NU Collaboration Initiative
The primary purpose of the NU Collaboration Initiative is to enhance the competitiveness of University of Nebraska (NU) faculty for federal funding by fully leveraging the intellectual capacity and research resources across the NU campuses.
The Fiscal Year 2026 funding opportunity focuses on single-year seed grants that are designed to facilitate research collaborations among faculty in any discipline that would lead to federal funding. Please visit this link to review the RFA.
This year, ORCA will have an internal application process to streamline the NuRamp submission process detailed in the RFA and to improve our ability to support you in your budget development.
- For all UNO PIs/Co-PIs, please respond to this 2-minute survey by December 1, 2024, to indicate your intent to apply for a NU Collaboration Initiative grant. As an UNO PI, you are responsible for completing the application in NuRamp and for obtaining budgets from other NU campuses.
- Please email Deanna Marcelino at deannamarcelino@unomaha.edu by December 13, 2024, with your budget requests to give you adequate time to complete the templates.
- Next, please add the budget details in the NuRamp online application and upload a budget justification as a PDF file.
- Finally, in accordance with UNO's December Holiday Closedown schedule, ORCA will be closed from December 23, 2024 - January 1, 2025. Please note that applications must be submitted in NuRamp by January 15, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Central Time. [All routing signatures, after those required at submission, must be received by January 24, 2025.]
As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have during this application process.
Napkin contest returns, entries due Jan. 31
UNeMed will again sponsor a “Back-o-the-Napkin” contest, calling for any inventive faculty, staff or student at UNMC or UNO to submit their ideas for new inventions and better ideas.
A suitable entry could be a simple solution created to solve a clinical or translational research problem, whether it’s a line of software code, a possible new molecule or a medical device.
The deadline for entries is January 31. Click here for additional information.
Digital entry forms can be found here.
2024-2025 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 Kristin Girten, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity, at 402.554.2845 or kgirten@unomaha.edu.
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 here 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 flier for more information
Questions?
For questions, please contact Kristin Girten, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity, at 402.554.2845 or kgirten@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.