{"id":684,"date":"2026-01-15T13:49:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/research\/?p=684"},"modified":"2026-10-01T14:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:25:20","slug":"aspire-fall-25-recipients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/research\/2026\/01\/15\/aspire-fall-25-recipients\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Early-Career Faculty Internal Grant Recipients"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Sponsored Projects Administration\u2019s\u00a0Aspire Internal Grant<\/span><\/span><\/a>
program\u00a0is\u00a0honored\u00a0to recognize the awardees of\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Proposal Enhancement Grant<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0(PEG). This internal grant opportunity aims to support\u00a0tenured and\u00a0tenure-line faculty as they work to enhance preliminary research or scholarly projects with the goal of engaging with an external funding agency through a competitive grant proposal. In November 2025,\u00a0Aspire\u00a0reviewed applications from\u00a0pre-tenure\u00a0faculty members. After\u00a0reviewing many quality proposals, the committee awarded\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dr.\u00a0Tengfei\u00a0Ma<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Assistant Professor of Public Health;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dr. Brittany\u00a0Acquaviva<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Assistant Professor\u00a0of\u00a0Criminal Justice;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dr. Sarah Harry<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Assistant Professor of School Psychology;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dr.\u00a0Somanita\u00a0Kheang<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies; and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dr.\u00a0Jiyeon\u00a0Lee<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood, Youth, and Family Studies.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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These early career faculty are conducting research in a variety of areas from the connection between early-life nutrition, gut microbiome function, and child sleep health to how different methods of contact<\/span> affect victim cooperation in intimate partner violence. For some faculty, this is their <\/span>first time<\/span> receiving funding for their research, while others are <\/span>seasoned<\/span> <\/span>grantseekers<\/span>. One of the goals of the Aspire Internal Grant program is to provide Ball State faculty and <\/span>students<\/span> a <\/span>stepping stone<\/span> as they prepare to seek out larger, external grant funding. These internal grants, like the Proposal Enhancement Grant, <\/span>allow researchers to fund some of the <\/span>preliminary phases <\/span>of their research, like data gathering, coding, or transcription, among other elements of their <\/span>project<\/span>s<\/span>, in preparation <\/span>of <\/span>external pro<\/span>posal or <\/span>publication <\/span>submission. <\/span>The <\/span>ultimate <\/span>aim<\/span> <\/span>of the program is to help the<\/span>se principal <\/span>investigators<\/span> further<\/span> <\/span>expand<\/span> their research <\/span>into<\/span> national<\/span> or industry-specific opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Somanita<\/span> <\/span>Kh<\/span>e<\/span>ang<\/span>, for example, has a <\/span>longer-term<\/span> goal of <\/span>utilizing<\/span> the outcomes from her <\/span>PEG-funded <\/span>research <\/span>to<\/span> expand into a larger multi-institutional study aimed at systemic change in higher education. <\/span>She shared that h<\/span>er project \u201cinvestigates how <\/span>research universities in <\/span>the Midwest can better support at-risk adult learners, particularly first-generation, low-income, and working students, who face systemic barriers to degree <\/span>completion.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> The PEG will allow her to \u201cconduct essential pilot data collection, including virtual interviews and in-person focus groups across three Midwestern <\/span>research universities,\u201d she says. This preliminary research will allow her to develop a practical, evidence-based framework <\/span>from which <\/span>to <\/span>guide<\/span> universities to better support their at-risk adult learners<\/span>. She <\/span>aspires to<\/span> <\/span>submit<\/span> <\/span>her findings <\/span>for publication in peer-reviewed journals<\/span> and present at academic conferences like the one pictured below<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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<\/span>Dr. Brittany\u00a0Acquaviva\u00a0also plans to\u00a0utilize\u00a0the PEG funding to support data coding, management, and preliminary analyses in her project, \u201cEvaluating Victim Cooperation for Intimate Partner Violence Cases Processed at the Delaware County Prosecutor\u2019s Office.\u201d Dr.\u00a0Acquaviva\u00a0shares that she will be using \u201ccase-level data from\u00a02018-2024 to evaluate individual, case, and organizational factors associated with victim engagement through the legal process.\u201d By examining\u00a0how communication methods like \u201cphone [calls], in-person [communication], and text messaging affect victims\u00a0cooperating in intimate partner violence cases,\u201d Dr.\u00a0Acquaviva\u00a0hopes to provide \u201cthe pilot findings needed to justify expanding the evaluation of processing other sensitive cases.