Research programs are the means by which the University contributes to the generation as well as to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge. With nationally-recognized programs in many areas and funding from government, industry, and other private sources for many, the research effort of the University is strong and diversified and provides special learning opportunities for students as discoveries are made.
In addition to the extensive work performed by faculty through individual and team efforts in academic departments, special programs of research are conducted by the University divisions described below.
The Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, a statewide unit of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, conducts scientific research on the dynamic environmental, economic, and social systems involved in the production, processing, marketing, and utilization of food and fiber.
The Experiment Station is one of the most comprehensive research organizations in Arkansas, with a faculty of approximately 200 doctorate-level scientists. It is an essential part of the research and technology infrastructure that supports Arkansas agriculture and the food and fiber sector, which together account for more than 25 percent of the state's economy.
Experiment Station research is conducted in agricultural and environmental sciences, marketing and economics, social issues affecting rural families, nutrition, microbiology, genetics, computer technology, molecular biology, and other dynamic scientific disciplines.
Many Experiment Station scientists are also on the teaching faculty of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences. The result is a wealth of opportunity for students to study and work with some of the nation's most respected scientists. Graduate students work on master's thesis and doctoral dissertation research projects as a part of a team of Experiment Station scientists in modern laboratories, greenhouses, and field research facilities.
Experiment Station research is closely coordinated with the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Together, they comprise the statewide UA Division of Agriculture.
The mission of the Division of Agriculture, through the combined efforts of the Experiment Station and Extension Service, is to provide new knowledge to strengthen the state's food and fiber sector; assure a safe food supply; conserve natural resources and protect the environment; and assist in the economic and social development of communities, families, and individuals, particularly in the rural areas of the state.
The Arkansas Archeological Survey is a research and public service organization charged by the legislature with statewide responsibility for conserving and investigating the state's archeological heritage, and with making information on this rich heritage available to all. To this end it has an extensive publication and public relations program. It has a staff of 40 (approximately half of whom are professional archeologists) and is recognized as one of the most effective state-supported archeological research organizations in the country.
The Survey's Coordinating Office on the Fayetteville campus consists of the Director, the State Archeologist, computer services, editorial, campus graphics, and other support staff. There are also several research archeologists who carry out archeological investigations under contracts as required by law to protect the state's archeological resources. There is a Station Archeologist at each of nine research stations around the state, including the Fayetteville campus, who are available for graduate guidance.
The Survey works closely with the University's Department of Anthropology in training students. It cooperates with the State Historic Preservation Officer and other state agencies and trains and assists citizen groups interested in archeological conservation. The Arkansas Archeological Survey is a separate University-wide administrative unit with the Director responsible to the Board of Trustees through the President.
The Arkansas Center for Technology Transfer (ACTT), established by the College of Engineering in 1984, coordinates technical efforts and forms working partnerships with interested Arkansas industries statewide to improve processes and help solve technical problems. (The mission of ACTT is to increase the economic well-being of the citizens of Arkansas by providing technical assistance and training to industries of the State.) Its work is conducted by the specialized units described below. (ACTT is one of the premiere technical assistance centers west of the Mississippi River.)
The Center for Manufacturing Technology maintains a large variety of equipment and has the ability to provide direct problem-solving help to Arkansas industries having specific problems in their operations. The Center encourages manufacturing firms to use the lab's resources and equipment to simulate production problems to study possible solutions prior to investing capital. This option allows clients a truly unbiased, low-risk evaluation of technologies available.
The Industrial Training Laboratory specializes in the design and development of computer-based training programs. Computer Based Training (CBT) combines sound, still pictures, video, animation, and graphics in a variety of customized, interactive, instructional, and electronic performance support applications. The Lab serves as a forum for educational seminars on topics related to training and multimedia design, and as a showcase for emerging instructional technologies.
Engineering Extension Service provides short-term assistance to Arkansas businesses, industries, or local governments in seeking solutions to technical problems. Full-time professional engineers are available to help clients throughout the entire state.
The Coop Unit is a cooperative venture among the U.S. Geological Survey, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the University of Arkansas. The Arkansas Unit was established in 1988 and is part of a network of cooperative fish and wildlife research units that exist in 41 state land-grant colleges across the United States. The purpose of the Coop Unit program is to conduct applied and basic fish and wildlife research, to train graduate students in research and management methods, and to participate in graduate education and technical assistance. The three Unit leaders are federal employees stationed at the University in order to obtain grants to fund and oversee graduate student research.
