This innovative investment in UNO will provide funding to priorities that benefit from catalytic investments. These funds aim to inspire faculty and staff to consider new and innovative ideas that will help move UNO from good to great. Potential projects are not exclusively for academic endeavors and all projects that enhance the university’s top priorities and strategic areas are welcome. Partnerships across colleges and/or units are encouraged.
All faculty and staff are eligible to submit applications through NuRamp. Principal Investigators (PIs) may apply for no more than one grant; there is no limit on their participation as Co-PIs.
A campus advisory committee will evaluate applications and consider how well the application addresses the priorities, whether intercampus or interdisciplinary connections strengthen the application, the nature of the needs the application addresses, and the application's likelihood of success.
Funding will be available at up to $500,000, $250,000, and $100,000 levels. The intent is for funding to support an idea or project that could be spent over a number of years. For example, someone may request $100,000 to spend $50,000 of the funds over two years to fulfill the project. All awards are subject to funding availability and determinations of application suitability.
2025 Strategic Priorities- applications must align with at least one of these three pillars of the UNO Core's four pillars:
- Pillar 1 Educating All Learners
- Pillar 3 Community Engagement, Development, and Partnerships
- Pillar 4 Workforce and Economic Development
Timeline
Fiscal year funding 2026
August 1, 2025- NuRamp open for applications
January 16, 2026- applications due by 5PM
March 2026- notification of funded projects
July 1, 2026- Fiscal Year 2026 funded projects begin
Second Round of Funded Proposals:
- Maverick Peak Performance Program
- Project Lead: Samuel Wilkins, Ph.D., ATC, Assistant Professor, School of Health and Kinesiology
- The Coaching Collaborative
- Project Lead: Connie Schaffer, Ed.D., Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence
- Innovation in Aviation Flight Training
- Project Lead: Hunter Pehrson, Recruitment & Retention Specialist, Aviation Institute, College of Public Affairs and Community Service
- Pioneering Excellence: Advancing Clinical Expertise in Academia
- Project Lead: Erin Pleggenkuhle-Miles, Ph.D., Professor of Management, College of Business Administration
- Pathways for Technology, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
- Project Lead: Brent Clark, Ph.D., Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Associate Director of the Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Franchising (CIEF), Site Director of NSF I-Corps
First Round of Funded Proposals:
- HeartBeats: PI Mary Perkinson, Music
- UNO Jumpstart: PI Aaron Krueger, Student Life & Wellbeing
- Civic Leadership Fellows Learning Community: PI Randy Adkins, A&S Dean’s Office
- UNO Summer Musical Theatre Academy: PI Curtis Reynolds, Theatre
- Competencies, Skills, and Workforce Development Hub: PI Stephanie Larsen, Innovative & Learning-Centric Institute
- The North Omaha Initiative: PI Cynthia Robinson, Black Studies
- Destination Omaha: Spatial Immersion Project: PI Christina Dando, Geography & Geology
- AI Code Lab System: Prototype Development and Pilot Study for Cross-College AI Programming Education at UNO: PI Xin Zhong, Computer Science
- General Education Transformation: PI Matt Tracy, Academic Affairs
- Change for Engagement Capacity Building: PI Cecilia Tocaimaza-Hatch, World Languages & Literature
- Scaling and UP-skilling the Nebraska Cyber Workforce through the NebraskaCYBER MATRIX: Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Threat Response Initiative for Cybersecurity Excellence: PI Matt Hale, Interdisciplinary Informatics
- AI-CCORE: Artificial Intelligence Center for Collaborative Outreach Research and Education: PI Mahadevan Subramaniam, Computer Science
- Developing Educators and Promoting Achievement (DEPA): PI Gabriel Gutierrez, Teacher Education
- 3D Printing for Healthcare Education and Workforce Development: PI Jorge Zuniga, Biomechanics