Flood mitigation, rural transportation, supply chains: NSF awards 9 new people-focused research grants

Flood mitigation measures, rural transportation systems and pharmaceutical supply chains are among the subjects being examined by nine new research projects receiving backing from the NSF. NSF is investing more than $8 million in the projects through its Strengthening American Infrastructure program. The program supports research that utilizes advances in behavioral and social science to improve the value and usefulness of infrastructure in people’s lives, from US roads and highways to state and local power grids.

Projects from the NSF EPSCoR jurisdictions include:

Clemson University (SOUTH CAROLINA) and University at Buffalo, State University of New York will collaborate on developing a new cyberinfrastructure system that will provide scientists, cybersecurity professionals and others with a more rigorous way to use artificial intelligence to detect harmful online behaviors such as cyberbullying and the incitement of violence.

University of VERMONT researchers will study how investments in rural communities’ travel infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, influence people’s travel-related decisions and how that information can be used most effectively by transportation planners and engineers.

IOWA State University researchers will examine the social and economic benefits of microgrids — small, autonomous electrical grids that deliver power to a local area during natural disasters and other emergency events — for low-income families and other groups who face energy insecurity.