1. Undergraduate and Graduate Student
Participation in Research at LSU
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Stuart Bell
Panelists:
Dr. Mark Batzer, Biological Sciences
Dr. Ram Ramanujam, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Gerald Kennedy, English
Dr. Randy Duran, Office of Undergraduate Research

2. Flagship Agenda 2020 Goals
• Increasing nationally-recognized research and
creative activities
• Expanding interdisciplinary solutions to significant
social, environmental, economic, cultural and
educational problems
• Increasing partnerships with industry to develop
intellectual property and foster commercial
applications

3. ORED Strategic Plan Focal Areas

4. Submissions and Funding
1,250
1,364
1,396 1,399
1,259
1150
1200
1250
1300
1350
1400
1450
FY
2008
FY
2009
FY
2010
FY
2011
FY
2012
Total Proposals Submitted
$84.7
59%
$34.9
25%
$23.2
16%
FY 2012 Awards: $142.8
million
Federal State Other

6. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Graduate Training
3. Undergraduate Training
4. Future Directions

7. Comparative Genomics
1) Comparison of genomes to deduce the structure and function
of genes and genomes.
2) How do transposable elements „jumping genes” impact the
genome? Utilize transposable element based variation to
study human population genetics, forensics, phylogenetics
and human disease.
4) Over 260 publications, 175 since arrival at LSU in 2001. Five
patents in forensic genomics since 2001.
3) Extramural funding from
NIH, NSF, NIJ, CIA, DOD, DOE, TSWG, LaBOR.

8. Graduate Training
1) Sixteen graduates students at LSU including two presently in
the program.
2) Students from throughout the U.S. and around the world
(Africa, China, Korea, United Kingdom).
4) Faculty members at Rutgers, University of Utah, Ohio State
University, Dankook University, Industry, postdoctoral
fellows at Oregon Health and Sciences
University, NIH, Washington University in St. Louis.
3) Students major in Biological Sciences or Biochemistry
and graduate in 4 years with multiple publications
(typically at least two senior authored and multiple junior
authored). Participated in 61 published studies from LSU.

9. Undergraduate Training
1) Fifty undergraduates since 2001 including twelve presently in
the laboratory.
2) Students from a variety of different programs, Chancellor‟s
Future Leaders in Research, Chancellor‟s Aide, NSF
REU, INBRE, HHMI, NIH.
4) Multiple students have received national recognition:
Truman finalist, Goldwater scholar. Over twenty
physicians, two dentists, two optometrists, one patent
attorney several graduate students.
3) Students have participated in multiple projects at LSU
and have co-authored over 30 publications on population
genetics, phylogenetics, and genome structure in
Science, Molecular Biology and
Evolution, PNAS, Genome Research.

10. Future Directions
1) Increase undergraduate participation in extramural research
through federal training grants and individual supplements.
2) Increase graduate participation in extramural research
through federal training grants and individual supplements
and awards.
4) Increase stipend levels for graduate students to nationally
competitive rates.
3) Increased emphasis on recruitment of undergraduate and
graduate students using research as a conduit.

11. Computation and Data: Research
and Education Across Disciplines
by
J. “Ram” Ramanujam

12. Computation and Data-Enabled
Research
• Computation is now the third pillar along with theory and
experimentation for research in science, engineering and
other fields
• Computation and Data-Enabled research crosses many
disciplines, requires all scales of collaborations
– Individuals, groups, teams, communities
– Multiscale Collaborations: Beyond teams
– Researchers (faculty, graduate
students, postdocs, undergraduate students, …)
collaborate, work by sharing data and co-developing algorithms
and software
– Impacts “scientific” culture, reproducibility, access, university
structures
• Several multi-disciplinary projects at LSU and elsewhere in
the state

13. • 7 campuses across the state
• Five research universities
• Two predominantly undergrad
institutions
• Three HBCU‟s
• 55 senior investigators + ~50
collaborators (in-state and out)
• ~60 graduate students &
postdocs
LSU PI and Co-PI’s:
PI: Mark Jarrell, LSU
co-PI: Juana Moreno, LSU
co-PI: J. Ramanujam, LSU, …
Other PIs: Michael Khonsari, EPSCoR & LSU
Lawrence Pratt, Tulane
B. Ramu Ramachandran, LA Tech
UNO, T
ulane, X
avier
LSU, Souther
n
LA
Tech, Gra
mbling
Computational Materials

14. Coastal Modeling
• Coastal Emergency Risks Assessment (CERA):
Automated visualization tool for storm surge
and wave guidance during hurricanes
– Predicts water heights and flooding in coastal
areas under storm conditions (near real-time);
multi-state effort (LA, NC, MS, OK, private sector)
• Numerical Modeling for
Sustainable Wind Energy
• PIs: Jim Chen, Robert Twilley
DHS Impact Award, 2012

