Winter schedule: Brief will not publish on Dec. 23, 30; Jan. 6, 13.
- Board of Regents meets Dec. 10-11.
- Features: Building a brighter future with robotics; More than a mask; An ally for Native American students.
- Awards and Recognition: Twenty-two faculty have been named to Clarivate Analytics’ 2020 highly cited researchers list; and more.
Board of Regents meets Dec. 10-11
The University of Minnesota’s annual research and development expenditures exceeded $1 billion for the first time in FY2019. This achievement, as well as the continued strength of the University’s technology commercialization efforts, will be among several highlights presented to the Board of Regents during its December meetings. The Board is also expected to act on a revised 2021 State Capital Request recommendation and the University’s FY21 Capital Improvement Budget, hear a report regarding current considerations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect University operations, review proposed progress measures aligned with MPact 2025, and more. See the news release for details.
Building a brighter future with robotics
The U of M is one of the top universities for people who want to pursue a degree in robotics. From exploring shipwrecks to air-dropping supplies in a pandemic, U of M faculty and students are designing robots for the 21st century. Learn more about robotics at the U of M.
More than a mask
Abdennour Abbas and his team at a textile startup company are creating face masks engineered to kill viruses like COVID-19 as soon as they make contact with the material, preventing them from entering a person’s respiratory system. Abbas is an associate professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering and cofounder of Claros Technologies. “We just made a mask that can kill 99.9 percent of viruses within 10 minutes of contact,” Abbas says. “And we think we can do even better than that.”
An ally for Native American students
Native American students have long been underrepresented in higher education, including at the U of M. Doctoral student Megan Red Shirt-Shaw is working to change that by expanding opportunities and support for Native students.
Awards and Recognition
Twenty-two faculty have been named to Clarivate Analytics’ 2020 highly cited researchers list; the School of Nursing has received the 2021 Healthy Work Environment award from Sigma; Bridget Basile Ibrahim has been named the first recipient of the Rural Health Equity Postdoctoral Fellowship; U in the News features highlights of U faculty and staff cited in the media. Awards and Recognition
Coursera online course access extended through spring
All students, faculty, and staff can continue to access over 3,800 online courses and 400 Coursera specializations at no cost. Register by Feb. 28 and complete by Apr. 30. This high-quality, electronic curricular material consists of a series of modules with 8- to 12-minute video segments, readings, assessments, and assignments. Learn how to access Coursera content and supplement your U of M course content. For questions, email Bob Rubinyi.
Open-source digital publishing platform fuels scholarship, education
University of Minnesota experts and their collaborators are working to expand an innovative, open-source publishing platform. Manifold Scholarship—a digital platform that enables publishers to create media-rich, interactive digital publications—is designed to open up new possibilities in scholarship and extend its educational benefits to all communities.
Reserve research space now for the 2021 Minnesota State Fair
Be part of the Great Minnesota Get-Back-Together. Recruit hundreds of participants within days at the Driven to Discover Research Facility at the Minnesota State Fair. The D2D facility provides turnkey research space for any U of M faculty, staff, or student investigator wishing to recruit and collect data from among the fair's two million annual visitors. Funding is available for eligible pediatrics studies. A brief online application is due Jan. 19.
Adobe Flash Player to be retired
On Dec. 28, Adobe Flash Player will be removed from all University computers managed by the Office of Information Technology. For all other devices, Adobe has started sending notifications directly to devices with Adobe Flash Player and providing the uninstall option. It is strongly recommended that users follow the prompt to remove Flash Player. Get details about Adobe Flash Player and obsolete file types.
Holiday loneliness and how to cope
A national survey shows that loneliness is higher than ever before, and with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, mental health experts agree that this holiday season will be the toughest part of 2020 for many Americans. Sabine Schmid, assistant professor of psychiatry, explains how people can recognize and prepare for social isolation and loneliness during the holidays.
U of M establishes National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants
With more than $5 million in support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the International Organization for Migration, the University of Minnesota has established the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants, which will focus on COVID-19 prevention, control, and mitigation.