\u201d While this is not her first internally funded project,\u00a0she says\u00a0her\u00a0hope\u00a0is\u00a0that\u00a0the support from this award will allow her to \u201cposition the project for competitive external funding opportunities\u201d in the future<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Project proposals for PEG vary in size and scope, with funding available of <\/span>up to $12,500 per project. Each project\u2019s needs are <\/span>different<\/span>, so<\/span> <\/span>submitting<\/span> a clear budget and budget narrative is essential. The funding can be <\/span>utilized<\/span> for summer stipends, student support, supplies, equipment, expenses, or travel. One of the unique aspects of Dr. <\/span>Tengfei<\/span> Ma\u2019s project is support for <\/span>metatranscriptic<\/span> sequencing. <\/span>He shares that his <\/span>mul<\/span>t<\/span>i-omic<\/span>s<\/span> analysis <\/span>project<\/span> <\/span>\u201c<\/span>will <\/span>assess<\/span> the interplay between early-life nutrition, gut microbiome, and child sleep health<\/span>.\u201d He will collaborate with colleagues at Michigan State University\u2019s Genomics Core Facility to conduct the necessary sequencing. Dr. Ma, a first-time awardee, says that he<\/span> <\/span>is striving<\/span> for this project \u201cto result in one to two high-quality, peer reviewed publications\u201d in the short-term and to \u201cprovide critical preliminary data to support a competitive NIH R01<\/span> <\/span>application\u201d in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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<\/span>Dr. Sarah Harry plans to use the\u00a0award\u00a0to hire graduate student support,\u00a0fund a project-planning\u00a0course release,\u00a0and\u00a0pay for necessary supplies for data collection. Her project, \u201cAn Investigation of Emergent Literacy Outcomes in Preschoolers Through Targeted Interventions,\u201d\u00a0will allow her and her team to assess if new, popularized reading programs from companies like\u00a0Lovevery\u00a0offer added value in comparison to\u00a0established\u00a0strategies from established reading research centers.\u00a0The\u00a0PEG\u00a0represents\u00a0Dr. Harry\u2019s\u00a0first time\u00a0receiving funding for her research.\u00a0She shared that\u00a0she believes\u00a0her project \u201cwill have implications on what reading strategies are promoted and how to encourage more\u00a0equitable\u00a0practices for preschool settings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Along the lines of research in prekindergarten settings, Dr. Jiyeon Lee is utilizing the award to explore how families and providers in East Indiana adapt to shifting prekindergarten policy changes. The funding, Lee shares, “will clarify how both families and providers respond to reduced funding, increasing closures, and inequitable access” of prekindergarten. By understanding how families and providers navigate these challenges, Lee says the study “will generate actionable knowledge bridging scholarship, policy, and practice, supporting equitable and sustainable early education for all Hoosier children.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sponsored Projects Administration is excited to see how the funding<\/span> through the<\/span> Aspire Internal Grants program <\/span>will aid in shaping the academic and research careers of these faculty. There are a variety of <\/span>internal grants available through Aspire<\/span><\/span><\/a>, both for students and faculty members, to help fund <\/span>research projects. <\/span>Tenured faculty have the opportunity to <\/span><\/span>apply for their round of funding<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span>for PEG <\/span>during the Spring 2026 semester. Applications are due by February 1<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sponsored Projects Administration\u2019s\u00a0Aspire Internal Grant program\u00a0is\u00a0honored\u00a0to recognize the awardees of\u00a0the\u00a0Proposal Enhancement Grant\u00a0(PEG). This internal grant opportunity aims to support\u00a0tenured and\u00a0tenure-line faculty as they work to enhance preliminary research or scholarly projects with the goal of engaging with an external funding agency through a competitive grant proposal. In November 2025,\u00a0Aspire\u00a0reviewed applications from\u00a0pre-tenure\u00a0faculty members. After\u00a0reviewing many quality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":446,"featured_media":696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[77,92,91,65],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-highlights","category-researchnews","tag-aspire","tag-faculty","tag-internal-grants","tag-research"],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrating Early-Career Faculty Internal Grant Recipients - Ball State University Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/research\/2026\/01\/15\/aspire-fall-25-recipients\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrating Early-Career Faculty Internal Grant Recipients - Ball State University Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sponsored Projects Administration\u2019s\u00a0Aspire Internal Grant program\u00a0is\u00a0honored\u00a0to recognize the awardees of\u00a0the\u00a0Proposal Enhancement Grant\u00a0(PEG). This internal grant opportunity aims to support\u00a0tenured and\u00a0tenure-line faculty as they work to enhance preliminary research or scholarly projects with the goal of engaging with an external funding agency through a competitive grant proposal. In November 2025,\u00a0Aspire\u00a0reviewed applications from\u00a0pre-tenure\u00a0faculty members. 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This internal grant opportunity aims to support\u00a0tenured and\u00a0tenure-line faculty as they work to enhance preliminary research or scholarly projects with the goal of engaging with an external funding agency through a competitive grant proposal. In November 2025,\u00a0Aspire\u00a0reviewed applications from\u00a0pre-tenure\u00a0faculty members. 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