News from the Office of the Provost

A NOTE FROM THE PROVOST

This is a season for innovation and transition at Georgia State.

Georgia State’s spirit of innovation continues with the selection of research clusters in the fourth round of the Next Generation Program, addressing artificial intelligence, imaging innovations and quantum science. You can find more details about these exciting clusters in this edition.

As we prepare for the summer and the next academic year, we will make a transition of leadership in several areas. We are grateful for the contributions of members of the university’s academic and administrative leadership who are assuming leadership positions elsewhere or are continuing their teaching and research as they return to the university’s faculty.

Two of our key administrators are transitioning to new positions. James Weyhenmeyer has taken a position at Auburn University as Vice President for Research. Mary Beth Walker, associate provost for strategic initiatives and innovation, will be moving to California State University-Northridge this summer as its new provost and vice president for academic affairs. Kavita Pandit, associate provost for faculty affairs, will return to the faculty in the department of geosciences. We are grateful to each of them for their service to GSU and wish them well in their new endeavors.

In this edition, you’ll find more details about specific efforts to support our faculty through upcoming Faculty Teaching Fellowships through the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, as well as the university’s new grant to develop an inclusive and diverse STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) faculty.

You will also find more information about the recent Three Minute Thesis competition, where master’s and doctoral students learned to explain research to non-specialist audiences succinctly, as well as the increasing recognition of Georgia State’s graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report.

Finally, we have more news from the Next Generation Program, including recent cybersecurity research by Next Generation Program hire David Maimon with implications for confidentiality of online communications.

Thank you for all you do to continue Georgia State’s increasing reputation for innovation and excellence in teaching, research and scholarship.

Risa Palm
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

NEWS

• Fourth Round of Next Generation Program Clusters Announced
• Interim Leadership for Research, School of Public Health Named
• CETL Accepting Applications for Faculty Teaching Fellowships through May 3
• Georgia State Selected for New National Effort to Develop Inclusive, Diverse STEM Faculty
• Three-Minute Thesis Competition Winners Learn How to Explain Research to General Audiences
• Graduate Programs Ranked Among Nation’s Best by U.S. News & World Report
• Pre-Application Summer Workshop for Provost’s Faculty Fellowships To Be Held May 13-17

MORE NEWS FROM THE NEXT GENERATION PROGRAM

• Research: Exposing a Cybersecurity Vulnerability
• Second Century Initiative Faculty Profile: Angela Mabb
• Second Century Initiative Graduate Fellow: Olivia Tomeo

Fourth Round of Next Generation Program Clusters Selected

Georgia State University has selected three new research clusters as part of the fourth round of its ambitious Next Generation Program, dedicated to boosting the university’s reputation for pioneering, interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

The selected clusters include:

Artificial Intelligence Augmented Systems: Design and Application: This initiative will help to build Georgia State as a center of excellence in the design of artificial intelligence (AI) systems that augment human decision-making, while also leading in scholarship considering the pragmatic, ethical and societal implications of these systems. The initiative will focus on the design and application of AI in augmenting education, information technology, healthcare, financial technology and logistics. Departments involved include Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Psychology and Philosophy.

Quantum Science, Quantum Materials and Quantum Information: This initiative will expand upon Georgia State’s existing capabilities and achievements in quantum science, including inventions such as a quantum optical nano-generator called a spaser, and research that has resulted in innovations in ultrafast optics, quantum materials, infrared dyes and super-resolution microscopy. The cluster proposal will support faculty whose expertise is in the ultrafast optics of quantum materials, electron spectroscopies of two-dimensional and topological materials, and inorganic or colloidal chemistry who will develop technologies and further applications of spasers in theranostics and sensing. Departments and existing centers involved include Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and the Center for Nano-Optics.

Shared Vision: A Georgia State Imaging Innovation Hub: As imaging technology plays an increasing role in society and research, it is driving significant advances in nearly every technical field, including astronomy, medicine and security. The hub brings together existing research faculty exploring a wide range of digital imaging research, including imaging at the nano-particle level, remote sensing for biophysics and space sciences, digital pathology, brain imaging using magnetic resonance imaging and other tools. The hub will help Georgia State become home to high-profile, leading research with new approaches to acquire, process and characterize imaging data from the smallest to the largest scales. Departments involved in this hub include Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology and the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA).

