News

Stopping Cancer Cell Movement
MSI PIs Paolo Provenzano (associate professor, Biomedical Engineering; Masonic Cancer Center) and Patrick Alford (associate professor, Biomedical Engineering) have published research that shows how they stopped cancer cells from moving and spreading. The paper, published in Nature Communications, demonstrated a method that stopped two kinds of movement that cancer cells use to spread, thus stopping them.
MSI PIs on List of Highly Cited Researchers
Several MSI PIs are on the Highly Cited Researchers list, which recognizes researchers around the world whose citation records place them in the top one percent of citation counts for their field over a decade. The PIs on the list are:
Microbes in the Soil
The research of MSI PI Linda Kinkel (professor, Plant Pathology) was featured on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) recently. The story describes how microbes in the soil interact with each other and how that interaction can affect agriculture. It can be found on the MPR website: Microbes in the Crop Rows: Soil’s Secrets May Yield a New Ag Revolution.
MSI PIs Named as Institute on the Environment Affiliates
Several MSI PIs have been named as affiliates of the Institute on the Environment (IonE). Affiliates include Fellows, Associates, Educators, and Visiting Scholars. Three MSI PIs are new Fellows and four are new Associates. The Institute on the Environment supports collaborative research among academic disciplines and external partners to solve problems related to climate, energy, food, land use, water management, and more. Fellows
Oat Rust Research
MSI PIs Melania Figueroa (assistant professor, Plant Pathology) and Jim Bradeen (professor and head, Plant Pathology) are featured in a story about the University’s Oat Global program in the Fall 2018 issue of the University of Minnesota Foundation’s Legacy magazine. Professor Bradeen is the director of Oat Global.
Studying Bison at Cedar Creek
MSI PI Forest Isbell (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) is the lead researcher on a project that has re-introduced a herd of bison into the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR). Dr. Isbell is the Associate Director of CCESR.
New Center for Spintronic Materials in Advanced Information Technologies
MSI PI Jian-Ping Wang (Electrical and Computer Engineering) will be the director of a new center that will focus on novel materials for advanced computing systems. The new Center for Spintronic Materials in Advanced Information Technologies (SMART) will be housed in the College of Science and Engineering (CSE).
November 2018 Maintenance
On Wednesday, November 7, 2018, MSI staff will perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades to various MSI systems. Primary Storage, Mesabi, and Itasca will be unavailable throughout much of the day. A global system reservation will start at 5:00am on November 7. Jobs that cannot be completed before 5:00am on November 7 will be held until after maintenance and then started once the system returns to production status. November maintenance will include:
Immigrating to US Can Change Your Microbiome
Recent research by MSI PI Dan Knights  (associate professor, Computer Science and Engineering; BioTechnology Institute) shows that the gut microbiome of southeast Asian immigrants to the US changes to become more like that of Americans. This change happens quickly, within a year. People in southeast Asia have much more diverse gut microbiomes than people in the US do. A less-diverse microbiome is linked to several health conditions, including obesity.
MSI PIs Awarded Grant to Develop Center for Water Management
Two MSI PIs from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering (CEGE), Professor Bill Arnold and Dr. Paige Novak, are part of a team that has received a grant to plan an Engineering Research Center concerned with the management and treatment of water. The planning grant of $94,000 is from the National Science Foundation’s  Engineering Research Center program.
MSI PIs Awarded Grant to Study Soft Robots
Assistant Professor Tim Kowalewski and Associate Professor James Van de Ven, MSI PIs in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have been awarded a $1.98M grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study 3D-printable polyurethane polymers that can be used to create soft robots that can tunnel through a variety of materials, configurations, and designs.
MSI PI Michael McAlpine Featured in Driven to Discover Campaign
Associate Professor Michael McAlpine (Mechanical Engineering) is featured in the U’s Fall 2018 Driven to Discover campaign. Professor McAlpine’s research group uses MSI resources to support research into 3D printing of functional materials and devices, which requires the use of software for simulation, computer-aided engineering, data visualization, and image processing.
Study of Forests Describes Climate-Change Impact on Trees
A study just published in the prestigious journal Nature shows that tree growth in northern Minnesota’s forests will slow down as the climate warms. This reduced growth is due to less-frequent (although heavier) rain, which will cause the soil to be drier. The study looked at 11 different tree species in northern Minnesota and was led by MSI PI Peter Reich (Regents Professor, Forest Resources).
MSI PI Maria Gini Featured in Driven to Discover Campaign
Professor Maria Gini (Computer Science and Engineering) is featured in the U’s Fall 2018 Driven to Discover campaign. Professor Gini’s research group studies a variety of problems in artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems. The problems can require machine learning methods, optimization algorithms, search algorithms that work in very large search spaces, image processing, distributed computations, and more.
MSI PI Chris Cramer Named VP for Research
University President Eric Kaler announced today that Professor Chris Cramer (Chemistry) will take over as Vice President for Research beginning November 12, 2018 and serving until November 12, 2020.
MSI PI Perry Hackett Featured in Driven to Discover Campaign
Professor Perry Hackett (Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development) is featured in the U’s Fall 2018 Driven to Discover campaign. The Hackett group uses MSI resources, especially Galaxy, for research concerning applications of Sleeping Beauty transposons. See the story: Sleeping Beauty, Sleeping Giant: A breakthrough treatment in the fight against cancer.    
Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Gets Renewed Funding
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed funding for the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR), home to long-term ecological experiments. The funding renewal extends NSF’s support by another six years; they have provided funding to CCESR since 1982. MSI PIs Eric Seabloom and Sarah Hobbie, both of the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, are the project co-leaders.
October 2018 Maintenance
On Wednesday, October 3, 2018, MSI staff will perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades to various MSI systems. Primary Storage, Mesabi, and Itasca will be unavailable throughout much of the day. A global system reservation will start at 5:00 am on October 3. Jobs that cannot be completed before 5:00 am on October 3 will be held until after maintenance and then started once the system returns to production status. October maintenance will include:
U of M Receives Federal Grant to Improve Electronic Circuit Design
The University of Minnesota has received a four-year, $5.3 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to study ways to improve electronic circuit design. MSI PI Sachin Sapatnekar (professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering) will lead the team at the U. This grant fall under DARPA’s new Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets program.
Decision Making
Research by MSI PI David Redish (professor, Neuroscience) was featured recently on the Office of the Vice President for Research’s Inquiry blog: No Simple Decisions.

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