Awards & Honors

President’s Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Awards

The President’s Excellence in Research and Creative Activities (ERCA) Awards recognize consistently outstanding accomplishments in research and creative activities conducted by UAlbany faculty.  

Faculty members are nominated by their colleagues for this award. Review ERCA nomination instructions.

Additionally, each year, the Provost’s Office submits the top three eligible ERCA recipients for the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship & Creative Activities (ESCA). 
 

2023 ERCA Awardees

Victor Asal, Professor of Political Science

Andrew Berglund, Professor of Biological Sciences and director of the RNA Institute

Bradley Armour-Garb, Professor of Philosophy

Youqin Huang, Professor of Geography and Planning

Satyendra Kumar, Associate Vice President for Research & Economic Development and Director of the Ion Beam Lab

Liming Zhou, Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences

2023 ESCA Awardees

Rabi Ann Musah, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Mathias Vuille, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences

Yiming Ying, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences

Faculty Research Award Programs

The Faculty Research Awards Programs (FRAP) provides seed funding for faculty members’ research and creative activities. Awards are separated into two categories: FRAP-A and FRAP-B. 

Faculty members apply for the awards. Review FRAP application guidelines.
 

2021-2022 FRAP-A Awardees

College of Arts and Sciences 

  • John Welch – Professor, Chemistry
    “Characterization of High Performance Polymers for Aerospace Applications”
     

College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity  

  • Sam Jackson – Assistant Professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity  
    “Investigating QAnon on Twitter”
     

Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy     

  • Dina Refki – Clinical Associate Professor, Public Administration & Policy
    “Measuring Social Cohesion, Inclusive Governance and Integration of New Americans”
     

School of Business 

  • Jungwon Kuem – Assistant Professor, Information Security and Digital Forensics
    “The Effects of Antiphishing Training and Organizational Practices on Antiphishing Performance in the Era of COVID-19”
     

School of Education 

  • Erica Barnes – Associate Professor, Literacy Teaching and Learning     
    “From Words to Wisdom Professional Development” 

2021-2022 FRAP-B Awardees

College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Marilyn Masson – Professor, Anthropology
    "Rural Maya Demographic Cycles, Collapse, Recovery, and Resiliency in Yucatan from A.D. 800-1500"

  • Masahiro Yamamoto – Assistant Professor, Communication
    "Expectancy Violations as a Way to Improve Trust in Out-Party News Outlets" 

  • Fan Yang – Assistant Professor, Communication 
    "Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation in the Spread of Misinformation and Its Intervention on Social Media” 

  • Thomas Bass – Professor, English 
    "Argonauts of the Anthropocene: Learning to Live in the Atomic World"     

  • Kir Kuiken – Associate Professor, English 
    "2022 IMEC Translation and Publication Working Group" 

  • Alexander Buyantuev – Associate Professor, Geography and Planning 
    "A data request for local food systems research: economic conditions of a local food system before and during COVID-19" 

  • Maeve Kane – Professor, History 
    "The Capacious Sacrament of Necessity: Community Formation in Early American Baptismal Networks"    

  • Dev Dalal – Associate Professor, Psychology     
    "Why Do Employees Churn? Career and Organizational Commitment as Mediators of the relation between Regulatory Foci and Turnover Intentions"  

  • Jason Randall – Assistant Professor, Psychology 
    "Mindfulness-Based Diversity Training"     
     

School of Criminal Justice, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

  • Patricia Strach – Professor, Political Science  
    "Learning through the Opioid Epidemic" 
     

University Libraries 

  • Priscilla Seaman – Senior Assistant Librarian, Collections 
    "Building Bridges: Promoting Subject-Specific Library Resources from the Student Perspective" 

  • Angela Hackstadt – Subject Librarian for Political Science, Public Policy, Public Administration, and Law, Dewey Graduate Library 
    "The role of scholarly communication and digital scholarship services in connecting research to policy and practice"  

  • Gregory Wiedeman – University Archivist, Special Collections & Archives 
    "Defining Archival Discovery and Delivery Costs and Resources in New York State"   

Seed Funding Program

Aligning UAlbany Strengths with National Funding Priorities 

The Division for Research and Economic Development’s nonrecurring seed funding programs help UAlbany faculty members and researchers respond to specific thematic opportunities.  

The current seed funding program was launched in Fall 2021 to prepare the University for new funding available under the federal CHIPS and Science Act. Seed funding supports cross-disciplinary teams as they apply for major federal grants ($3 million minimum). 

The selected research projects rely on UAlbany faculty and researchers’ areas, advance novel research in UAlbany’s strategic areas, and address the nation’s most pressing scientific and societal challenges. 

Seed funding may only be used for expenses incurred during the proposal planning and preparation process. Proposals for new projects, to collect preliminary data and to establish feasibility are not eligible for seed funding.
 

