UNO Research and Creative Activity High School Internship Program
This program funds high school interns to work on faculty members' research and/or creative endeavors and rewards faculty for the mentoring they provide their interns.
Students hired by faculty who participate in the program must be at least 16 years old at the time of hire. Both faculty and students must comply with UNO youth safety policy and procedures.
In addition, interns are expected to complete necessary training to participate in the research and/or creative activity, including, but not limited to, responsible conduct of research, IRB and/or IACUC training as appropriate.
Apply in NuRamp. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis.
Eligibility
All full-time faculty are eligible to apply. Awards will be decided based on the criteria described below and funding availability.
Requirements
To ensure compliance with university Youth Activity Safety policy and procedures, in advance of the internship, all participating faculty and graduate students must:
- Have an annual background check conducted,
- Complete a Youth Safety Training course,
- Provide a letter to interns’ parent(s) or legal guardian describing the internship expectations (incl. transportation, lunch, etc.) and risk).
- Complete waivers as required by Youth Activity Safety
During the internship, faculty must:
- Require interns to check in and check out every day,
- Ensure that a supervisor is always in the building with the intern,
- Maintain regular notes on the work completed.
- CC the intern’s parent or legal guardian in all email correspondence.
- Not schedule the intern for more than 20 hours of work each week
Time Commitment
Students are expected to complete a total of 5-20 hours per week onsite during the week (Monday-Friday) between 8:00am and 5:00pm. (If the student will be working during the academic year, they may not be scheduled for more than 10 hours/week onsite [Monday-Friday]). Total hours for the internship may not exceed 80 hours. Internships are expected to last from 4 to 8 weeks in the Summer, or 8 to 12 weeks during the academic year.
Funding
Awards of up to $1,700 will be made: $1,200 will be allocated to intern pay (50% payment at the midpoint AND 50% at the end of the internship) and $500 in professional development funds for faculty incentive (released after the final report is submitted).
Download the RFP for more information
Questions?
For questions, please contact unoorca@unomaha.edu
Center for Collaboration Science (CCS) – 2026 Call for Research Proposals
This call for research proposals is open to current UNO teams and collaboration researchers. Research proposals must examine some aspect of the domain/topic area of collaboration, such as teamwork, teams, and collaboration within or between groups (small or large - including cross-sector collaboration).
Submission Information
Due Date: May 1, 2026
- Please submit proposals to collaboration@unomaha.edu by 11:59pm CT on May 1, 2026.
- Please direct any questions to Center for Collaboration Science Director Roni Reiter-Palmon at rreiter-palmon@unomaha.edu.
Estimated Funding
Five (5) grants will be awarded at $5,000 per award. The period of performance is anticipated for June 1, 2026, through December 1, 2026. All approved and funded projects that require human subject research require IRB approval prior to fund disbursement.
Funding will be awarded to individual paid stipends, summer effort or to a University of Omaha cost center. Allowable include research materials, supplies, equipment, operating expenses, data collection, travel for data/information collection, instrument development, data management/analysis, or development of a scholarly activity product (e.g., publication).
- Stipends will be paid to individuals, not through University payroll, and the awardees is responsible for all associated taxes.
- Summer Effort must be paid through university payroll and with the assistance of the awardee’s College Business Manager.
- Hourly salary for student workers is allowed. Students must be from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and in active hired status with Human Resources.
Eligible Grantees
- Graduate students: must be enrolled and in good academic standing at UNO through Spring 2027 Session (May 6, 2027), however, enrollment in summer credits is not a requirement.
- Faculty: full-time faculty members (including tenure-track, tenured, full-time instructors, full-time lecturers, and full-time research faculty or research specialists.
Requirements
- Awardees must disclose the award on their COI/COC form at time of renewal.
- Awardees must take or have taken within the past three years required Bridge training University of Nebraska Responsible Conduct of Research Training.
- Awardees must present their final project in a lunch and learn in late Fall 2026.
- All graduate awardees or projects with student workers must submit, and if approved, present their project at the ORCA Student Research and Creative Activity Fair in Spring 2027.
