Dr. Manathunga Receives $40,000 Grant from Nashville Innovation Alliance
Manathunga, Vajira A., Joshua Phillips, Jaishree Ranganathan, and Sal Barbosa. “AI-Assisted Survivor Narrative Documentation and Risk Signal Extraction.” Nashville Innovation Alliance, 2026. $40,000.
Dr. Manathunga and Dr. Rimal Receive $44,946 Grant from Casualty Actuarial Society
Manathunga, Vajira A., and Ramchandra Rimal. “Using Large Multimodal Models to Automate Casualty Loss Assessment from NHTSA Crash Investigation Data.” Casualty Actuarial Society, 2026. $44,946.
Dr. Manathunga Receives $8,176 Grant from MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences
Manathunga, Vajira A. “CBAS Research & Innovation Grant.” College of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2026. $8,176.
Dr. Forrest Wang Receives Amazon Web Services Braket Research Award (Phase I)
Dr. Forrest Wang has received an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Braket Research Award (Phase I), $6,100, January 2026 – Present. Phase I funding for research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and quantum computing using Amazon Braket. This award represents the first phase of a potentially multi-phase research support program.
Dr. Wandi Ding, with the Help of Dr. Khaliq and Dr. Wang, Receives $2,000,000 Grant from NSF
Dr. Wandi Ding received a grant sponsored by NSF-DGE. “NRT-QISE-AI: Middle Tennessee Interdisciplinary Graduate Research and Training in Quantum Information Science and AI” (PI: Wandi, Ding, Co-PIs: Hanna Terletska, Joshua Phillips, Jing Kong, Abdul-Qayyum Khaliq; Senior Personnel: Donglin Wang and Kritagya Upadhyay) $2,000,000, September 2025 – August 2030. https://quantum.mtsu.edu/nrt/. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2510274&HistoricalAwards=false.
Dr. Sarah Bleiler-Baxter Receives $1,199,915.00 Federal Grant from National Science Foundation IUSE
Dr. Sarah Bleiler-Baxter received a federal grant sponsored by the National Science Foundation IUSE, “Advancing the Culture of Teaching in STEM through Diffusion of Strength-Based Reflexivity (ACT-STEM),” Federal, $1,199,915.00. (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2029). (PI: Bleiler-Baxter, S. K., Co-PIs: Gardner, G. E., Rushton, G. T.)
Dr. Kaplan Receives $405, 063 Grant from National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dr. Jennifer Kaplan received $405,063 in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), “Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in STEM (RAIDERS),” (PI: Jennifer J Kaplan) https://urc.mtsu.edu/raider-reu/ National Science Foundation. (October 1,2025 – September 30, 2028, $405,063).
Dr. Sarah Bleiler-Baxter and Dr. Jennifer Kaplan Assist in $1,249.445.00 Grant from NSF
Dr. Sarah Bleiler-Baxter and Dr. Jennifer Kaplan were a part of a group that were awarded a federal grant sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). “Preparation and Refinement of Postdocs in STEM for Disciplinary-Based Education Research (PROPS4DBER),” (PI: Gardner, G. E., Co-PIs: Baxter, S. K., Kaplan, J., Rushton, G. T.). Federal, $1,249,445.00 (October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2026).
Dr. Kaplan Receives $154,929 Grant from NSF
Dr. Jennifer Kaplan received $154,929 in funding from the NSF, “Developing Open Response Assessments to Evaluate How Undergraduates Engage in Mathematical Sensemaking in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. National Science Foundation, DUE 2235641. (March 15, 2023 – March 14, 2027, MTSU Budget $154,929).
Mathematics Grant Writers Recognized the MTSU Research Publication
The Spring 2023 publication of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs features our very own Dr. Mary Martin and Dr. Dovie Kimmins.
Dr. Martin is recognized as a gold medalist for her dedication to MTSU as a professor in the classroom and the contributions she has made through writing grants throughout her career. Dr. Martin has been apart of bringing a total of $7.04 million of funding to MTSU’s mathematics program. Click here to read the full article “Weaving a Web“.
Dr. Kimmins, a graduate and faculty member since 1983, has helped to raise $2.5 million in grants during her career at MTSU. Dr. Kimmins has worked extensively with providing inservice for middle school math teachers helping them better serve the students that come into their classrooms. Click here (page 50) to read the bronze medal winner exert on Dr. Kimmins.
The Mathematical Sciences Department received $3 million in grants last year in 2022 alone.
Ding receives a new grant for the upcoming year
Dr. Wandi Ding recently received a new NSF grant Shanks Workshop on Advances in Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (PI: X. Zhao, co-PIs: M. Horn, W. Ding, P. Hinow, and X. Huo), $27,000, 2023-2024. This conference will feature models and analysis of ordinary and partial differential equations from various aspects of biological applications, such as infectious diseases, cancer modeling and treatment, and population dynamics.
Using Mathematical Models to Eradicate Diseases
Dr. Wandi Ding led an NSF REU grant (REU Site: Computational Modeling and Simulation in Applied Sciences) (PI: W. Ding, co-PI’s: R. Leander, W. Robertson, and J. Phillips), $241,470, 2018-2023, using mathematical simulations to control and eradicate the spread of infectious diseases, such as malaria and West Nile virus. The findings were published in the article “Malaria modeling and optimal control using sterile insect technique and insecticide-treated net” in Applicable Analysis, 101:5, 1715-1734, 2022 and featured in Research Outreach: Malaria Modeling: An Optimal Control Problem on May 17, 2022, for public interests.
Collaborative Research: Preparing to Teach Mathematics with Technology Examining Student Practice
PTMT-ESP is a collaborative project across four institutions that will build on the theoretical foundations of technological pedagogical content knowledge, video case pedagogies, and professional noticing, along with the success of previous PTMT projects (DUE 0442319, 0817253, 1123001) to engage students in meaningful mathematical tasks and capitalizing on available technological tools has been shown to improve attitudes towards mathematics and increase learning. This project is expected to run from October 2018 through September 2023 (Total – $1,741,485, MTSU – $594,112)( PI: Dr. Jennifer N. Lovett, Co-PI’s: A. McCulloch, C. Cayton, and H. Lee)
MTSU hosts prestigious National Science Foundation grants undergrad research cohorts.
