FVSU receives federal grant for new courses, lab space

Fort Valley State University picked up a federal grant for science courses recently.

The $149,999 grant was awarded to FVSU professor Ramana Gosukonda and research scientist Ajit Mahapatra by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga. The grant is specifically to support the creation of courses and laboratory space for bioinformatics, a field of study that combines computer science, statistics, mathematics and engineering for the purpose of biological data analysis.

"Bioinformatics is fundamental to the growth of the economy and future scientific endeavors," Bishop said in the release. "The expansion of Fort Valley State University's bioinformatics programs will lead to successful careers for more students at FVSU. I applaud Drs. Gosukonda, Amoah and Mahapatra for taking the initiative to improve Fort Valley State University."

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "FVSU receives federal grant for new courses, lab space ."