Digging Into China: Faculty Respond Enthusiastically to New Research Grant Program

As part of its ongoing initiative to elevate UC’s engagement with China, UC International today announced winners of its first UC|21 Alignment Grants for Research in China. These grants will be used for collaborative research in China over the next 12 months.

The grants have been made available to faculty to initiate collaborative activity at Chinese institutions which have been identified as important to UC’s strategy in China. Selections were made by a committee composed of Vice Provost International Mitch Leventhal, Director of UC International Programs Susan Bacon, Associate Vice President for Research Paul Bishop and Senior Associate Dean of Business Bill Whitaker.

Typical of the enthusiasm for reaching out to China from the UC faculty is Ben Uwakweh, head of the Construction Science department in the College of Applied Science. He and two colleagues won a grant that will focus on Chinese construction industry effectiveness.

"China is a great opportunity – it’s the biggest construction laboratory in the world," said Uwakweh. "The projects going on there are excellent instructional opportunities for our students here, and secondarily, it provides a win-win opportunity for UC and those institutions we are partnering with. That’s why we’re making this effort."

Dozens of research proposals were received. Sixteen separate projects were funded, involving 22 scholars from seven colleges.

Grants range from $2,500 to $5,000 per project. Research duration ranges from between two to eight weeks. Grant recipients, the titles of their projects and their partner institutions include:

• Qi Jiang of CCM's Dance Department, "Establishing Collaboration with the Beijing Dance Academy," partnering with Beijing Dance Academy
• Kenneth L. Weiss of the Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, "Advanced Medical Image Processing -- A UC Collaborative Effort with Chinese Scholars and Universities," partnering with Beijing Jiaotong University
• Yanling Wang and Sooshin Choi of DAAP's School of Design, "A Design Research Workshop on Aging Consumers in China," partnering with Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
• Dong Qian of Mechanical Engineering, "A Study on the Interaction Between Carbon-based Nanomaterial & Biological Cells," partnering with Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Carla Chifos of DAAP's School of Planning, "Linking Regional Sustainable Development & Cultural Heritage Preservation: The Case of China," partnering with Shandong University
• Judy Murnan and Manoj Sharma of CECH's Health Promotion & Education program, "Using Social Cognitive Theory to Predict Childhood Obesity Prevention Behaviors Among Primary School Students in China and Compare with Similar Data from the United States," partnering with Beijing Normal University
• Ben Uwakweh, J.D. Coleman and Hazem Elzarka of CAS' Construction Science program, "Evaluating Chinese Construction Industry Effectiveness: A Case Study," partnering with Shandong University
• David J. Edelman and Roger Barry of DAAP's School of Planning, "Urban & Regional Planning in Shandong Province," partnering with Shandong University
• Min Liu of the College of Medicine, "Obesity Prevention and Treatment Using Both Traditional Chinese and Western Medicines," partnering with Shandong University
• Xiaodong Lin of A&S' Mathematical Sciences department, "Multimedia Information Retrieval, Processing and Privacy Preservation," partnering with Shandong University and Shanghai Jiaotong University
• Jintai Ding of A&S' Mathematical Sciences department, "Post-quantum Cryptography," partnering with the Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Lin Liu of A&S' Geography department, "Applications of Geographic Information Systems to Studying Urban Growth in Guangzhou & Cincinnati," partnering with Sun Yat-sen University
• Bingjing Su of Nuclear Engineering, "Collaboration with Tsinghua University on On-line Pebble Red Nuclear Reactor Fuel Measurement," partnering with Tsinghua University
• Mingming Lu and Tim C. Keener of Environmental Engineering, "The Impact of Air Pollution on Chinese World Heritage Sites: Preparation of a Joint Workshop Between Chinese & U.S. Experts," partnering with Tsinghua University and Xi'an International Studies University
• Dan Ralescu of A&S' Mathematical Sciences department, "Applications of a Unified Theory of Uncertainty," partnering with Tsinghua University, Beijing University of Technology and University of International Business & Economics
• Wim J. van Ooij of Chemical & Materials Engineering, "Silane Research," partnering with Zheijiang University

"We were impressed by the breadth of interest from the faculty and the kind of ideas they put forward," said grant committee member Paul Bishop. "Right now, we need to do the field work of getting people on both sides to know each other. We think by this time next year, they will all know where the opportunities are and can put programs in place to address them. We’re looking forward to seeing the establishment of research ties and to getting the research process moving forward."

UC’s first comprehensive partner university in China, Shandong University, will receive the largest number of UC scholars, with six projects planned as part of this program. Several other scholars may visit Shandong for short duration guest lectures.

Among those headed to Shandong is David Edelman, director of the School of Planning from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. He and colleague Roger Barry will be visiting in July the cities of Jinan and Weihei, large urban centers in Shandong province.

Even before this year’s UC involvement with China, the School of Planning was beginning cooperative work with Shandong University to develop an urban planning program. "This will be at least the fourth visit by our faculty already," said Edelman. "Roger and I will be doing a survey of planning in the province to see what they are doing and what the needs are. Our Chinese colleagues are eager to start accepting students, but there’s a lot of preparation to be done. We will also be getting the Joint Center for Urban Research off the ground. Eventually, we hope to help train their faculty through our doctorate program, as well as host up-and-coming professionals in city planning from the province as they pursue master’s degrees."

Qi Jiang, an associate professor of dance in UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, received a grant to pursue partnership with a school where he once studied, Beijing Dance Academy, the most renowned center for dance in the country. "It’s a very successful school, so we’d like to pursue the possibility of teacher exchange and student exchange," Jiang said. "We’ve thought about possibly doing this for a while, and now we are also talking with Shandong University, which could be another excellent opportunity for us."

Scholars will be working with one – and in some cases, multiple – collaborating universities. Wherever possible, they may also visit other Chinese institutions as a guest lecturer.

"These faculty members have been selected on the strength of their proposals and their willingness to act as ambassadors for UC in China, as we strengthen our focus and relationships," said Leventhal. "It is our hope that substantial outcomes result from this investment, in the form of publications, workshops and, in the future, successful joint research proposals to major international funding agencies."