The Affinito-Stewart Grants Program administered by the President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) aims to increase the long-term retention of women on the faculty by supporting the completion of research that is important in the tenure process.

For 2011, eight awards, selected from 12 proposals by faculty members from across the university, were granted for a total of $49,200; their review was based on scholarly merit, research design, feasibility and likely relevance to promotion to tenure.

The awards, all to assistant professors, are:

• Elizabeth Anker, Department of English, $3,500 for her research on "Constitutional Imaginaries: Literary Aesthetic and the Politics of the New Global Constitutionalism";

• Taryn Bauerle, Department of Horticulture, $4,000 for her study on "Calculating 3-D Tree Root Growth in Response to a Changing Climate";

• Yingxin Gao, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, $7,000 for her study on "The Effects of Platelet Rich Plasma on Muscle Strain Healing in Rats";

• Ursula Krotscheck, Department of Clinical Sciences, $5,500 for her study on "Comparison of Tibial Tuberosity Advancement to Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy for Cranial Cruciate Insufficiency in Dogs";

• Beth Livingston, Department of Human Resources Studies, $4,000 for her research on "The Effects of Household Bargaining on Work-Family Decision-Making and Outcomes";

• Corinna Loeckenhoff, Department of Human Development, $9,200 for her study on "Joint Decision-Making Among Older Leukemia Patients";

• Cynthia Reinhart-King, Department of Biomedical Engineering, $7,000 for her research on "Mechanical and Chemical Regulation of Smooth Muscle Cell Migration"; and

• Jessica Weeks, Department of Government, $9,000 for her research on "The Casual Mechanism of the Democratic Peace."

Grants between $1,000 and $12,500 are given by the program each year. More than $798,000 has been awarded to 184 women researchers at Cornell since 1992.