East Texas A&M University psychology professor Curt Carlson has secured three competitive Research Excellence Fund (REF) grants totaling more than $581,000, bringing new opportunities, technology and research support to psychology students at ETAMU.

The grants, awarded through The Texas A&M University System, include $381,580 for graduate fellowships, $100,000 for early-stage research and $100,000 for research equipment.

“My collaborators and I are thrilled to earn these grants and will put them to good use,” Carlson said. “They will benefit ETAMU doctoral students and faculty, especially in the Department of Psychology & Special Education.”

The largest award supports 10 students in ETAMU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program with enhanced graduate assistant salaries and opportunities to gain research and teaching experience. The fellows will also attend annual workshops at Texas A&M University in College Station to receive hands-on training with technologies including functional MRI, electroencephalography and eye tracking.

Carlson’s $100,000 Early-Stage Research Development Grant supports research examining how AI-generated faces could affect eyewitness identification. Researchers will use eye-tracking technology to study how participants examine real and AI-generated faces in police-style lineups, with the goal of helping law enforcement develop fairer identification procedures.

The third award will help establish portable EEG capabilities at ETAMU and partner A&M System institutions. Carlson said ETAMU’s psychology department has never had an EEG machine, which measures electrical activity in the brain. The technology will allow faculty and doctoral students to combine traditional behavioral research with neurological data.

Together, the three projects expand research opportunities for students while strengthening East Texas A&M’s growing research enterprise and providing access to technologies previously unavailable on campus. University leaders hope to foster that same combination of scholarship, collaboration and hands-on student involvement across disciplines.

“Dr. Curt Carlson exemplifies the spirit of East Texas A&M University through his commitment to meaningful research, student success and service to our broader community,” said Dr. Mustafa Mashal, vice president for Research and Economic Development. “We are proud of his contributions as he helps advance our mission through discovery, innovation and opportunity.”