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Alumni Association Home > May-June 2009   Print View U News 5/6/2009 3:25 PM There Will Be a Quiz at the End: Members of the University of Minnesota community curious about the knowledge being created here strolled through Coffman Union’s Great Hall in April for a quick education. Swapna Bhagwanth (pictured), a graduate fellow in medicinal chemistry, explained her research involving a neurotransmitter that may help address disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. Others described their research into the threat of the Mediterranean pine engraver beetle in North America, the relationship between traumatic stress and modern poetics, and why U.S. policymakers often underestimate the long-term costs of military interventions. They were among more than 65 outstanding, final-year Ph.D. candidates who took part in the Graduate School’s annual Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Research Showcase. PHOTOGRAPH BY patrick o’leary U News The Petroleum Institute, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, has awarded the University of Minnesota a $6.1 million grant over the next three years to promote joint research projects, primarily energy-related, and to foster the development of the institute’s academic programs. The joint venture will be called the Abu Dhabi­­–Minnesota Institute for Research Excellence (ADMIRE). Faculty and student exchanges will be a key component of the research projects, with both institutions benefiting from in-residence visits of graduate students, post-doctoral associates, and faculty. About 15 to 20 faculty from each institution will be involved in ADMIRE. The University of Minnesota was the first university in the country to take advantage of a new financial tool made available through the federal economic stimulus package. The U issued $85 million in general obligation bonds, $35 million of which were Build America Bonds, authorized under the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The measure allows state and local governments to issue taxable bonds for projects eligible for tax-exempt financing and to receive a new direct federal subsidy payment for a portion of their borrowing costs. The United States Treasury Department will make a direct payment to the U in an amount equal to 35 percent of each interest payment due over the next 20 years while the bonds are outstanding. University officials projected a $2 million savings in borrowing costs over the 20-year life of the bonds. The money from issuing the bonds will be used for capital projects. The National Association of International Educators honored the U with a 2009 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. The award recognizes outstanding and innovative efforts to integrate international programs into campus culture, teaching, research, and outreach. The U is just the 10th public research institution to win the award over the past nine years. Other recipients this year were Boston University, Connecticut College, Pacific Lutheran University, and Portland State University. The U will be home to a state-of-the-art bike center thanks to a grant from Bike Walk Twin Cities, a federally funded initiative to increase biking and walking. The center will include an electronic bike trip-planning kiosk, 24-hour accessible secure bike storage, repair service, and facilities for changing clothes. The center will also house a bike sharing station, where riders have the option of checking out and returning a bike at any time after purchasing a season or day pass. The bike center will be located in the Oak Street parking ramp, across the street from a residence complex that houses 3,000 students. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin this summer. Seven projects will receive $4.85 million from the University of Minnesota’s Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE). The projects, all of them at the University, were selected for funding in part because they are considered to have the potential to create breakthroughs in renewable energy. They include research on harvesting and storing solar energy, investigating the development of a geothermal power plant, conducting a life-cycle assessment for biofuels and fossil fuels, improving photovoltaic systems, creating a self-sustaining center for evaluating small-scale renewable energy systems, developing plastics and polyurethanes from renewable sources, and building integrated power generation technologies for biomass. In addition to these seven grants, IREE will put $745,000 in seed money toward 12 high-potential projects that are in the initial phase of development. President Bob Bruininks kicked off a campus-wide energy conservation program on Earth Day aimed at reducing energy consumption by 5 percent by the end of 2010. Such a reduction would save the U $2.25 million per year and result in 25,000 fewer tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Bruininks asked faculty, staff, departments, and academic units to commit to taking small steps such as turning off computers at night, turning off unnecessary lights, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.    —Cynthia Scott

Last modified on 5/12/2009 11:04:40 AM ©2009 by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. The University of Minnesota Alumni Association is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

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