University Of Central Oklahoma

NSF Awards · FY 2026 · 2026-09

Cerium is the most abundant rare earth element. It can substitute for scarce rare earth elements in magnets and electronics. This research project will examine how materials with cerium can be made to produce stronger permanent magnets. In addition, new magnetic materials will be created with unusual electronic behaviors. New compounds will be made by combining cerium with other elements and by carefully controlling material and processing conditions. Understanding how these quantum materials form and how their properties change will guide the development of more efficient magnetic materials for technologies. These include electric motors and new electronic devices. This project also will contribute to science and engineering education. The PI will involve students in laboratory research related to materials creation, measurement, and analysis. This will enhance their training in materials science and engineering. This research project will focus on exploratory synthesis and systematic characterization of cerium-based magnetic materials and engineered magnetic structures. The research will emphasize cerium compounds containing transition metals and heavy chalcogen elements that may host unusual electronic states, together with cerium iron magnetic materials designed to improve magnetic performance through controlled composition and processing. Materials will be synthesized using crystal growth, solid state reactions, thin film deposition, and plasma-assisted treatments that enable precise control of composition and microstructure. Structural, magnetic, and electronic characterization will establish relationships between crystal structure, composition, and magnetic properties, providing guidance for development of improved magnetic materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2026 · 2026-05

This REU Site award to the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) and will support the training of seven students for eight weeks during the summers of 2026 - 2028. Research will be conducted on the Northeast Aegean Island of Lesvos, which has one of the highest known levels of bee species diversity in the world. The study will investigate what environmental stressors (chemicals, temperature extremes, etc.) negatively impact bee populations. This information is important for understanding worldwide declines in pollinator populations as well as aiding the preservation of bee species that pollinate both native and non-native (crop) plant species. Students will learn how field and laboratory research is conducted and present the results of their work at conferences; they will gain valuable skills in experimental design and laboratory techniques that will prepare them to successfully enter the scientific workforce of the 21st Century. Assessment will include concurrent feedback (biweekly written reflections), post-program surveys (on preparation for becoming a scientist), and agency feedback that includes annual reports as well as information garnered from the participant application process itself; students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov). The training students will receive is aligned with NSF priorities in Artificial Intelligence. The project will use an integrative biological approach to test hypotheses in four interrelated areas of inquiry concerning lethal and sublethal effects of environmental stressors on bee populations: (1) comparative analysis of learning using a honey bee model study system, (2) foraging dynamics of bees in relation to thermal niches, (3) the ecophysiological phenotypes of bees under stress, and (4) the genomic and molecular systems underlying those phenotypes. This highly interdisciplinary project will continue a productive collaboration between the PI Institution and the University of the Aegean at Mytilene but will also include collaborating Senior Personnel from other institutions in Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. Students will be trained to conduct experimental studies with cutting edge technology for assessing temperature variation as well as in detecting responses by bees to environmental conditions simulated in the laboratory; they will also be trained in responsible and ethical conduct of research during a mini-course at the outset of the program. During the final week of the project, students will complete self-assessments of their development as scientists to aid Senior Personnel in evaluating project outcomes; they will also present their findings during an on-campus symposium at the close of the program and, later, at a national conference. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2026-04