For more information about the fourth-round selections, please visit https://nextgen.gsu.edu/2019/03/18/georgia-state-selects-research-clusters-in-fourth-round-of-the-next-generation-program/.

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CETL Accepting Applications for Faculty Teaching Fellowships through May 3

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is accepting applications for Faculty Teaching Fellowships, which support Georgia State faculty in advancing innovation and scholarship in the field of college teaching.

The fellowship includes $15,000 that can be used for a teaching release (with departmental approval), summer support, travel, research supplies, and/or a GRA/GTA line.

Awardees must be a full-time faculty member, serve as a teaching fellow by leading a Faculty Teaching & Learning Community (Faculty-TaLC), conduct research in the area of teaching and learning, demonstrate a commitment to excellence in college teaching, and participate in a scholarship of teaching and learning conference.

Nominees must submit a curriculum vitae that highlights teaching and research in the scholarship of teaching and learning and an online application that includes information on project design and budget. Applicants must apply for one of two tracks:

• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• College to Career

 Applications are due on May 3, 2019 via the iCollege “CETL Faculty Fellows” course page. If you cannot find the page in your iCollege course list, enter the name in the search box in iCollege. All instructors are automatically enrolled.

For more information or if you have questions, contact CETL Director Laura Carruth at [email protected]. Learn more about last year’s Faculty Teaching Fellows by visiting https://cetl.gsu.edu/programs-grants-awards/faculty-teaching-fellowships/.

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Georgia State Selected For New National Effort To Develop Inclusive, Diverse STEM Faculty

Georgia State University is one of 15 universities selected to participate in a national three-year program to increase the diversity of its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) faculty through improved recruitment, hiring and retention practices.

The National Science Foundation-funded program, called “Aspire: The National Alliance for Inclusive & Diverse STEM Faculty,” promotes inclusive teaching practices and diversity. The program’s ultimate aim is to attract underrepresented students—women, members of minority racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds—into STEM programs, retain them and help them graduate and succeed in a modern workforce.

The Aspire Alliance will provide participating institutions with comprehensive support and resources for institutional change that includes access to national partners who can offer concierge-style technical assistance. Aspire will also provide access to an institutional self-assessment for inclusive faculty hiring that the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) developed, a leadership institute to assist with professional development for existing faculty from underrepresented groups and a competitive funding program to foster new campus-based initiatives to diversify STEM faculty.

The 14 other public research universities participating in the inaugural institutional change effort are: California State University, Northridge; Cleveland State University; Florida State University; Montana State University; Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis; University of California, Irvine; University of Central Florida; University of Houston; University of Illinois; University of Oregon; University of South Carolina; the University of Texas at San Antonio; University of Vermont; and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Learn more at https://provost.gsu.edu/2019/02/28/georgia-state-selected-for-new-national-effort-to-develop-inclusive-diverse-stem-faculty/.

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Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Contestants Practice Explaining Research to Non-Specialist Audiences

Georgia State University graduate students took top prizes at the university’s Spring 2019 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on March 25, where they were challenged to explain their research and scholarship to a general audience in a short amount of time.

3MT is a research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland in Australia in 2008. The premise of the competition is to develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills. It supports the development of students’ capacities to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

Seven master’s and seven doctoral students from multiple disciplines competed; a panel of judges awarded first, second and third place prizes. The audience was also given a chance to weigh in and voted for a people’s choice award in each degree category. Support for the competition was provided by the University Library and the Office for the Associate Provost for Graduate Programs.

Winners included:

For a full list of finalists who competed in this year’s 3MT contest, please visit https://provost.gsu.edu/2019/03/07/spring-2019-three-minute-thesis-competition-finalists-announced-final-round-takes-place-march-25/.

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Graduate Programs Ranked Among Nation’s Best By U.S. News & World Report

Many of Georgia State University’s graduate programs ranked highly in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report magazine survey of “Best Graduate Schools.”

The magazine annually ranks undergraduate and graduate programs across the U.S., using qualitative and quantitative measures. Rankings of colleges and schools use both measures. Those of individual disciplines are based peer assessments by academics.

Georgia State has set a strategic goal to significantly strengthen and grow the base of distinctive graduate and professional programs that assure development of the next generation of researchers and societal leaders.

Programs ranking highly include studies in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, the College of Education and Human Development, the College of Law, and the Robinson College of Business.

The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies was ranked 21st among public affairs schools overall, and the College of Education and Human Development ranked 45th overall. The College of Law ranked 67th, and the information systems program in the Robinson College of Business ranked 13th.