The Arkansas Household Research Panel (AHRP) is a continuing project of the Department of Marketing and Transportation. AHRP consists of several hundred Arkansas households that respond to quarterly questionnaires.
The AHRP has been used for both academic, student, and business-related research. The Panel's funding comes from the professional fees that are generated.
The Arkansas Water Resources Center, established by Public Law in 1964, utilizes scientific personnel and facilities of all campuses of the University (and other Arkansas colleges and universities) in maintaining a water resources research program. The Center supports specific research projects throughout the State which often provide research training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and also disseminates information on water resources.
Federal, state, municipal, educational, and other public groups concerned with water resources also participate in the program of the Center.
The Bessie Boehm Moore Center for Economic Education, established in 1978, promotes an understanding of the American economy among the people of Arkansas. Its major efforts are directed to elementary and secondary school children. The center's faculty and staff hold workshops and seminars for public school teachers, conduct research in economic education, develop instructional materials, maintain a lending library, and sponsor adult economic educational programs for business, labor, industry, and the general community. The Center has been officially certified by the Arkansas Council on Economic Education and National Council on Economic Education.
The Biomass Research Center currently houses the Food Safety Laboratory which includes the Hybridoma Laboratory, the Water Quality Laboratory, the Agricultural Research Services Laboratory, and two of the entrepreneurial clients of Genesis.
The Bureau of Business and Economic Research is both a student-faculty research center and a public service unit. An integral part of the College of Business Administration, the Bureau promotes research of business and economic conditions in Arkansas and the staff responds to daily requests for state and local economic and demographic data.
Arrangements through the Bureau enable faculty and students to conduct research in their fields of interest. In this regard, the Bureau maintains an electronic database library of economic and financial information to serve the needs of students and faculty. Additionally, the Bureau works on projects with state agencies such as the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration to solve problems and address issues of Arkansas' business and economy.
The Bureau publishes the Arkansas Business and Economic Review, a quarterly business and economics journal,which is dedicated to providing information about Arkansas' business and economic environment. The Review covers state, regional, and national business and economic issues. It includes state and regional economic indices relating to personal income, industrial output, employment, population, and other factors.
The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST), established in 1991, is an element of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences but has a campuswide role with the active involvement of the Fulbright College, the College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Business Administration, and the School of Architecture. CAST focuses on making Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related technologies available to a wide audience through research, undergraduate and graduate education, spatial data distribution, technology transfer, professional education, digital photogrammetry, remote sensing and interoperability.
The more than 30 CAST staff members come from diverse backgrounds such as architecture, archeology, agronomy, geography, forestry, wildlife biology, social sciences, surveying, engineering, geology, computer science, landscape architecture, remote sensing, photo interpretation and historic preservation.
The National Center for Resource InnovationsSouthwest (NCRI-SW) is one of six regional centers throughout the U.S. whose mission is to transfer GIS and related technologies to county and local governments. Established at the University of Arkansas in 1990, NCRI -SW became part of CAST in 1991.
A multidisciplinary agency within the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies encourages research, publication and dissemination of knowledge about life and culture in Arkansas and the surrounding region. The Center sponsors lectures, seminars, conferences, radio programs and international student exchanges. The Center also produces workshops and audio and video documentary recordings, and works with Mullins Library to locate and collect Arkansiana and other historical materials to uncover and preserve state history.
In 1989, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees designated poultry science for development as a center of excellence in the state's university system. The Center of Excellence for Poultry Science became a reality with the formation of the Department of Poultry Science in 1992.
In addition to faculty members from the poultry science department, the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science has full-time faculty in a USDA/ARS Poultry Research group with multidisciplinary contributions from faculty in several University departments including agronomy, animal science, biological and agricultural engineering, biological sciences, entomology, food science, and industrial engineering, and from the School of Human and Environmental Sciences and from the UALR College of Pharmacy.
The poultry science department and the research group are housed in the John W. Tyson Building, a 112,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art laboratory and office complex opened in fall 1995 on Maple Street on the UA campus. Additional facilities include:
There are also plans for a poultry care research facility.
A major in poultry science provides the scientific and technical education to prepare students for positions of leadership and responsibility in the expanding fields of poultry processing, marketing and production, as well as in the specialized areas of breeding and genetics, nutrition, physiology, poultry health, poultry business management and food science. Students in poultry science can also meet all pre-veterinary and pre-medical requirements necessary for entry into those professional areas.
Providing managerial and leadership training programs, the Center for Management and Executive Development (CMED) works with a variety of businesses and organizations throughout the world to improve their management techniques and the overall health of their companies.