TITLE: PRAISE (Pressure Relief Assessment Information System): A Paradigm-shifting Mobile Health Platform for Pressure Relief Adherence in Manual Wheelchair Users PROJECT SUMMARY: The proposed project aims to create a pressure relief assessment information system (PRAISE) to enhance the adherence of manual wheelchair users to Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) designed to prevent pressure ulcers. The motivation of this research stems from two core challenges. First, pressure ulcers pose a serious threat to manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries, frequently leading to painful complications, infections, and even premature death. To reduce pressure ulcer risks, CPGs recommend that wheelchair users perform pressure relief activities (i.e., vertical pushups, lateral, and forward leans) every 15 to 30 minutes. However, research reveals that wheelchair users may not adhere to CPGs in everyday life. Second, no universally adopted tools currently exist to monitor CPG adherence, nor is the understanding of factors leading to non-adherence. As a result, the prevalence of pressure ulcers among wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries remains high. Built upon the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model, PRAISE will shift from the conventional singular focus on adherence to a holistic approach, which will cohesively integrate a user's health, personal, and environmental factors through its multidimensional design. First, PRAISE will enable users to create profiles, including demographics, wheelchair usage patterns, and medical records related to pressure ulcers. Second, this foundational data will be augmented by a spectrum of sensor data (i.e., accelerometer, heart rate, GPS, and battery life) from a smartwatch, critical for ecological momentary assessments (EMAs). Third, our novel distributed algorithm can accurately detect pressure relief activities without relying on frequent, costly internet connections. It achieves this through lightweight processing on mobile devices to capture patterns intrinsic to pressure relief activities, hence transmitting only relevant data segments to the server for fine-grained recognition. Fourth, grounded in the ICF framework, PRAISE will dynamically integrate user-specific health, personal, and environmental factors to deliver context-aware feedback and personalized guidance. Through reinforcement learning, PRAISE will continuously evolve its guidance by learning from user responses and behavior, ensuring that interventions remain effective and tailored to individual needs over time. In collaboration with a diverse advisory team, PRAISE's development will prioritize robust security, user- friendliness, advanced analytics, and customizable assessment modules. Once the advisory team completes the initial validation, a feasibility and acceptability assessment will be conducted by involving 15 manual wheelchair users for two weeks. To gain a deeper understanding of user experiences, we will employ multifaceted approaches to gather and analyze user feedback. As PRAISE strives to make pressure ulcer prevention more accessible and personalized for wheelchair users, it will help reduce health disparities, particularly for those who may not have easy access to traditional healthcare resources. Therefore, PRAISE will revolutionize care for the manual wheelchair users to achieve patient-centric, evidence-based interventions.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Software has been an essential part of daily life, embedded in the tools and applications people use every day. When software fails - for example, when a mobile app crashes or a medical system displays incorrect information - it can lead to frustration, wasted time, or even safety risks. These issues are often caused by mistakes in the code, commonly referred to as "bugs". Fixing bugs, known as "debugging", is often time-consuming and requires considerable problem-solving skills. As software systems grow in complexity, there is an increasing need for tools that help developers identify and fix bugs more efficiently and accurately. This project will explore how recent advances in artificial intelligence - particularly large language models (LLMs) - can support and enhance the debugging process. The work will lead to the development of smarter tools that reflect how people approach problem-solving, making it easier for developers to correct errors. These improvements could lead to more reliable software across fields such as healthcare, transportation, education, and beyond. The project will focus on three main research activities. (1) Developing a comprehensive benchmark to evaluate the performance of LLMs across a range of software bug types, including logic, functional, and performance-related errors. This benchmark will fill a critical gap by providing a structured framework for systematically assessing LLM capabilities in debugging tasks. (2) The project will incorporate developer-like problem-solving strategies, such as understanding problem context and analyzing failed test cases, into the design of LLM-driven tools, enhancing their ability to detect and explain bugs. (3) This project will streamline the debugging workflow by leveraging human-AI collaboration to deliver more reliable and actionable solutions. Through the integration of feedback mechanisms, reinforcement learning, and iterative refinement, it will enhance the ability of LLMs to generate fixes that are more accurate, efficient, and practical, thereby reducing the need for manual correction. These innovations are expected to significantly enhance developer productivity and improve overall software quality. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

An award is made to the University of Central Oklahoma to develop a 5-year strategic plan that enhances the infrastructure for the Selman Living Laboratory (SLL) field station. This project will create a strategic plan to modernize the station’s infrastructure, enabling scientists to study critical ecological questions. By creating a strategic plan, SLL will not only expand scientific research opportunities but also enhance educational opportunities for students in PK-12, institutions of higher education, and outreach opportunities for the general public. A modernized SLL will become a center for environmental education, fostering a greater understanding of ecological principles and promoting scientific literacy within local and regional communities. The SLL is located in the Cimarron Gypsum Hills ecoregion in northwest Oklahoma. The field station contains mixed-grass prairie, gypsum caves and outcrops, and wetlands. The fourth largest cave system in Oklahoma is also found at the SLL. Several organizations collaborate with the Selman Living Laboratory including Starcreek Astronomical Club that hosts public stargazing events at the field station. The intent of this project is to engage and inform identified stakeholders and current regional field station directors to collaborate in meeting infrastructure needs that will enhance the expansion and use of the SLL. Using a holistic approach in the development of a 5-year strategic plan will further strengthen public and private networks and enhance collaborations across disciplines. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

