | Patterns of and Influences on Physical Activity of Preschoolers with Developmental Disabilities |
| Andrew Schramm | Clinical-Community Psychology | Internalized Homophobia as a Risk Factor for Intimate Partner Violence among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults |
| Holly Smith | Geography | Narrating Social Changes through the Experiences of Ammani Youth Caught in the Middle of a Regional Palimpsest |
| Joshua Sparks | Exercise Science | Adaptations in Glucose Metabolism Following a Chronic Aerobic Exercise Training Protocol in a Sedentary, Overweight or Obese Population |
| Olivia Spead | Biomedical Science | Specific Roles of GPC3 in Axon Guidance and Topographic Map Formation during Nervous System Development |
| Melanie Sutherland | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Longitudinal Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes |
| Elizabeth Wakefield | Anthropology | Assessing the Accuracy, Validity, and Application of a New Method for Sex Determination Using Compositions, Concentrations, and Isotopic Variations of Iron (Fe) and Copper (Cu) in Human Bone |
| Clorissa Washington-Hughes | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Enterobactin Biosynthesis: A Potential Target for Treating Pathogenic and Nickel-Resistant Bacteria |
| Jane Weatherred | Mass Communications | Redevelopment of the Child Sexual Abuse Myth Scale |
| Jillian Weber | English | Female Athleticism in American Literature |
| Farzana Yasmeen | Mechanical Engineering | Assessment of Methodologies for Compensation of Out-of-Plane Rotation Error in 3D Digital Image Correlation |
| Samantha Yaussy | Anthropology | The Intersections of Health and Wealth: Socioeconomic Status, Frailty, and Mortality in Industrial England |
| Jingsheng Zhang | Comparative Literature | Re-Reading the Intellectual Turn in 1980s Chinese Poetic Field: A Study of Unofficial Poetry Journals After 1985 |
| Jiali Zheng | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Association between Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Two Prospective Cohorts |
7 February 2017