The Office of Research and Economic Development is supporting 17 research projects in 2023-24 through its Layman Awards program, which funds work that enhances a researcher’s ability to obtain external funding to support prominent scholarship.
There are two tracks: the Layman Seed Program, which funds new projects by early-career faculty who are nontenured at the time of submission, and the New Directions Program, which funds tenured faculty who are branching into new research directions or need funding to support pilot or developmental work toward the next step in a funded research program. Awards of up to $10,000 per application for each program are made possible by support from the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Layman Seed Program recipients and projects
Tomasz Bednarski, nutrition and health sciences, “The effect of LPCAT3 activation on cardiomyocyte metabolism during acute lipotoxicity.”
Michael Burton, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, “Animating history: using film as an educational tool to tell personal stories of enslaved families who sought freedom through the law.”
Katelyn Coburn, child, youth and family studies, “Pilot test of a nervous system informed intervention to increase embodied affirmation of nonbinary people.”
Danielle Jefferis, law, “The worst of the worst: civil rights cases and the effect of supermax rhetoric on judicial decision-making.”
Na Young Jung, textiles, merchandising and fashion design, “The effects of human inclusive SSRT (Self Service Retail Technology) on consumers’ patronage.”
Dylan Mangel, plant pathology, “Evaluation of soybean Phytophthora stem and root rot pathogen diversity, and development of a Phytophthora research platform.”
Alena Moon, chemistry, “Research-practice partnership to support innovative chemistry teaching.”
Jessie Morrill, animal science, “The Mangalitsa pig as a dual purpose dual benefit model for metabolism.”
Siamak Nejati, chemical and biomolecular engineering, “Design and development of a high-efficiency condenser for a multi-effect air gap membrane distillation module.”
Ciara Ousley, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, “The effects of embedding argumentative and alternative communication within storybook reading and play time for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
Layman New Directions Grant recipients and projects
Weiwen Chai, nutrition and health sciences, “Assessing the effects of honey ingestion on gut microbiota and plasma microRNAs and metabolites from a pilot honey trial.”
Huijing Du, mathematics, “Multiphase field modeling of hepatic microcirculation and red blood cell deformation.”
Steven Hardy, architecture program, “Architectural programming’s potential for beginning and intermediate design.”
Eileen Hebets, School of Biological Sciences, “Developing tools for quantifying paternity in Dolomedes fishing spiders.”
Thomas Powers, plant pathology, “Image recognition and AI based diagnosis of plant parasitic nematodes in Nebraska.”
Rajib Saha, chemical and biomolecular engineering, “An integrated experimental and computational approach for enhanced bioremediation of national priority pollutant PFAS.”
Yingying Wang, special education and communication disorders, “Identifying the role of parent-child interaction on emotional regulation.”