The trophic pyramid, where many plants are consumed by a large number of herbivores, which are, in turn, eaten by a smaller number of carnivores, is the foundation for land-based ecosystems today. In fact, it is one of the earliest features of ecology that students learn in school. This structure, despite its ubiquity, has not always been in place. Three hundred million years ago, during the Permian Period, carnivores were the dominant dietary ecology and herbivores were exceptionally rare. At some point, likely during the Permian, a key shift occurred from the carnivore-dominated ecosystem to the herbivore-dominated environments observed today. The fossil record of Oklahoma, which includes the most diverse and best-preserved fossil vertebrate assemblage from the Paleozoic, offers an exceptional opportunity to explore this change. The goals of this project are to track the evolution of herbivory in different tetrapod clades and assess the patterns and processes that lead to it becoming the foundational dietary ecology of terrestrial environments today. This project will directly support Oklahoma graduate and undergraduate students through scientific and technical skills training, as well as broader institutions by utilizing understudied resources, such as the vertebrate faunal collections at the University of Central Oklahoma and the Sam Noble Museum, Oklahoma’s Museum of Natural History. The establishment of the modern terrestrial ecosystem structure represents a profound ecological transition in vertebrate history. To evaluate the tempo and mode of this change, this research will 3D scan the teeth from Permian fossil vertebrates recovered primarily from Oklahoma. Subsequently, this work will use the 3D scans to quantify dental complexity, which directly relates to diet in living mammals and saurians, using the Orientation Patch Count Rotated method. The quantification of tooth shape permits direct comparison of dissimilar shapes from a wide variety of vertebrates and will elucidate the strategies that different clades took to consume plants. Changes in dental shape, complexity, and disparity will be evaluated through deep time to elucidate the ecological changes that occurred through the Permian Period. This research seeks to identify when herbivory became the critical diet of terrestrial systems, how different groups varied in their approach to consuming plants, and what strategies were most successful. Ultimately, this work will uncover the patterns that gave rise to modern terrestrial ecosystems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-06

