Funding boost for 12 Duke Kunshan professors

Twelve professors have received Duke Kunshan University grants to support their research into childhood disorders, Kunqu opera, the human/machine relationship and a host of other areas.

This year’s recipients of the Faculty Scholarship and Travel Award (FSTA) are drawn from fields including global health, physics, media and arts, economics, behavioral science and philosophy, reflecting the breadth and depth of research at DKU.

The FSTA initiative typically funds research projects and public appearances that are likely to generate exposure, provide new academic opportunities, contribute to professional development or enhance the reputation of the university. The awards are designed to pay for activities not fully covered by discretionary or external funding.

Professor Katherine Robertson, director of faculty advancement at Duke Kunshan, said 28 projects had been supported in the four years since the launch of the awards initiative.

“The benefits of this competitive award to the recipients go beyond just receiving funds,” Robertson said.

“For example, the FSTA award may be used to pilot new projects placing the recipients in a better position to apply for external funding or to assist faculty to travel to prestigious conferences and increase their scholarly networks.”

Benjamin Bacon (inset) and early concept rendering of his project “Formation: Samskara”

Among the 2022 recipients is Associate Professor of Media and Arts Benjamin Bacon, who has been awarded funding for his creative work “Formation: Samskara”.

The grant supports the production and exhibition of the mixed reality mechanical art installation at next year’s International Symposium on Electronic Art in Paris, France.

His work reassesses the three laws devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov for the operation of robots and their dealings with humans.

“Formation: Samskara critically examines Asimov’s Laws of Robotics and uses it as a starting point and template in thinking about human-machine relationships in the context of today’s technological ecology,” Bacon said.

“It proposes a symbiotic relationship between man and machine that pulls away from a human-centric approach prevalent in science fiction imaginations in Asimov’s time.”

He added that his work “imagines a reality where man and machine collaborate in exploring new possible forms of awareness”.

Xin Tong

Xin Tong, assistant professor of computation and design at Duke Kunshan, will receive FSTA funding to support research exploring interactive and intelligent systems as a means of improving health.

Her project, “Augmented Reality-based Tangible User Interface for Improving Learning Working Memory, Attention, and Frustration Tolerance of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)”, looks at how the technology can support children with ADHD to improve memory and attention. The study also offers DKU undergraduates the opportunity to get hands-on research experience.

“My goals are to investigate how the AR tangible system can effectively support children in basic learning activities such as handwriting,” Tong said.

“We expect the AR tangible system to improve the children’s attention, frustration tolerance and working memory more than the traditional learning approach.”

Other 2022 recipients:

Annemieke van den Dool — travel award for organizing and co-chairing a “Policy Process Theories in Authoritarian Settings” workshop at the International Public Policy Association, International Workshops on Public Policy in Budapest, Hungary.

Chenkai Wu — scholarship award for “Patterns and Health Effects of Polypharmacy and Dietary Supplements Used among Chinese Older Adults”, a project which also looks at the attitudes of the older generation towards deprescribing.

Claudia Nisa — scholarship award for “Building leadership with emotional intelligence for emergency preparedness and response: Protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial in Mozambique”, encompassing field research aimed at initiating long-term collaboration on healthcare leadership training with the World Health Organization.

Daniel Lim — travel award to the 23rd Biennial International Workshop-Conference on Teaching Philosophy in Otterbein University, United States, where he will be giving a presentation titled “Philosophy Through Computer Science”.

Domna Kotsifaki — scholarship award for “Optically Locomotion Control of Living Microrobots with Nondiffracting Light”, research exploring a novel approach to drug delivery systems with bio-micromotors.

Kim Hunter Gordon — travel award to present his research called “Peripheries of Elegance: Kunqu and Public Theatre in Qing Dynasty Suzhou” at theInternational Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) annual conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Kristinn Mar — scholarship award for “Can Mini publics Cut Through or Limit Motivated Reasoning?”, extending his previous research on motivated reasoning within the representative groups.

Luyao Zhang — travel award to deliver her “Trust Mechanism Design: Blockchain for Social Good” presentation at the 7th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on Economic Science in Lindau, Germany.

Weijing (Vivian) Xu — scholarship award for “Treatise – A Sericulture Toolkit for the 21st Century”, exploring the biological, technological, agricultural and material perspectives of the sericulture process.

Yachao Sun — scholarship award for “Improving Student Feedback Literacy Through Translingual Practices”, a project designed to contribute to the enhancement of students’ feedback literacy in academic writing.

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Media Contact

Senior Editor/Writer

Gareth McPherson

Email: gareth.mcpherson@dukekunshan.edu.cn

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