University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is researching how places of worship in Little Rock work with nonprofit organizations to promote community engagement and provide social services to vulnerable populations. The Little Rock Congregations Study is part of an ongoing research project led by Dr. Rebecca Glazier, professor in the School of Public Affairs, stemming from research begun in 2012 to study the effects of religious organizations on community engagement in Little Rock. The interdisciplinary project brought together 59 student researchers from UA Little Rock who gained invaluable research experience. More than 110 clergy members from congregations across Little Rock completed the survey, while 24 clergy were interviewed. Additionally, students wrote 22 community spotlight stories.

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student spent the summer at a prestigious study abroad program where he examined Argentina's films to determine the role they play in citizens' LGBTQ rights. Dylan Wright, a junior Spanish and political science double major from Little Rock, attended the School for International Training through the study abroad program, "Argentina: Human Rights and Social Media," from March through June.

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock history professor and his graduate students are making headway into a mystery 99 years in the making. Dr. Brian Mitchell and his graduate students in the Intro to Public History Class have followed a trail of clues through cemeteries, public records, and databases as part of their search to discover what happened to a dozen black men wrongfully sentenced to death in a time of great racial turmoil in the aftermath of the 1919 Elaine Massacre.

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor and doctoral student have received a $20,000 Google AI research grant for their research in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Dr. Xiaowei Xu, professor of information science, and Tolgahan Cakaloglu, a doctoral candidate in computer science, received the grant for their project, "Contextual Advanced Text Representation via Improved Deep Language Model by Utilizing Side Information." This advanced artificial intelligence technique can be successfully applied to many areas, including natural language processing, information retrieval, and search engines. Xu and Cakaloglu are currently researching how to improve a computer's understanding of natural language to improve people's experiences with search engines.

Researchers from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are joining the ranks of technology companies and universities like Google, Intel, Stanford University, and Harvard University to create the next generation benchmark suite for machine learning. Wei "David" Dai, a doctoral candidate in information science, is pursuing dissertation research on evaluating machine learning with imperfect data. Machine learning is a field of computer science that uses statistical techniques to give computer systems the ability to learn from data.

For those who have seen Tony Stark effortlessly controlling virtual computer screens in the "Iron Man" and "Avengers" movies, you have seen Zack Bolt's vision for his research. Bolt, a graduate student in computer science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has developed a virtual computer monitor system that he hopes can eventually replace its physical counterparts.

Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are studying how social bots influence the delivery of news via social media during major disasters. The study examines the role of social bots - automated Twitter accounts that attempt to affect or influence the behaviors of others - and their coordination and communication patterns with complex organizational structures to disseminate information during four natural disasters that occurred in 2017.

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock doctoral student and professor are investigating how professors are preparing business students for their future careers by assessing their implementation of social media in the classroom. Kayla Sapkota, of Cabot, is pursuing a Doctorate in Education in Higher Education with a concentration in Faculty Leadership. She became interested in exploring the use of social media in the business curriculum during a course, College Teaching Problems and Issues, taught by her dissertation advisor, Dr. Jim Vander Putten, associate professor of higher education. Their paper, "Social media acceptance and usage by business communication faculty," was recently published in the "Business and Professional Communication Quarterly."

For those who have seen Tony Stark effortlessly controlling virtual computer screens in the "Iron Man" and "Avengers" movies, you have seen Zack Bolt's vision for the potential of his research. Bolt, a graduate student in computer science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has developed a virtual computer monitor system that he hopes can eventually replace its physical counterparts.

Two University of Arkansas at Little Rock students have been awarded grants from the Middle Eastern Studies Program to study Arabic abroad this summer.

Rebecca Bishop, a Donaghey Scholar whose research interests lie in the health of diseased coral reef, will use her Signature Experience Award funds this summer to travel to San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas, to collect and analyze coral reef samples at the Gerace Research Centre.

Dylan Wright, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock Spanish and political science double major, is using his Signature Experience Award to examine Argentina's films and determine the role they play in citizens' LGBTQ rights.

Thanks to her Signature Experience Award, Nicole Ursin, a junior double majoring in history and anthropology, will present her research at the Society for Applied Anthropology Conference in Philadelphia, April 3-7.

Brooke Cooley, a second year doctoral student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will assist in conducting real-world research in conjunction with the Little Rock Police Department.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock students in professor Barclay Key's "Age of Reform" class searched through U.S. census records during the fall 2017 semester in an attempt to identify potential victims of the Elaine Massacre and determine how many people were actually killed.

Six University of Arkansas at Little Rock students will showcase their research in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at the state Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Seven University of Arkansas at Little Rock students were recently named recipients of the prestigious Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship award from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education for the purpose of research.

Six University of Arkansas at Little Rock students and two faculty members recently attended the American Geophysical Union Conference, one of the largest earth and space science conferences in the world.

Eight students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock recently presented their research at the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Conference in Fayetteville on Oct. 27-28, 2017.

Eighteen students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock got a taste of life as international diplomats during a trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Model Arab League Conference.

Genetic research by a University of Arkansas at Little Rock student that could one day aid Mars colonists was one of only 10 student projects highlighted during a national NASA Space Grant conference. Diamond McGehee, an applied bioscience Ph.D. student from Conway, represented Arkansas and the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium after she was selected by the National Space Grant Directors committee.

Six University of Arkansas at Little Rock students presented research during the 2017 "STEM Posters at the Capitol" event at the Arkansas Capitol Rotunda.

Ten college students from across the country participated in an intensive summer research program designed to decrease the tide of cyberattacks on people using mobile technology and social media. The students were recruited through a National Science Foundation grant-funded project: REU Site: CyberSAFE@UALR: Cyber Security and Forensics Research at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Created in 2007, the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program identifies up to 20 college sophomores who demonstrate the necessary commitment and academic achievement to become competent, well-trained rural primary care physicians.

Jermaine Marshall, 22, a senior computer science major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been accepted as a National GEM (Graduate Engineering Degrees for Minorities) Ph.D. Science Fellow.