A UC San Diego professor who uses music to understand the human brain won a $300,000 grant Wednesday from the University of California.
Professor Scott Makeig was one of five winners of the first President's Research Catalyst Awards, chosen from a pool of almost 200 proposals.
"The President's Research Catalyst Awards will spur UC research and offer our faculty and students new opportunities for cross-campus, multi- disciplinary collaboration," UC President Janet Napolitano said. "We want to support research endeavors that have real-world impact in areas with critical needs."
Makeig's UC Music Experience Research Community Initiative brings together experts on music listening, performance, neuroscience, brain imaging and data science to understand the potential of music for health and cognition.
Other grantees will research how California's ecosystems will be affected by climate change, how to address a healthcare crisis in prison, use of quantum emulation to study the smallest matter in the universe, and tapping big data to look at questions of health, poverty and social justice.
UC officials said the application period for the next round of grants will begin during the winter.
