Faculty Collaboration Initiative Annual Meeting

Principal investigators must attend the Collaboration Initiative Grants Annual Meeting to be eligible for funding from this program.* 

Meeting Date:

Friday, November 14, 2025
9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (lunch provided) 

*If conflicts exist, partial day attendance is acceptable. If significant university-related obligations prevent attendance, please contact us at nri@nebraska.edu to request a waiver after registering (waivers will be granted after registration opens in the fall).

Meeting Location:

Nebraska Innovation Campus - Conference Center
2021 Transformation Drive, Lincoln, NE 68508
Parking information will be emailed to all registrants.

Anticipated Agenda

• 9:00-9:25 - Pick up name badge (prompt 9:30 start)
• 9:30 - Welcome (Dr. Jeffrey Gold)
• 9:40 - Logistics and RFA Review (Dr. David Jackson)
• 10:30 - Keynote Address: "Politics and Research: Current Perspectives" (Sean Gallagher)
• 11:15 - Break
• 11:30 - Research Priorities for NU Topic Breakouts
• 12:30-1:30 - Lunch
• 1:30 - Collaboration Initiative Proposal Development Work Sessions
• 2:30 - Meeting Concludes*

*Out of respect for our catering staff, please plan to clear the banquet hall by 2:30. If you wish to continue your work, you are welcome to move to a first-floor space such as an empty breakout room.

Keynote Speakers:

"Politics and Research: Current Perspectives"

Sean Gallagher
Deputy Director, Government Relations
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Sean joined AAAS as a Senior Government Relations Officer in March 2015. He handles a wide range of policy issues and focuses on engaging and encouraging scientists to demonstrate their value to their peers, the media and policy makers. He spearheads grassroots efforts and serves as a liaison to congress and the executive branch.

Prior to joining AAAS Sean spent over 8 years on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to five Members of Congress, helping represent districts in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, California, and most recently was a policy advisor to Representative Rush Holt from central New Jersey. Sean specialized in science and technology issues, and also has experience in military and veterans affairs as well health care reform. Sean has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University and received his Bachelor’s in Political Science from Villanova University.

Alessandra Zimmermann
Senior Manager, R&D Policy
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Alessandra Zimmermann is the Senior Manager, R&D Policy for the R&D Budget and Policy Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where she collects information on federal science spending, both current and past.

Previously, she was the Executive Director at Proposal Analytics, performing research into making the research funding space more useful to early career researchers. She has also been a program Manager for the Canadian Science Policy Center, an intern at AAAS’s EPI Center, and a researcher for the National Science Policy Network.

Prior to switching to science policy work, she earned her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Maryland, and a BS in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University.