15. Energy Research – DOE EFRC
• Center for Atomic Level Catalyst Design – DOE
Energy Frontier Research Center (PI: Jerry
Spivey, LSU) – a multi-university effort
– Catalysts are critical to the development of virtually
every energy resource
– Develop computational methods to accurately model
catalytic reactions
– Prepare catalysts identified by simulation through new
tools of materials synthesis and characterization
• 9 LSU faculty, 2 from Grambling, 12 from
elsewhere; several graduate students
(http://www.efrc.lsu.edu/)

16. Computing across Arts, Humanities

17. Digital Media - Education
• New graduate program in Digital Media Arts and Engineering
(video game design) starting fall
– Recently hired a director of the Digital Media Arts and Engineering
program
– Inter-disciplinary graduate program (College of Engineering, School of
Art, School of Music, …) that focuses on computation, creativity and
collaboration with a focus on industry
– Synergy with the arrival of EA Sports, Louisiana Film Industry
• Undergraduate Digital Media Minors (Arts, Engineering)
– Students take foundation courses in the arts and computer
programming, then three courses in digital media within their area of
focus and one course from the other area of focus
– Students meet in a senior capstone course that engages both arts and
technology applications in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects

18. Scholarship in the Humanities and
Social Sciences
Jerry Kennedy
Department of English

19. Why do the humanities
and social sciences matter?
College of H&SS includes
Communication Sciences & Disorders
Communication Studies
English
Foreign Languages & Literatures
French Studies
Geography & Anthropology
History
Philosophy & Religious Studies
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
ROTC
Contributions to higher education
& broader society
• Knowledge of human cultures
– National, global diversity
– Languages; political systems, etc
• Intellectual and practical skills
– Inquiry and analysis
– Critical & creative thinking
– Oral, written, technological communication skills
– Visual and information literacy
– Problem solving
• Personal, social, and global responsibility
– Civic engagement
– Intercultural understanding
– Ethical reasoning and action
• Higher education is about more than enterprise and
economic growth.
• But H&SS also cultivates skills employers most desire.

20. Research
in H&SS
• Some H&SS research involves empirical methods, with
hard evidence, data analysis, experiments.
• Much H&SS research involves library/archival research;
applying interpretive, analytical, and/or historical
methods; finding “lost” materials, hidden connections.
• Nearly all H&SS research aims for insight into human
nature, behavior, identity, experience, and/or history.
• Groundbreaking research may question familiar
assumptions, discover new meanings in artifacts and
texts, or discern revealing patterns in cultural history.
H&SS external
funding: $5M-6M per
yr. avg.; total awards
ca. 70
fellowships, grants

21. Research in English

22. Current major research projects:
1. Strange Nation: Literary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict in the Age of
Poe, under contract to Oxford UP
2. The American Novel to 1870, co-edited with Leland Person, Vol. 5, Oxford
History of the Novel in English, forthcoming Oxford UP
3. The Letters of Ernest Hemingway, 1923-25, Vol. 2, forthcoming Cambridge UP
4. Poe’s Republic of Letters: A Digital Archive of Antebellum Print Culture

23. Poe’s Republic of Letters
U.S. Authors ca. 1850

24. Undergraduate (UG) Research at LSU
Randy Duran
Office of Undergraduate Research

25. - UGs are “job one” at LSU
- UG Research has a proven track record at all campuses
UG Research increases productivity by involving its
largest population in LSU’s research/scholarship mission
• Inquiry and analysis
• Information literacy
• Problem solving
• Ethical reasoning
• Critical thinking
• Creative thinking
- LSU-CREATE (UG research), the SACS-COC QEP topic 2014-19
- Aligns with Association of American Colleges and
Universities (AACU) “essential learning outcomes”

26. In Louisiana
Undergrad Research at LSU
Connects Students and Faculty
UG Research Effectively Connects Distant Communities
Across the USA
Around the world
R. Duran rduran@lsu.edu

27. Undergrad Research at LSU
Louisiana’s unique private-public opportunity: enhanced
learning environments while supporting
scholarship and workforce needs
Example: “The Keck Louisiana Delta Research
Collaborative” around a new research minor -
Chevron, Environmental Research
Management (ERM), Eskew, Dumez, Ripple
(EDR), and the Water Institute of the Gulf, Dow
Chem., Albemarle, BASF, Toxicological &
Environmental Associates, Inc. (TEA), Burk-
Kleinpeter, Inc., and Forte & Tablanda
UG Research Connects LSU Students and Faculty to Industry
R. Duran rduran@lsu.edu