Health in All Matters: Race and Public Health: Tuskegee to COVID-19
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service from 1932-72, casts a long shadow over the Black community when it comes to eroding trust in the healthcare system. Adding to this distrust are the obvious health inequities Black, Indigenous, and people of color experience, including disproportionate death rates from COVID-19. In season 2, episode 4 of the Health in All Matters podcast, the School of Public Health explores the role of public health in building back trust and improving health within these communities.
T. rex had huge growth spurts, but other dinos grew ‘slow and steady’
An international team of researchers, including University of Minnesota professor Peter Makovicky, has discovered that dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and its closest relatives had an awkward adolescence during which they got huge, while the T. rex’s more distant cousins in the allosauroid group kept on growing a little bit every year. The research gives new insight into the growth patterns of living birds that evolved from dinosaurs.
New release of world-standard psych test
The most widely used and researched test of adult psychological functioning, employed across the globe, just got a major update. The University of Minnesota Press has announced the release of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–3 (MMPI-3), the first full revision of the assessment in over 30 years. The MMPI, born out of U of M research, is widely used by psychologists in mental health settings to help guide diagnosis and treatment planning.
St. Cloud State, U of M collaborate to improve access to primary care in Central Minnesota
The University of Minnesota School of Nursing and St. Cloud State University Department of Nursing Science announced a new partnership designed to improve access to primary health care in Central Minnesota. The collaboration will create a pathway for nurses to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a family nurse practitioner specialty.
Research Brief: Scientists inch closer to a treatment for a set of rare diseases
University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a potential target for the research and development of future therapies to mitigate the symptoms of a series of genetic disorders called laminopathies. Additional recent Research Briefs include “Global trends in nature’s contributions to people,” “Researchers develop unique process for producing light-matter mixture,” “Differences in well-being amongst Somali, Latino and Hmong adolescents,” and “Earth's wild grazers can’t keep up with the effects of nutrient pollution.”
Dec. 18 - Expanding American Innovation
Join UMN Technology Commercialization for Expanding American Innovation (register), a conversation with United States Patent and Trademark Office director and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Andrei Iancu, who will discuss American innovation, the important role of patents, and efforts to build inclusiveness in innovation and increase the development and participation of underrepresented groups as inventors and entrepreneurs. 10-11 a.m.
Jan. 4-15 - Teaching with Technology Retreat
Technology Support Service invites instructors to attend one or more sessions of the Teaching with Technology Retreat. These half-day online workshops are informed both by Guidelines for Online Teaching and Design and insights learned from U of M student focus groups asked about their experiences learning remotely since March. Topics will showcase successful practices and provide strategies to implement in spring 2021 courses. See retreat topics and enroll in one or more sessions.
Jan. 7 - Canvas Clinic
Get personalized help setting up your Canvas courses for the spring 2021 semester at this virtual clinic. Participants will use breakout rooms within Zoom to pair with people who have expertise in the topic area in which you are seeking guidance. 1-4 p.m. Register for the Canvas Clinic.
U of M featured virtual events
Dec. 9 - People & Planet: Environmental Health — What's in our water?
Dec. 10 - Cooking for Wellbeing: One-Pot Meals
Dec. 11 - CSE Winter Light Show goes virtual
Dec. 14 - Cooking for Wellness - Cooking up Culture with Chef Lachelle Cunningham
Dec. 15 - Indigenous Food-ways: Adapting to Change
Dec. 16 - Mind-Body Trauma Care: Cultivating a Sense of Collective Winter Warmth
Dec. 17 - Food as Medicine: Indigenous Knowledge
Dec. 18 - The Power of Story: Children in a Time of Sadness with Kate DiCamillo
Jan. 5-25 - Teaching with Writing Online: A January Short Course
Students combine natural materials with ancient Native American techniques to create pottery
U of M Crookston students are actively engaged in hands-on learning throughout the year. Eric Castle, associate professor in the Agriculture and Natural Resources department, has taken it to heart as he sought to show students in his Pottery Design and Techniques course how to make pottery from materials found in nature.
