University of Delaware professor Ben Carterette has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to support his work researching ways to make search engines that are better able to understand and correctly respond to human queries. "We use search engines for a wide range of tasks today, from planning a vacation to finding a good day care center," says Carterette. "Some of those tasks, like getting directions and or looking for a weather forecast, are relatively simple, while others, such as finding accurate medical information, are far more complex." The NSF grant will provide $550,000 over five years to support Carterette's research, which seeks to simulate the way in which users query search engines, with the goal of decreasing the number of steps a user must take to find whatever it is they are seeking. To read further, please visit http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2015/jul/carterette-nsf-career-072914.html.