Pranab Das receives $200,000 research grant

Templeton Foundation supports physics professor's international research project.

Professor Pranab Das

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Pranab Das, professor of physics, has been awarded a $200,000 research grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

The grant, titled "Higher-Order Properties of Complex Systems in Multi-Disciplinary and Multi-Cultural Contexts" will run from late 2013 through 2016. Award funds will support Das' research combining the dynamics of complex systems, the physics of emergent properties and philosophical work on emergence. The overall goal is to provide new insight across disciplines with implications for the study of science and religion. This work is expected to lead to the publication of a monograph and several papers.

An exciting element of the project involves collaboration with international scholars in bio-semiotics (Charles University, Prague), Indic philosophical traditions (JNU, Delhi), and Japanese philosophy and spirituality (Nanzan Institute, Nagoya). Collaborating scholars will visit Elon and offer colloquia, class visits, etc. and Das will travel to each site during the course of the grant period.

This grant was awarded through a highly competitive process beginning with a pre-proposal in March of 2012, invited submission of a full proposal in September, and staff and outside peer review in the fall. Overall, the Foundation reports that only about 10 percent of applicants were awarded funding during this grant cycle.

Das recently served as principal investigator and executive editor for the International Society for Science and Religion Library Project and was previously P.I. and program director for the Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality program. The manuscript for his textbook in science and religion is currently under review with Yale University Press.

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by Pranab Das, Faculty Last Updated - 2/8/2013

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Psychology major awarded external research grant

The grant supports a project she and her mentor are conducting to examine factors influencing older adults’ ability to memorize face-name pairs.

Elon University senior Ursula Saelzler

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Ursula Saelzler, a psychology major with minors in neuroscience, statistic and biology, has been awarded a Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Grant of more than $1,300.

Psi Chi is the international honor society in psychology. The grant supports the cognitive neuroscience research project she and her mentor, Associate Professor of Psychology Amy Overman, are conducting to examine factors that influence older adults’ ability to memorize face-name pairs.

The research grant is awarded to approximately 30 people each year from the United States and Canada and adds to previous accomplishments for Saelzler, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. Saelzler was also awarded a SURE Fellowship and a Rawls Undergraduate Research Scholarship. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in cognitive neuroscience.

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by Amy Overman, Faculty Last Updated - 12/28/2012

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Psychology major awarded external research grant

The grant supports a project she and her mentor are conducting to examine factors influencing older adults’ ability to memorize face-name pairs.

Elon University senior Ursula Saelzler

*****

Ursula Saelzler, a psychology major with minors in neuroscience, statistic and biology, has been awarded a Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Grant of more than $1,300.

Psi Chi is the international honor society in psychology. The grant supports the cognitive neuroscience research project she and her mentor, Associate Professor of Psychology Amy Overman, are conducting to examine factors that influence older adults’ ability to memorize face-name pairs.

The research grant is awarded to approximately 30 people each year from the United States and Canada and adds to previous accomplishments for Saelzler, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. Saelzler was also awarded a SURE Fellowship and a Rawls Undergraduate Research Scholarship. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in cognitive neuroscience.

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by Amy Overman, Faculty Last Updated - 12/28/2012

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