10 winners of ASU's Graduate College grants find creative solutions for COVID-19 problems


November 19, 2020

Earlier this year, the Arizona State University Graduate College announced the first-ever Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight Grants to be awarded to select graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who found innovative solutions to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Knowledge Mobilization Initiative and Spotlight Grants

The Graduate College’s Knowledge Mobilization Initiative “explores concepts, skills and practices that move research from the page and into action.” The Graduate College regularly calls for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to share their research stories and struggles as part of this initiative.     knowledge mobilization Download Full Image

For this round of grants, applicants were asked to summarize what they’re studying, explain how COVID-19 has impacted them, and share innovative ways they were able to move their projects forward despite the pandemic

The Graduate College received more than 70 applications and, out of the impressively competitive pool, selected 10 winners rather than five as originally planned. Each winner will receive a grant of $100.

Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight Grant awardees

The 10 awardees are:

  • Joanna L. Cohen (social work) has continued to provide workforce resilience support, now in an online format, for social workers in the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

  • Medha Dalal (engineering education) was able to provide hands-on engineering design experiences to high school counselors using mail-in design kits and a virtual workshop.

  • Shahrzad Ghobadlou (comparative languages and cultures) expanded the AZ Computer Assisted Language Learning Conference to be both virtual and international.

  • Allison Hawn (communication) has continued to research tattoo artists and tattoo as an art in a virtual format while grieving the loss of several collaborators to COVID-19

  • Jaime Leah Jones (sustainability) utilized the content analysis method of research to understand the 2018 Cape Town water crisis after COVID-19 made travel impossible.

  • Caitlin Knox (business administration) implemented a homeschool curriculum that allows her to maintain a small business and play a role in the education of her children.

  • John Murray (anthropology) decided to conduct his fieldwork at home, bringing an electric kiln and 40-50 pieces of silcrete rock to his house, much to his wife’s dismay.

  • Kathleen E. Padilla (criminology and criminal justice) is preparing to help police officers manage stress, which now involves understanding the challenges of COVID-19.

  • Courtney Smith (educational leadership and innovation) is working to help college students infected with coronavirus fight loneliness and improve their mental wellness. 

  • Laurana Wheeler Roderer (violin performance) helped record and create a “Zoom opera” after the live performance of the opera she co-wrote was canceled due to the pandemic. 

Written by Emily Carman

Graduate College grants focus on COVID-19-inspired innovations


October 8, 2020

The Graduate College’s Knowledge Mobilization Initiative has announced the launch of the Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grants. The grants are an effort to highlight the work of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at ASU and to tell their research stories.

Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grants

Periodically, the Knowledge Mobilization Initiative will put out calls for graduate student and postdoctoral fellow stories and perspectives around a particular theme. In this round of Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grants, the Graduate College is looking for student/postdoctoral experiences and innovations related to COVID-19. Each student or postdoc story will be featured on the Graduate Insider, the College’s signature blog, beginning in October. knowledge mobilization Download Full Image

The Knowledge Mobilization Initiative will be awarding five $100 grants to students and postdoctoral fellows with the most innovative solutions to challenges presented by the spread of COVID-19. The winners will be announced on Nov. 16.

Apply now for a Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grant.

What is Knowledge Mobilization?

The Knowledge Mobilization Initiative explores concepts, skills and practices that move research from the page and into action, enriching current practice, policy and social discourse in the process. One goal for the initiative is to highlight graduate student and postdoctoral research at ASU – particularly how our students and early career scholars are applying and disseminating their research to broad audiences, which increases social impact.

Who should apply?

If your research, coursework or program was impacted by COVID-19, did you design an innovative way to carry on with your research and/or studies? If so, you should apply for a Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grant. Graduate students enrolled full or part time at ASU and ASU postdoctoral scholars are eligible to apply for a grant.

The application deadline is Oct. 30. It is strongly recommended that you apply early.

Five grant winners will be announced on Nov. 16.

For more information, contact: knowledge.mobilization@asu.edu.

Written by Emily Carman