UNO Professor to Partner Internationally on Biomechanics Research

OMAHA – An international partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece will bring together two researchers to support future research in the study of human movement variability.

Later this year, UNO Professor Nikolaos Stergiou, who leads UNO’s Department of Biomechanics and Biomechanics Research Building, will join Professor Vassilia Hatzitaki, Associate Professor in Aristotle University’s Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, to explore new and exciting ways to advance biomechanics research.

This international research partnership continues UNO’s commitment to cutting-edge research, global engagement, STEM education, and student success.

Having previously partnered on published research, Stergiou and Harzitaki will continue to explore their collaborative findings identifying the connections between human movement variability and the effects of aging on posture control.

“Dr. Hatzitaki’s laboratory uses similar research tools and techniques that I use and thus I will be able to understand the data acquired and be immediately involved in the ongoing research,” Stegiou said.

Additionally, through the proposed project, students in Greece will be provided mentorship that will help them understand and tackle the most pressing problems in the field of biomechanics and motor control. Faculty and staff at Aristotle University will also engage in learning new and exciting teaching techniques and advice on how to secure grant funding.

Stergiou is one of thirty Greek- and Cypriot-born scholars hailing from a cross-section of 28 prominent United States and Canadian universities that are traveling to Greece to conduct academic projects with their peers at Greek universities as part of the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program.

As part of the partnership, Stergiou will work in parallel with researchers from Harvard University, Rutgers University, Yale University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, and Purdue University, just to name a few of the other institutions identified for funding.

The scholars will work in areas that range from medical physics to curriculum co-development in clinical neurophysiology, and from Anglo-American Modernist Poetry to educational psychology. Thirteen Greek universities were selected to host the fellows for collaborative projects that meet specific needs at their institutions and in their communities, based on proposals submitted by faculty members and administrators at the Greek universities.

This is the second round of Fellowships awarded by the Institute of International Education as part of the program. With this second round of Fellowships, the program has now selected a total of 51 U.S. and Canadian-based academics to collaborate with universities throughout Greece to develop curricula, conduct research, and teach and mentor graduate students in priority areas identified by the Greek universities.

The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program is designed to help avert Greece’s brain drain and develop long-term, mutually-beneficial collaborations between universities in Greece and the United States, and Canada. Launched in 2016, the Fellowship Program is managed by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece, and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

“One of the main goals of the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program has been to engage productively one of Greece’s most important assets, its diasporic academic community,” said Stelios Vasilakis, Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives at SNF. “The response and caliber of the Fellows selected for this first iteration of the Program, point to the existence of a critical mass of scholars that can contribute significantly to Greek Universities at a critical moment in modern Greek history. This is a collaboration that is mutually beneficial and carries the potential of long term impact and of changing the means of engagement between the motherland and its extensive diaspora.”

“The Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s generous support for these Fellowships demonstrates the Foundation’s commitment to expanding Greece’s human capital and investing in the country’s long-term economic recovery,” said Allan Goodman, President, and CEO of the Institute of International Education.

About the Stavros Niarchos Foundation
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation [(SNF) (www.SNF.org)] is one of the world’s leading private, international philanthropic organizations, making grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare. Since 1996, SNF has committed $2.1 billion, through 3,891 grants to nonprofit organizations in 113 nations around the world. The Foundation funds organizations and projects that are expected to achieve a broad, lasting, and positive impact for society at large, and exhibit strong leadership and sound management. The Foundation also supports projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as an effective means for serving public welfare.

In addition to its standard grants, the SNF has continued to respond to the urgent needs of Greek society, by providing relief against the severe effects of the socioeconomic crisis through three major grant initiatives of $378 million.

The Foundation’s largest single gift is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), in Athens. The project’s total cost is $861 million. The SNFCC is designed by the renowned architectural firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop and includes the new facilities of the National Library of Greece, and Greek National Opera, as well as the Stavros Niarchos Park. The Center was delivered to the Greek Society on February 23^rd, 2017. Following the handover, the SNF announced its commitment to continue supporting the SNFCC for the next five years, through grants totaling up to $53 million. The grants support the implementation of public programming and help cover part of SNFCC’s operational costs. All events funded with SNF support are free to the public.

About the Institute of International Education (IIE)
The Institute of International Education (www.iie.org) works with policymakers, educators, and employers across the globe to prepare students and professionals for the global workforce and equip them to solve the increasingly complex challenges facing our interconnected world. An independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has a network of 18 offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,300 member institutions.

The Fulbright Foundation in Greece
Fulbright is the most widely recognized and prestigious international exchange program in the world, supported for more than half a century by the American people through an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress and by the people of partner nations. The Fulbright Foundation in Greece (http://www.fulbright.gr/en/) offers scholarships to Greek and American citizens – students, teachers, scholars, and artists – to pursue a wide variety of educational projects. The Foundation awards grants to Greek and US citizens to study, teach, lecture, or conduct research in the United States and Greece respectively. The Fulbright Foundation in Greece operates an Educational Advising Center in Athens where staff offers free, comprehensive information on American institutions of higher learning.