Annual Research Report 2025

Scott Field receives $189K NSF grant using machine learning to improve gravitational wave models

Grant funds project titled: Collaborative Research: CDS&E: Data-Driven Discovery of Neural ODE Dynamics, Astrophysical Models, and Orbits (Neural ODE DynAMO)

Scientists recently detected gravitational waves from black holes and neutron stars orbiting each other. These waves—ripples in space-time first predicted by Einstein—are caused by massive objects moving in distant galaxies. Current models focus on two-body systems like pairs of black holes, but don’t account for the complex environments around them. This project will fund a team of researchers using new machine learning tools to improve these models by including environmental effects.

The team previously developed gravitational waveform inversion (GWI), a machine-learning method that uncovers orbital models from wave data without considering outside influences. Now, they aim to advance GWI by adding those effects, creating new models that include features like dark matter halos and disk-embedded systems. These improvements could help scientists learn more from next-generation detectors like LISA, offering deeper insights into black hole collisions and their surroundings. Professor Field has 3 active NSF grants with total value of $745,000.

Dr. Walaa Mogawer, Commonwealth Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the UMass Dartmouth Highway Sustainability Research Center (HSRC), recently received a $649,942 grant from the National Academy of Sciences National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). The grant will fund research to develop a framework for the design, production, and placement of balanced asphalt mixtures.

Learn more about Dr. Mogawer's grant

NO STIGMA Nursing team unveils findings, impact of $591K opioid research grant

Opioid use disorder care research funded by The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts

Professors Mary McCurry, Monika Schuler, Mirinda Tyo, and Jennifer Viveiros recently completed a three-year project funded by a 2022 grant from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) to advance nursing education focused on compassionate, stigma-free care for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD).

Through the Novel Organizational Simulation Training to Improve Graduate’s Mastery & Attitudes (NO STIGMA) Nursing initiative, the team developed an evidence-based toolkit for nursing students featuring six high-fidelity simulations designed to reduce stigma and promote equitable care. The simulations significantly improved student attitudes toward patients with OUD, and the project concluded with a campus conference highlighting the team’s findings and impact.

Brutalist architecture

This year UMassBRUT, a multidisciplinary campaign designed to reshape perceptions of the Brutalist architecture of the University of Massachusetts system was one of the recipients of the 2024 Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Commonwealth Award.

This included the following members from UMass Dartmouth on the Executive Committee:

Rose Mary Botti-Salitsky, Interior Architecture & Design

Allison Cywin, Librarian

Anna Dempsey, Art History

Viera Levitt, Art Gallery Director

Stephanie McGoldrick, Interior Architecture & Design