The Sponsored Research Administration and Research Compliance (SPARC) Office would like to congratulate the following faculty members on their grant awards from the National Science Foundation. These awards are the impressive result of their hard work and diligence.

Klaus Bartschat, PhD, Ellis & Nelle Levitt Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy was awarded a three-year, $319,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for his project entitled Photon- and Electron-Driven Atomic Collision Processes: General Theory and Accurate Numerical Calculations.

This study examines collisions of light (mostly lasers) and charged particles (mostly electrons) with atoms and ions. Elastic and inelastic processes, including excitation, single and double ionization, autoionization, and excitation-ionization for a wide variety of targets will be investigated by combining general collision theory with the development and subsequent application of highly sophisticated numerical methods. Continuing the close interaction with many groups in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia will lead to a deeper understanding of the quantum-mechanical collision dynamics while simultaneously producing data needed for many modelling applications, specifically in plasma and astrophysics.

Jerrid Kruse, PhD, Professor, and Lindsay Woodward, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair, Teaching and Learning Department, were awarded a three-year, $628,791 grant for their project entitled, Engaging Elementary Teachers in Developing and Implementing Instructional Materials Promoting Socioscientific Literacy.

Navigating complex societal issues such as water shortages, forest fires, and other phenomena-based problems requires understanding the social, technological, and scientific dimensions surrounding the issues and the ways these dimensions interact, shift, and change. Despite its importance, however, developing students’ socioscientific literacy has received limited attention in elementary science teaching and learning contexts. This project begins to address this problem of practice by focusing first on developing elementary teachers’ socioscientific literacy and their capacity to integrate socioscientific issues and local phenomena in their science teaching practice.

— Preston Miller, Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance

Full-time Drake employees are eligible to participate in tuition exchange programs, which offer waived or discounted tuition at other participating institutions for employees, their spouse/partner, or eligible dependent(s). See Drake’s Tuition Exchange Policy for complete information.

Tuition Exchange applications for the 2025-2026 year are available now (complete online via the links provided below). Students receiving Tuition Exchange for 2024-2025 should not complete another application. (Tuition exchange renews automatically, as long as the employee and student remain eligible.)

There are three steps in the tuition exchange application process:

1. The student submits a tuition exchange application online through one or both of the tuition exchange programs listed below (the student should also apply for admission at each school listed on the tuition exchange application).
2. Drake Human Resources confirms and certifies the employee’s eligibility to participate in the tuition exchange program. This is done on a rolling basis as applications are received.
3. The tuition exchange application is routed to each school the student included on the application(s), and each school will decide whether the student will be offered a tuition exchange award.

Schools have different application deadlines and timelines for announcing award determinations. It is the employee’s responsibility to submit the tuition exchange application early enough to allow time for step #2 to be completed in advance of each school’s deadlines.

Details about each of Drake’s tuition exchange programs are provided below:

Tuition Exchange, Inc. (TE)
TE has over 700 participating schools. Visit tuitionexchange.org to learn more, view participating schools, and to submit an application.

Council of Independent Colleges & Universities Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP)
CIC-TEP has over 430 participating schools. Visit cic.edu/tep to learn more, view participating schools, and to submit an application.

–Ryan Zantingh, Student Financial Planning