The Office of the Vice President for Research has awarded approximately $3.2 million to 19 projects as part of the 2023 Research Infrastructure Investment Program. This program awards funding to projects supporting transdisciplinary research and collaboration across the University of Minnesota’s colleges and campuses.
The $3.2 million will support 19 projects across 23 departments, units, and centers at 10 colleges on two campuses. Supporting colleges or centers provided one-to-one matching funds for each award, resulting in just over $6.4 million in total funds awarded.
These awards will support initiatives impacting a variety of research areas, including the purchase of the GreenFeed system to expand research potential for measuring greenhouse gas emissions from cows and heifers; the establishment of a Spatial Maker Space to enable geospatial discovery at each stage of the research pipeline; the replacement of a 17-year-old confocal Raman microscope, which has been used by hundreds of University researchers; the expansion and enhancement of the equipment loan program at the University of Minnesota Healthy Weight Research Center; the creation of a biodegradation laboratory to screen new bio-based or sustainable materials; the purchase of a new small-animal imaging system, and more projects that will improve research infrastructure, facilities, and support services across the University.
The following is a brief descriptions of one of the highlighted projects selected for Research Infrastructure Investment Program awards in 2023. This award is designed to facilitate interdisciplinary partnerships and strengthen the University’s research infrastructure. One-to-one matching funds from the collaborating colleges, institutes and/or centers were required for funding eligibility.
Upgrade CMRR’s Core Computing Infrastructure to Align with University Security Policies
Kamil Ugurbil, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, MnDRIVE Neuromodulation Researcher, Medical School
Matching funds: Medical School
We are requesting funds to enhance the core computing infrastructure supporting the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. As the Center's research continues to expand, there is a corresponding increase in computing capacity, data storage and performance required to support this research. New challenges emerge in tandem with the growth, including identifying essential healthcare data challenges and security issues. In particular, in order to meet university PHI computing standards, the Center is required to update and expand the our current data center computing infrastructure that securely generates, stores, and processes the human dicom data pipeline. Along with the recently announced NIH data sharing requirements, the Center's computing infrastructure must be reorganized to support the multiple compliance and security mandates that we are being asked to meet.