As a lifelong learning opportunity center, CMED provides general and custom-designed training programs to meet clients' needs. CMED conducts informational seminars on supervisory and managerial topics relevant to today's business leaders.
The Center for Protein Dynamics is an interdisciplinary unit for research and teaching within the departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Biological Sciences in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. The Center raises funds from federal, state, and private sources and sponsors faculty- and student-initiated basic research on the properties of protein molecules and their diverse functions in biological systems.
The Center for Transportation Research provides transportation faculty to the Department of Marketing and Transportation, where it is administratively housed. Other Center activities include research and public service.
The Center is headed by the holder of the Oren Harris Chair of Transportation. The Center and the Harris Chair are totally supported by an endowment in excess of $2 million.
Supply Chain Management is the integration of business processes that provide products, services and information which add value for customers. The Supply Chain Management Research Center coordinates research efforts, supports seminars, and develops educational programs related to Supply Chain Management. The Center most often works with firm interrelationship and marketing channels/logistics questions. The Center coordinates its efforts with other courses and centers at the University of Arkansas and at other universities.
Established in 1965, this national center conducts research, training, dissemination, and technical assistance to enhance the employability development and employment of citizens with disabilities. Faculty are housed at both the Fayetteville campus and the Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center.
Established in 1974, this center provides human resources development programming for personnel employed in rehabilitation programs funded by the Rehabilitation Act. These programs include: state vocational rehabilitation agencies, independent living centers, community rehabilitation programs, client assistance programs, and projects with industries in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Center is located at the Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Established in 1981, this national center conducts research and training programs to enhance rehabilitation efforts on behalf of the 24 million U.S. citizens who are deaf or hard of hearing. These programmatic efforts are directed toward enhancing the career preparation, job entry and placement, career advancement, and workplace communication accommodations consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Center is located in Little Rock and also operates two graduate training programs in deafness rehabilitation at that location.
Research is a major function of each of the faculties within the seven departments in the College of Engineering. Research coordination is achieved through the Engineering Experiment Station, which was established for that purpose by an act of the Arkansas Legislature in 1920.
The departments--Biological & Agricultural, Chemical, Civil, Computer Systems, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering--conduct research over a broad spectrum of subjects within the areas. Faculty members are supported for pursuing research interests along with their regular duties of teaching, and each also participates, as appropriate, in the Engineering Extension program where research results are put into practice. Projects calling for innovative research and development in solving problems include such areas as solarcells, hazardous gas dispersion, automated systems, gas membrane separation, ultra-filtration, bio-separation, chemodynamics, fossil fuels, chemical catalysis, multi-chip module fabrication, superconductivity, combustion, nuclear radiation calibration, logistics, improved pavement systems, advanced transportation management systems, hazardous waste mediation. health sciences, and environmental problems. Considerable research is also carried out for private industry in solving its specific problems.
The Engineering Research Center provides the facilities and support services for a wide variety of research activities of the College of Engineering. The Research Center houses the Engineering Experiment Station through which all of the research of the individual departments of the college is handled, the Genesis Technology Incubator program, the Southwestern Regional Calibration Center, the High Density Electronics Center, the Arkansas Center for Technology Transfer, the Industrial Training Laboratory, the Center for Interactive Technology, the Systems Technology Laboratory, the Highway Construction Materials Laboratory, the Hydrology Laboratory, the Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Laboratory and the Engineering Extension Office.
The Research Center is a modern 166,000 sq. ft. facility on 26 acres located approximately two miles south of the main campus.
An interdisciplinary unit within the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Fulbright Institute of International Relations encourages student and faculty research and scholarly analysis of foreign policy and international affairs.
The Institute sponsors instructional activities, conferences, seminars, public events, and publications, including a major spring symposium on a significant topic in international affairs. The Institute--a center for scholars and researchers from around the world--also sponsors a Visiting Fellows Program which brings national and international scholars, journalists, and professionals to the campus.
Several academic programs are within the Institute, including Asian Studies, European Studies, Latin American Studies, Middle East Studies, and Russian Studies. The Institute's Office of Study Abroad and International Exchange coordinates a number of overseas programs and provides support services for students interested in study abroad. In conjunction with Mullins Library, the Institute also oversees the papers of J. William Fulbright, longest-serving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
With its goal to have a positive impact on Arkansas' employment, economic future, and social environment, the Genesis project is designed to help reduce the failure rate of new companies. The project nurtures fledgling technology-based businesses by providing a wide range of professional and technical expertise, marketing, and financial advice, as well as shared services and office space to lower the business' overhead cost.