Many other programs within the colleges ranked highly. For a full list of program rankings, please visit https://provost.gsu.edu/2019/03/13/graduate-programs-ranked-among-nations-best-by-u-s-news/.

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Pre-Application Summer Workshop for Provost’s Faculty Fellowships To Be Held May 13-17

The Office of Faculty Affairs is pleased to offer a one-week workshop in May for promising faculty members who may wish to submit a proposal for one of the two provost’s research fellowships next academic year. The workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., May 13-17 on the Atlanta Campus.

The two fellowships are the Provost’s Faculty Research Fellowship and the Provost’s Study in a Second Discipline Fellowship. Participants will engage in focused writing and review sessions with each participant completing a draft proposal. This workshop will prepare participants to apply for fellowships when submissions are accepted in the fall.

The workshop is open to tenured graduate faculty with active research records. Participating faculty will receive a summer stipend.

The deadline for applications is April 22. The workshop will be limited to 12 participants, so register early. More details about the workshop, including registration and stipends, are available at this link.

Contact Elizabeth West, Faculty Affairs Fellow, at [email protected] if you have questions.

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Research: Next Generation Program Cybersecurity Professor Exposes Vulnerability to Machine Identities

A study led by David Maimon, a Next Generation Program researcher in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, has found a thriving marketplace for SSL and TLS certificates—small data files used to facilitate confidential communication between organizations’ servers and their clients’ computers on a hidden part of the Internet.

Networked machines use keys and SSL/TLS certificates to identify and authenticate themselves when connecting to each other, much like humans employ user names and passwords to go online, according to Venafi®, a privately held provider of machine identity protection and sponsor of the research.

When these certificates are sold on the darknet, they are packaged with a wide range of crimeware that delivers machine identities to cybercriminals who use them to spoof websites, eavesdrop on encrypted traffic, perform attacks and steal sensitive data, among other activities.

The study was conducted by the university’s Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group and the University of Surrey. To learn more details about the research, visit https://news.gsu.edu/2019/03/08/a-georgia-state-cybersecurity-study-of-the-dark-web-exposes-vulnerability-to-machine-identities/.

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Second Century Initiative Faculty Q&A: Angela Mabb

Angela Mabb, an assistant professor of neuroscience, came to Georgia State under the second round of the Second Century Initiative (2CI), the predecessor of the Next Generation Program. Dr. Mabb recently discussed her research and scholarship for the Next Generation Program website, including her work to gain a basic understanding of nervous system disorders, including the ubiquitin pathway.

“Disruption in ubiquitin pathway signaling and mutations in ubiquitin genes are implicated in numerous neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and rare disorders like Gordon Holmes syndrome,” she said.

Dr. Mabb also discussed how she began her research career in neuroscience, as well as the collaborations she has built with Georgia State faculty across multiple disciplines, and with other researchers outside of the university.

Read the full Q&A at https://nextgen.gsu.edu/2019/02/19/2ci-faculty-qa-angela-mabb/.

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Second Century Initiative Graduate Fellow: Olivia Tomeo

Second Century Initiative (2CI) Fellow Olivia Tomeo is studying the relationship between hormones and risk-taking behavior through an interesting combination: monkeys, banana-flavored pellets, and a joystick.

Tomeo, from Fairfield, Conn., began her college career at Bucknell University where she received her bachelor’s degree in animal behavior and Spanish. She chose to attend Georgia State because of the resources available at the university’s Language Research Center as a part of the Cognitive Sciences program.

“The resources available through Georgia State’s Language Research Center played a huge role in why I decided to attend Georgia State,” she said. “I was specifically interested in the Cognitive Sciences program because it offered an interdisciplinary approach to what I’m interested in studying. It allows me to be able to conduct my research in new and exciting ways.”

Under the guidance of her advisor, Sarah Brosnan, Tomeo is investigating the hormonal underpinnings of risk-taking behavior, behavior in which performance of a task holds both the promise of personal success and risk of failure.

To read more, visit https://nextgen.gsu.edu/2019/02/11/2ci-fellow-studies-risky-behavior/.

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News from the Office of the Provost is a bimonthly e-newsletter highlighting news and activities in academic affairs at Georgia State University. For questions about the newsletter, email Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost, at [email protected]. To read past editions, visit https://provost.gsu.edu/news/newsletter/.