2023-2024 Funding Opportunity 

Applications will be accepted for one year, from $10,000 - $100,000 total. Grants are available to support new and existing research collaborations at two or more Nebraska campuses* to:

1) Generate preliminary data critical to federally funded research grant proposals or resubmissions, or

2) Develop capabilities that allow the University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Initiative (NSRI) to seek contract funding from its sponsor (U.S. Strategic Command), other Department of Defense entities, or any additional federal agencies.

For those applications that receive funding: With evidence of the proposed work being completed, significant progress towards obtaining federal funding, and a justified need for additional work, a brief application due May 1, 2025, will be available to expand the planned research for 6 months with up to an additional $50,000 in funding. Details will be provided with the initial award notification.

*For NSRI priority-topic projects, collaboration with a NSRI content expert is encouraged. If a NSRI content expert is included, collaboration between that expert and a PI/Co-PI from a single campus would meet the collaboration requirement. The collaboration requirement can still be met (without a NSRI expert) if the PI/Co-PIs are from multiple campuses.

• Aging/Quality of Life While Aging
• Behavioral / Mental Health Prevention, Diagnosis, and Care
• Cancer Prevention, Screening, and Early Interventions
• Clinical Trial Collaborations: Disease Prevention, Diagnostics, and Therapies
• Disease Mechanisms, Preventions, and Treatments
• Drug Discovery, Delivery, And Development
• Computing, Information Sciences, Data Sciences, and Bioinformatics
• Generative AI: Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications
• Engineering and Material Science Applications / Use-Inspired Research
• Structural and Functional Biology Applications in the Life Sciences and Agriculture
• Water Resource and Water Safety Management
• Educational Outcomes (Including Workforce Development)
• National Security: Chemical, Radiological, and Biological Defense
• National Security: Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Protection
• National Security: Threat Detection, Mitigation, and Response

Approximately 80% of the available funding will be directed to proposals that fit the identified topics; 20% will be available to support proposals targeting federally fundable projects of any topic.