Originally published May 26, 2012 at 4:42 p.m., updated May 26, 2012 at 4:42 p.m.

Junior faculty summer grants awarded to two University of Houston-Victoria assistant professors will be used to study artificial intelligence and publishing.

Hongyu Guo, an assistant professor of computer science, and Kyle Schlesinger, co-director of the Master of Science in publishing program and an assistant professor of English and communication design, each received a $10,000 research award from the university.

Guo will continue his research in swarm intelligence, while Schlesinger will work on essays about the history and future of publishing. Both could have books out about the subjects in the near future.

The grants have been awarded each of the past four summers. A committee of tenured UHV professors evaluates and then recommends who receives the awards.

"These grants were created to encourage faculty research and give our junior faculty a jump-start in their research agendas," said Jeffrey Cass, UHV provost and vice president for academic affairs. "Dr. Guo and Dr. Schlesinger presented compelling research plans, and we are pleased to assist them with their efforts."

Guo's research involves an emerging subfield of artificial intelligence inspired by the swarming behaviors of social animals.

"Ants, bees and gnats often swarm together," he said. "As individuals, they are simple. But as a group, the collective intelligence of the system of individual agents makes it possible to accomplish high-complexity tasks. It's the same principle here."

Guo said swarm intelligence is a fairly new field but has profound applications in nanotechnology, computer networks, digital gaming, space science, military and business operations.

"There's relatively little research done so far on the topic, and there are many open questions," he said.

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UHV assistant professors receive $10,000 summer research grants