Announcements
College of Education Gets Record
Government STEM Research Funding
Federal funding for STEM research is making history for the College of Education at Purdue University.
The College of Education will receive $5.37 million for its work as part of
a consortium that received funding for a 10-year cooperative agreement. The
award is the largest single external funding contract received by the college.
Carla C. Johnson, associate dean for research, engagement and global part-
nerships, will work as the principal investigator for the grant, leading evalu-
ations of the U.S. Army’s Educational Outreach Program
(AEOP) and evaluations of their lasting impact on partici-
pating students.
AEOP is the largest global portfolio of STEM education programs. Its primary focus is to recruit and prepare
elementary-college students for careers in STEM fields.
Students are encouraged to participate in real-work STEM
experiences and Army-sponsored mentors.
“There are a large number of apprenticeships for college
students and high school students to work in STEM research
labs across the country on Army bases and at institutions of
higher education. We will be providing constructive feed-
back from our research that will work to improve these and other programs in
the portfolio,” Johnson says.
“Through our research activities, Purdue not only will determine annual
progress, but also will provide substantive feedback focused on continuous
program improvement and innovation.”
Battelle Memorial Institute leads the consortium, receiving $185.4 million in
funding from the Department of Defense for the agreement.
Purdue Study: Climate
Change Consensus Extends
Beyond Climate Scientists
A Purdue University-led survey of nearly
700 scientists from non-climate disciplines
shows that more than 90 percent believe that
average global temperatures are higher than
pre-1800s levels and that human activity has
significantly contributed to the rise.
The study is the first to show that consensus
on human-caused climate change extends
beyond climate scientists to the broader
scientific community, says Linda Prokopy, a
professor of natural resource social science.
“Our survey indicates that an overwhelming majority of scientists across disciplines
believe in anthropogenic climate change,
are highly certain of these beliefs and find
climate science to be credible,” Prokopy says.
“Our results also suggest that scientists who
are climate change skeptics are well in the
minority.”
Prokopy and fellow researchers conducted a
2014 survey of scientists from more than 10
non-climate disciplines at Big Ten universities
to determine the relative prevalence of belief
in, and skepticism of, climate change in the
scientific community.
Of 698 respondents, about 94 percent said
they believe average global temperatures
have “generally risen” compared with
pre-1800 levels, and 92 percent said they
believe “human activity is a significant
contributing factor in changing mean global
temperatures.”
NSF Awards $23 Million to Purdue’s Center
For Science of Information
Purdue University has been awarded $23 million
over the next five years from the National Science
Foundation (NSF) for the Center for Science of Information.
The NSF awarded Purdue $25 million in 2010 to
establish the center, which is the first and only National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center
in Indiana. The new grant extends the total span of
funding to 10 years, the maximum funding period for such centers.
The center’s focus is on the extension of classical information theory, which
led to basic technologies underlying digital communications – paving the way
for the Internet, mobile devices and the Internet of Things – to meet the new
challenges posed by the rapid expansion in the amount and complexity of
available data.
The center includes 11 other member institutions and brings together expertise in information theory, computer science, chemistry, economics, statistics,
life sciences, mathematics and physics. Its research has led to more than 200
journal publications, patents and partnerships with researchers across campus.
Finding solutions and harnessing the power and potential of big data is a key
part of the university’s Purdue Moves initiative.
Carla C. Johnson
Linda Prokopy