Grants & Fundings

Dr. Gautam's research is currently supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Energy (DoE), and DRI's internal funding. 

                 

17)

Title:                       Coherent Backscattering from Irregular and Compositionally Varied Aerosols:

                                  Integrated Laboratory and Modeling Investigations

Investigator:          Prakash Gautam (PI) and Masanori Saito (Co-PI)

Duration:                04/01/2026-03/30/2029

Sponsor:                  National Science Foundation

Funding:                 $800,000.00 (Estimated)

Status:                     In Preparation  

16)

Title:                       CAREER: Quantifying Connections Between Optical and Microphysical Aerosol         

                                  Properties toward Enhanced Atmospheric Diagnostics and Convergent Research 

Investigator:          Prakash Gautam (PI) 

Duration:                03/01/2026-02/28/2031

Sponsor:                  National Science Foundation

Funding:                 $500,000.00

Status:                     Pending   

15)                         

Title:                       AI/ML Algorithms Using Laboratory, Angularly Resolved Light Scattering Data 

                                  toward Synergistic Lidar and Polarimeter Dust Aerosol Retrievals

Investigators:        Prakash Gautam (PI) and Farnaz Hosseinpour (Co-PI)

Duration:                10/01/2025-09/30/2026

Sponsor:                  NASA

Funding:                 $125,000.00

Status:                     Pending  

   

14)   

Title:                        Measurements of Mineral Dust Particles Phase Functions for NASA Remote Sensing 

                                 Retrievals

Investigators:        Prakash Gautam and Hans Moosmüller

Duration:               08/01/2025-04/09/2026

Sponsor:                 NV NASA Space Grant

Funding:                $50,000.00

Status:                    Funded      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

13)

Title:                       Collaborative Research: FEC: Optical Properties of Mineral Dust Aerosols: Building Capacity for Use-Inspired 

                                Applications Through Experimental and Theoretical Investigations 

Investigators:       Hans Moosmüller (PI),  Prakash Gautam (Co-PI) , Meghan Collins (Co-PI),  Vera Samburova (Co-PI)

Duration:              07/01/2025  – 06/30/2029

Sponsor:                National Science Foundation (NSF)

Funding:               $3, 260,118.00 (Total award: $5.6 million, shared by OSU and UW)

Status:                   AWARDED 


12)

Title: Angularly Resolved Light Scattering from Mineral Dust Particles: A Unified Approach Using Q-and    

                                Theta-Space Analysis

Investigators: Prakash Gautam (PI) and Hans Moosmüller (Co-PI)

Duration: 08/15/2025 – 07/31/2028

Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Funding: $571,485.00

Status: AWARDED

 https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2516784


11)                           

Title:                       Integrating Light Scattering, Fluorescence, and Holography with Machine Learning toward

                                Coarse and Biological Aerosol Characterization 

Investigators:      Hans Moosmüller, Prakash Gautam, and Nic Beres.

Duration:              02/18/2025 – 02/17/2026 

Sponser:               Department of Energy (DOE)

Funding:               $150,000.00

Stauts:                   Funded


10)

Title:                      Generation of pilot data following NASA review panel recommendations; development of a 

                               novel research area

Investigators:      Vera Samburova (PI) and Prakash Gautam (Co-PI)

Sponsor:               Institute Project Assignment (IPA)

Funding:              $17,500.00

Status:                   Funded


9)

Title:                     Five Wavelength Scattering and Absorption Measurements for Energy, Climate, and      

                              Marine Applications

Investigator:       Prakash Gautam (PI)

Duration:            02/01/2025   –  10/31/2025

Sponsor:              Department of Energy (DOE), STTR through American Ecotech LLC

Funding:              $98, 157.00

Status:                  Declined


8)                            

Title:                       Optical Properties of Polydisperse Coated Soot Carbon Aggregates

Investigator:         Prakash Gautam ( PI)

Duration:               06/01/2025 – 05/31/2028

Sponsor:                 NASA

Funding:                $135, 920.00

Status:                    Pending


7)

Title: Investigation of backscattering and microphysical properties of mineral dust aerosols: towards 

                                Improved atmospheric diagnostics.

Investigators: Prakash Gautam (PI) and Hans Moosmüller (Co-PI)

Duration: 09/01/2024 – 08/30/2027

Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Funding: $569,172.00

Status: Declined


6)

Title: Expanded Measurement Spectra Superior Particle Analysis. 

Investigators: Hans Moosmüller (PI) and Prakash Gautam (Co-PI)

Duration: 09/01/2024 – 05/31/2026

Sponsor: American Ecotech LLC  

Funding: $600,028.00

Status: Funded


5)

Title: A Novel Multi-Angle Forward Light Scattering Setup for Aerosol Characterization  

Investigator:         Prakash Gautam (PI)

Duration: 08/01/2024 – 07/31/2025

Sponsor: Innovation Research Program (IRP)

Funding: $42,201.00

Status: Funded

4)

Title: Optical Characterization of Soot Properties Using a Novel Multi-Angle Light Scattering Setup                                         

Investigator:         Prakash Gautam (PI)

Duration: 08/01/2024 – 04/09/2025

Sponsor: NV NASA Space Grant

Funding: $50,000.00

Status: Funded


3)

Title: Light Backscattering from Fresh-to-Aged Soot Particles

Investigator:         Prakash Gautam (PI)

Duration: 06/01/2024 – 05/31/2025

Sponsor: NV NSF HDRFS Seed Grant

Funding: $30,000.00

Status: Funded


2)   

Title: A Novel Light Scattering Setup for Perfect Backscattering Characterization of Aerosols.    

Investigator:         Prakash Gautam (PI)

Duration: 12/01/2023 – 09/31/2024

Sponsor: Institute Project Assignment (IPA)

Funding: $15,000.00

Status: Funded


1)

Title:                       Soot Absorption Cross-Section Measurements

Investigators:       Hans Moosmüller (PI) and Prakash Gautam (Co-PI) 

Duration:              07/01/2023 – 07/31/2024

Sponsor:                DOE LANL

Funding:               $111,914.00

Status:                   Funded


Supplementary Funding, Including Student Scholarships



3) NSF EPSCoR Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Academic Year 25-26. 

     Title: Investigation of the Absorptive Properties of Soot from Different Sources Using Multi-Angle Backscattering   

      Setup

      Recipient: Russell Christensen, Scholarship amount: $4000

      Faculty Mentor: Prakash Gautam,  Receiving amount: $750 (Research Materials and Supplies Purchase)


2) Endowment Funding: $90,000.00 ( Hans Moosmüller: Lab Infrastructure Development)

  

1) Postdoctoral funding: $50,000.00, Active: 08/01/2022- Contd...