Submission Guidelines & Timeline
Proposal Due: May 1, 2026
Awardee Notification: May 18, 2026
Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF document containing the following sections:
- Title of Project
- Project Description (3 page maximum, single spaced, 11 pt font minimum) This section should include:
- A description of project
- An explanation of how the research will contribute to the knowledge base in the field of teamwork, teams, and collaboration
- A description of the research activities, research processes, and research methodologies
- A project timeline that includes a schedule of activities. At least 50% of your project work should occur during the Summer 2026 (June, July, August) to qualify for funding.
- A list of previous internal and/or external funding received (FUSE, GRACA, and/or UCRCA, NSF, NIH etc.), with a description of how this project builds on or differs from previously funded projects.
- Budget and Budget Justification (1 page maximum)
- All expenses should be listed and well justified.
- If travel is required, a rationale for travel funding should be provided. All airline travel must be booked through University Travel Procedures. Mileage reimbursement or per diem requests should use the University approved mileage rate and the GSA Per Diem Rates for their domestic destination.
- References and/or Citations (no page limit)
Additional Information
- Applicants are expected to write their own proposals. Students may receive input from faculty mentors if applicable.
- Adhering to UNO’s policy towards plagiarism, proposals will be screened for original work.
- Proposals not meeting submission guidelines or poorly written proposals may be rejected without review.
- If the proposed project involves any form of work with human subjects or their personal data (including interviews), vertebrate animals, and/or biohazardous materials, the applicant must obtain either approval or a waiver from the IRB (human subjects), IACUC (vertebrate animals), and/or IBC (biohazards).
- CCS does not fund activities for which students receive academic credit (e.g. study abroad, independent study courses).
About The Center for Collaboration Science | University of Nebraska Omaha
Please direct any questions to Center for Collaboration Science Director Roni Reiter-Palmon at rreiter-palmon@unomaha.edu.
Central Plains Research Data Center (CPRDC)
As of February, 2025, UNO is a member of the CPRDC Consortium. Through this partnership (funded by ORCA), UNO researchers have access to restricted-use datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies. The CPRDC provides a secure computing lab for approved projects, opening doors to groundbreaking research across disciplines. Visit our "Announcements and Events" page for additional information, including trainings.
2025-2026 UNO Work-Study Research and Creative Activity Program
This program aims to expand UNO student opportunities in research and creative activity by providing incentives to faculty who hire work-study eligible students to assist in and/or contribute to their research and/or creative endeavors.
The program rewards faculty for the mentoring they provide to their work-study student employees as these students support the faculty members' research and/or creative activity.
Students hired by faculty who participate in the program are expected to complete necessary training to participate in the research and/or creative activity, including, but not limited to, responsible conduct of research, IRB and/or IACUC training as appropriate.
All students hired as part of the program are strongly encouraged (though not required) to present the work that they complete at the annual ORCA Research and Creative Activity Fair. (If students need help covering printing costs for poster presentations, please inform ORCA ahead of time at unoorca@unomaha.edu.)
Eligibility
All full-time faculty are eligible to apply. Awards will be decided based on the criteria described below and funding availability.
The student worker must be Federal Work-Study eligible and enrolled at UNO during the term in which the research and/or creative activity will be conducted.
Funding
- $1,200 for Federal Work-Study worker wages
- $500 for faculty professional development funds
In one year, ORCA could award a faculty member for mentoring 2 Federal Work-Study student researchers ($3,400 maximum).
Examples of how faculty professional development funds may be used are:
- Conference travel
- Supplies related to research and/or creative activity
- Memberships to professional societies
Federal Work-Study student wages will be dispersed after a department administrator confirms the student's Federal Work-Study eligibility and plan to hire.
Professional development funds will be dispersed when the final report has been completed. They must be used by the end of the fiscal year.
Questions?
For questions, please contact unoorca@unomaha.edu
UCRCA
University Committee on Research and Creative Activity fosters the development of regionally and nationally competitive research, promotes the application for external funding through startup and seed-money grants, and encourages a strong and diverse research commitment as an inseparable companion to the University's instructional program.
The STEM TRAIL Center
The STEM TRAIL Center conducts and supports research across a broad range of STEM programs and disciplines.