Genesis was established in 1986 through funding from the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority. Since its inception, 40 companies have been founded through Genesis, employing more than 400 Arkansans, and it has been a recipient of the National Incubator of the Year Award for the best overall program in the United States.
The High Density Electronics Center (HiDEC) was established in 1991 as an interdisciplinary research program in advanced electronic packaging technologies, particularly the rapidly developing technology of Multichip Modules (MCMs), which allows electronic systems to be smaller, faster, and cheaper. With generous support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a large clean room was constructed and an MCM fabrication facility, unique among universities, was installed.
Current research programs focus on High Temperature Superconducting (HTSC) MCMs, synthetic diamond substrates for MCMs, and cost reduction methods for conventional MCMs. The program involves faculty from six departments, and over 25 graduate students. Continuing funding comes from DARPA and several industrial sponsors. Significant national recognition has resulted from HiDEC work.
The goal of The Logistics Institute (formerly the Materials Handling Research Center) is to provide undergraduate, graduate, and professional logistics education and research that lead to world-class logistics practices. Sponsored by member companies and the National Science Foundation, the Institute conducts contract, consortium, and inter-university research in all areas of logistics, offers academic and professional programs in logistics, and serves as a focal point for undergraduate and graduate programs in logistics. The Institute's research is conducted on the University of Arkansas and Georgia Tech campuses in the areas of material handling and logistics systems.
The Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center (MBTC) was established by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide educational opportunities and conduct research in the area of rural transportation. Additional support is received from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
The broad objective of the Center is to improve the quality of life in rural areas through transportation. The educational objective is to provide graduates qualified to enter the transportation-related professions with the diversity of backgrounds needed to lead transportation development into the 21st century. Although housed within the Department of Civil Engineering, MBTC's activities are not limited to engineering. All disciplines related to or impacted by transportation participate in MBTC research and educational activities.
Since 1948, the University of Arkansas has been a member of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). ORAU is a consortium of colleges and universities and a management and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, ORAU works with its member institutions to help students and faculty gain access to federal research facilities throughout the country; to keep its members informed of opportunities for fellowship, scholarship and research appointments; and to organize research alliances among its members.
Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the DOE facility that ORAU manages, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates and faculty have access to a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Students can participate in programs covering a wide variety of disciplines including business, earth sciences, epidemiology, engineering, physics, geological sciences, pharmacology, ocean sciences, biomedical sciences, nuclear chemistry and mathematics. Appointment and program length range from one month to four years. Many of these programs are especially designed to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority students pursuing degrees in science- and engineering-related disciplines. A comprehensive listing of these programs and other opportunities, their disciplines, and details on locations and benefits can be found in the Resource Guide, available on the World Wide Web at http://www.orau.gov/orise/resgd/htm.
For more information about ORAU and its programs, contact Dr. Collis R. Geren at the University of Arkansas, ORAU Council member, at (479) 575-5901.
The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides small business consulting and technical assistance to the business community of northwest Arkansas. The SBDC serves as the focal point for linking together resources of the federal, state and local governments with resources of the University, the College of Business Administration and the private sector. These resources are utilized to counsel and train small businesses in resolving organizational, financial, marketing, technical and other problems they might encounter. The SBDC offers free consulting services to small business clients. Seminars for small businesses are offered on a wide range of topics. Small Business Administration publications and other guides are available in the SBDC Resource Center.
The University Research Council recommends policies to encourage research, establish a research environment, and provide research support facilities; recommends the types of research to be conducted within the University; serves as a review board for proposed research programs and facilities; recommends proposed research programs and facilities; recommends adjudication of variances to policies and procedures; and supervises the approved policies.
Membership consists of a faculty member active in research from each of the Colleges of Agriculture and Home Economics, Business Administration, Education, and Engineering, and one from the sciences and one from another research area in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; one student; ex officio (voting), the Director of Research and Sponsored Programs; and ex officio (non-voting), the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. The chairperson is designated by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. A secretary (non-voting) will be provided by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
The University patent and copyright policy, as established by the Board of Trustees, is summarized in the Faculty Handbook. A more detailed statement of this policy may be obtained from the chairman of the Patent and Copyright Committee.
Faculty members are advised that proposals and agreements for support must be approved by the Director of Research and Sponsored Programs as soon as a reasonable prospect for such support is recognized. Approval of the Graduate Council is also required if, under anticipated agreement, publication of theses and dissertations might be temporarily withheld.