This I-Corps project focuses on the development of an advanced food packaging material designed to enhance food safety, reduce spoilage, detect the presence of foodborne pathogens, and extend the shelf life of perishable products such as meat, produce, and seafood. The project addresses a critical issue in the food industry, where current packaging solutions often fail to manage moisture effectively or detect and inhibit microbial growth. These shortcomings contribute to foodborne illness, decreased consumer confidence, and significant economic losses due to waste and product recalls. This packaging material introduces an advanced material design that improves visibility of packaged items, optimizes moisture control, and integrates pathogen detection features. By extending product freshness and supporting safer consumption, this innovation aims to reduce food waste, enhance public health outcomes, and promote national food security. The successful implementation of this technology could improve industry standards, reduce spoilage-related losses, and deliver measurable societal and economic benefits. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. This solution is based on the development of a multifunctional absorbent pad comprising advanced layered materials, including electrospun nanofibers engineered for high moisture absorption, antimicrobial activity, and microbial detection capability. The system is designed to incorporate features such as controlled release of food-safe antimicrobial agents to suppress pathogen growth. Scientific advancements in nanofiber fabrication allow integration of both detection and mitigation functions within a single packaging component, which distinguishes this solution from traditional absorbent pads or costly vacuum and modified atmosphere systems. This approach supports the development of a scalable, cost-effective packaging technology capable of enhancing food safety and prolonging shelf-life across multiple products. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Rapidly advancing technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), are fundamentally changing the educational landscape and posing new challenges to educators. This high school strand research-practice partnership between University of Central Oklahoma, code.org, and tribal leaders of the Kiawa tribe aims to support tribal educators in Oklahoma through a multi-layered professional development model. The RPP will co-design computer science curricular interventions that integrate emerging, disruptive technologies, such as AI. This project has the potential to support CS teachers’ professional currency and knowledge in adapting and teaching technology-enriched CS curriculum in a culturally-sustaining way. With differentiated teacher PD strategies and innovative PD interventions, the goal of this project is to generate new knowledge on how to empower tribal educators with innovative knowledge and teaching techniques to prepare tribal students for the CS education-career pathways. These include new insights on (1) what motivates and deters CS teachers to maintain professional currency; (2) what CS teachers encounter when adapting and teaching technology-enriched CS curriculum with AI-powered tools in multi-modality environments; and (3) how teacher trainees rank their overall experience. The steps to be taken are the follows: (1) RPPs will be engaged in shared participation to plan, research, develop, pilot, and evaluate the program efficacy of teacher workshop, and project effectiveness; (2) tribal educators will be recruited and trained to adapt an existing CS curriculum and teach it to their students with AI-powered tools; (3) knowledge and the technological infrastructure derived from prior NSF grants will be leveraged to enhance content modules with emerging, disruptive technologies, culturally-resonant pedagogy to honor tribal heritage, interdisciplinary content, and real-world context with wider CS applications relevant to daily lives, delivered in non-traditional settings via multi-modalities, including hybrid and virtual simulations; (4) a tribal teacher network will be established to share innovative practices and manage knowledge with tribal educators and intersectional students; and (5) PD interventions will be designed with a data-centric lens to help students apply CS to other disciplines and transfer computational-thinking (CT) analytical skills, and AI literacy into domains of emerging careers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The Cross-Continental Collaboration Coalition (C4) project is an interdisciplinary endeavor among five primarily undergraduate, four-year institutions—California State University, Chico; University of Central Oklahoma; Central Washington University; State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego; and Weber State University—to address the multifaceted challenges encountered in higher education today. One of the central challenges the investigators aim to tackle is the imperative to strengthen industry partnerships. Recognizing the pivotal role of industry collaboration in driving innovation and enhancing educational outcomes, each institution within the C4 cohort is committed to establishing and expanding regional innovation partnerships. These partnerships will serve as conduits for knowledge exchange, collaborative research projects, industry-informed curriculum realignment and experiential learning opportunities for students. By forging strong ties with industry stakeholders, the project seeks to ensure that educational programs at the C4 institutions remain relevant and responsive to the evolving needs of the workforce. Offering innovative programs tailored to meet the needs of employers, enhances the employability and career readiness of the C4 graduates. Another critical area of focus for the C4 project is the enhancement of research capacity. Robust research capabilities are essential for advancing knowledge, driving economic growth, and addressing pressing societal challenges. To this end, the C4 institutions are investing in research infrastructure, faculty development initiatives, and interdisciplinary collaboration platforms. By fostering a culture of innovation and inquiry, the investigators aim to position the C4 institutions as leaders in cutting-edge research and technology development. In addition to these institutional-level initiatives, the C4 project emphasizes cohort-wide collaboration and knowledge sharing. Through regular meetings, workshops, and joint initiatives, members of the C4 cohort exchange best practices, co-create innovative solutions, and support one another in achieving shared goals. The C4 project emphasizes cohort-wide collaboration and knowledge sharing. Through regular meetings, workshops, and joint initiatives, members of the C4 cohort exchange best practices, co-create innovative solutions, and support one another in achieving shared goals. This project will contribute to the advancement of "best practices" in key areas of higher education and industry collaboration. Through collaborative efforts, participating institutions will identify and implement effective strategies for building vibrant regional innovation ecosystems and fostering interdisciplinary research and education. By leveraging the collective expertise of faculty and industry partners, the project will generate new knowledge, technologies, and approaches that can be adopted and replicated by other institutions facing similar challenges. Moreover, by integrating experiential learning opportunities and industry partnerships into academic programs, the project will enrich student learning experiences and prepare them for successful careers in dynamic and competitive fields. The potential impacts of the proposed project extend across multiple dimensions, including institutional, regional, and societal levels. At the institutional level, the project will enhance the reputation and competitiveness of participating institutions by strengthening their ties with industry partners and expanding their research capabilities. Additionally, by aligning academic programs with workforce needs, the project will enhance student outcomes and promote social mobility. The investigators expect this collaboration to impact the lives of 11,425 students annually. Regionally, the project will catalyze economic development by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, creating job opportunities, and driving technological advancements. Furthermore, by promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among institutions, the project will contribute to the broader landscape of higher education, inspiring innovation and excellence in teaching, research, and community engagement. Overall, the project will leave a lasting positive impact on participating institutions, their communities, and the higher education sector as a whole. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.