Alumna, psychiatrist follows dream to support tribal communities
Melvina Bissonette, ’12 MD, who grew up primarily on the Navajo Nation reservation in the Four Corners area of New Mexico, always felt a strong desire to serve Native American populations. The mission of the U of M Medical School, Duluth Campus, with its focus on educating physicians dedicated to family medicine who will serve the needs of rural Minnesota and Native American communities, resonated with her. She now works as a psychiatrist for the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.
DanceWorks 2020
Experience original pieces by faculty, guest, and student choreographers at a live, no-charge watch party via Zoom on Dec. 17, 7 p.m. DanceWorks 2020 will also be streamed online Dec. 17-20, 7 p.m. Theatre faculty members Rebecca Katz Harwood and Matthew Wagner are the artistic directors, and Bryn Cohn, artistic director of Bryn Cohn + Artists, is a guest artist.
Black Box Theatre named for founding faculty member
The Black Box Theatre has been named for George C. Fosgate. A founding member of the theatre faculty, Fosgate directed approximately 70 plays and musicals and created, directed, and performed in the summer theatre program. He was instrumental in the formation of Meiningens, served on the Humanities Fine Arts building design committee, established the Fosgate Theatre Scholarship, served as faculty representative for Cougar Athletics, and was inducted into the Cougar Hall of Fame.
New alumni magazine: The Kettle
UMR recently released the inaugural edition of The Kettle, UMR’s alumni magazine. The Kettle will connect UMR graduates, showcase their achievements, and highlight their growing impact. A term derived following field observations of hawks, Kettle means a group of soaring raptors. Few words could capture more succinctly the ever-growing community of Raptor alumni.
UMR Career Pathways: Emerging Health Technologies
Discover how Sarah Niebuhr navigated UMR’s many health career pathway opportunities with an individually planned capstone to prepare herself to work in the Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization Cytogenetic Lab at Mayo Clinic. Learn more about UMN Rochester’s Pathways.
U of M CURA Reporter spotlights future of policing in Minneapolis
"Over-Policed and Under-Protected: Public Safety in North Minneapolis" is the first article for the online-exclusive CURA Reporter, published by the University's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Lead author and Associate Professor Michelle Phelps and her team from the Department of Sociology interviewed North Minneapolis residents to understand their experiences with the Minneapolis Police Department and their desires for the future of policing in Minneapolis. Included are policy recommendations drawn from the interviews and findings.
Help recruit 2021 TRIO McNair Scholars
The TRIO McNair Scholars program gives undergraduate students intensive, faculty-driven research experiences and prepares students for entry into and success in graduate school. The program is accepting applications through Feb. 2. Students are paid a stipend and earn course credits. Academic departments and faculty looking to get involved and/or have a student to refer can complete this short questionnaire. Interested students are encouraged to sign up for a virtual information session and/or email [email protected].
Preservation that begins with people
School of Architecture associate professor Greg Donofrio strives to add diverse perspectives within the field of historic preservation. The field often lacks diversity, he says, partly because the identities of those who have traditionally carried out historic preservation have been overwhelmingly white and upper-middle class. But there’s a movement within the field taking shape through programs like the U of M’s Heritage Studies and Public History graduate program, co-founded by Donofrio.
Human simulation online: a silver lining during the pandemic
So far in 2020, M Simulation has held 22 days of interprofessional education events, reaching 434 learners from nursing, pharmacy, social work, dentistry, the Medical School, and beyond. M Simulation works closely with faculty to design and deliver simulated training experiences for health sciences learners at the University and for external stakeholders of wide-ranging professions in Minnesota and nationwide.
Portraits that Inspire
The “I AM 400” - The African Journey in America, 1619-2019 artwork highlighting the history of African enslavement in North America was recently acquired by U of M Libraries for the Givens Collection. The artwork, printed on a 12-foot banner, is now on display in Walter Library.