Spring 2022 Seed Funding Awardees

"New York City Urban Integrated Field Laboratories (IFL)" 

Team Leader: Jorge Gonzalez-Cruz – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

Team: 

  • Chris Thorncroft – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

  • Jeff Freedman – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

  • Shao Lin – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

 

"Super-enhancer regulation of cancer metabolism" 

Team Leader: Jason Herschkowitz – Biomedical Sciences, Cancer Research Center, School of Public Health 

Team: 

  •  Douglas Conklin– Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health 

  • JoEllen Welsh – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

  • Ramune Reliene – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

  • BK Lee – Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health 

 

"Proposal to establish the Institute for Microbial Stress Response" 

Team Leader: Cheryl Andam – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

  • Thomas Begley – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Alex Valm – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Marlene Belfort – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Alexander Ciota – Biomedical Sciences and Wadsworth Center 

  • Nicholas Mantis – Biomedical Sciences and Wadsworth Center 

  • Yanna Liang– Environmental & Sustainable Engineering, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

  • Mathias Vuille – Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

 

"Center for Integrated Sensors, Screening, and Security (CIS3)" 

Team Leader: John Petrucelli – Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

  • Alexander Khmaladze – Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Benjamin Yankson – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

  • Brandon Behlendorf – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

  • Carolyn MacDonald – Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • DeeDee Bennett Gayle – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

  • Gary Ackerman – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

  • Igor Lednev – Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Jason D’Cruz – Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Lee Spitzley – Information Security & Digital Forensics, School of Business 

  • Ming-Ching Chang – Computer Science, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

  • Petko Bognaov – Computer Science, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

  • Sanjay Goel – Information Security & Digital Forensics, School of Business 

Fall 2021 Seed Funding Awardees

"Targeting Senescent Cells for Fibrotic Diseases"  

Team Leader: Melinda Larsen – Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

  • Gabrielle Fredman — Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany College of Medicine 

  • Juan Andre Melendez — College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute 

  • Scott Tenenbaum — College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute 

 

"Convergence Science for Extreme Weather Resiliency and Emergency Preparedness" 

Team Leader: Eric Stern – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: 

  • Chris Thorncroft – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

  • Ryan Torn – Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Amber Silver – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

  • Sheila Curran Bernard – History, College of Arts and Sciences 

  • Jorge Gonzalez-Cruz – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

  • Ryan Irwin – History, College of Arts and Sciences 

 

"NSF Institute for Resilient-AI in Crisis Decision-Making (INFORM)" 

Team Leader: Eric Stern – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: DeeDee Bennett Gayle – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

 

"Climate adaptation through process understanding, risk assessment, education, and public dialogue" 

Team Leader: Mathias Vuille – Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences 

Team: 

  • Alandeon Oliveira – Educational Theory & Practice, School of Education 

  • Shao Lin – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health 

  • Fangqun Yu – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

  • Catherine Lawson – Geography and Planning, College of Arts and Sciences 

 

"NYCAD: New York Center for Analytics in Disasters" 

Team Leader: DeeDee Bennett Gayle – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: 

  • Dola Saha – Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences 

  • Shao Lin – Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health  

  • Jerald Brotzge – Atmospheric Sciences Research Center 

     

“Artificial Intelligence Institute for Secure and Trustworthy Cyber-Systems" 

Team Leader: George Berg – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity 

Team: 

  • Unal Tatar – College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity  

  • Kajal Lahiri – Economics, School of Business  

  • Pradeep Atrey – Computer Science, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences 

Benevolent Association Research and Creative Activity Grant 

The University at Albany Benevolent Association provides funding for competitive grants up to $500 that support graduate research.   

Graduate students apply for the awards. Review Benevolent Association application guidelines.
 

2021-2022 Benevolent Association Awardees

Rachel Fay 
Biomedical Sciences  
“Unique interactions between temperature and mosquito population contribute to regional variability in vectorial capacity of Cx. pipiens for West Nile virus under climate change”            
 

Megan Willows 
Criminal Justice 
“Understanding Gendered Migration Services: Workers and Central American Migrants on Needs, Challenges, and Risks for Harm in Upstate New York Settlement”    
 

Deepti Sikri 
Economics  
“Effect of Macroprudential policy on Exchange Market Pressure”     
 

Jayanta Talukder 
Economics 
“Reverse Migration and Occupational Choice: Evidence from COVID-induced Lockdown in India” 
 

Simona Pesaresi 
Educational Theory and Practice         
“Dissertation Project: Regulation of a shared focus in open-ended collaborative inquiry”     
 

Narcisa Nunez 
Latin American, Caribbean and US Latino Studies  
“Dissertation Research on the Legacies of the Trujillo Dictatorship”  
 

Yongjin Choi 
Public Administration and Policy 
“The Association Between the Social Construction of the Target Population and People's Approval of Policy Action”     
 

Miyeun Jung 
Public Administration and Policy 
“The Impact of Childrearing on a Participation of Labor Market of Women: Evidence from United States and South Korea” 
 

Hao Sun 
Public Administration and Policy 
“Organization Change and Institutional Environment – Employee Influence and Financial Management of Public Retirement Systems in the U.S.” 

Albert Mossin Physical and Life Sciences Endowment Scholarship 

The Albert Mossin Scholarship covers tuition, textbooks and supplies for a full-time UAlbany student who is starting their first year of graduate studies in physics or biology and is pursuing projects that make significant use of mathematical and computational methods.  

Students are nominated annually by their department chairs. 
 

2021 Albert Mossin Scholarship Awardee

George Homenides  
Physics, College of Arts and Sciences 
“Search for Dark Matter with LZ”