Academics & Research Coronavirus News

$1M research fund will focus on coronavirus, racism

The $1 million fund was made to encourage faculty members to research the coronavirus and racism. | Christopher Charleston/The Cougar

The $1 million fund was made to encourage faculty members to research the coronavirus and racism. | Christopher Charleston/The Cougar

A $1 million dollar fund to support faculty research on racism and COVID-19 will be launched at the University, President Renu Khator announced following a similar research fund started by Rice University.

As the latest addition to the Division of Research’s internal awards, the “Grants to Enhance Research on COVID-19” and the “Grants to Enhance Research on Racism” are initiatives by Khator to encourage more faculty to directly address systematic racism and the pandemic.

The fund will be equally divided between both initiatives.

“These are the Division of Research’s existing funds that weren’t allocated, so the President allocated them for those internal award initiatives,” said the associate vice president for research Jack Fletcher, who manages the processes of the internal awards.

“But they are not from the CARES fund or our endowment,” Fletcher added.

Faculty members from all colleges may team up in groups to compete for the grants. Community organizations are also eligible to apply.

“We are a Carnegie Tier-One research University and we have a long standing focus on diversity, so the University of Houston is well poised to address these types of issues,” Fletcher said.

Participants may utilize the campus including labs, offices and theaters that are most appropriate for the research but there’s not a designated research building, according to Fletcher.

The application process is still ongoing but he has received many questions of interest from faculty, Fletcher said.

Faculty have until Aug. 3 to submit their research proposals for both grants.

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