Nebraska EPSCoR's FIRST Award program is designed to help early career faculty to initiate their research programs and compete more effectively for NSF CAREER grants.
Supported by Nebraska EPSCoR's National Science Foundation funding (currently via OIA-2044049/EQUATE), approximately six FIRST Award grants are awarded each year; the awards are limited to $25,000 each and require a one-for-one match. An assistant professor in a tenure-leading position in any of the colleges or universities in the state is eligible to submit a pre-proposal. The faculty member must be in his or her first four years of their current academic appointment at the time of submittal and must still be eligible to apply for an NSF CAREER grant during or immediately following the award period. Any project that potentially could be supported by a NSF competitive research grant is eligible.
Phase one of the application process involves the submission of a short pre-proposal that will be reviewed by a panel comprised of members of Nebraska's scientific community. Approximately ten or fewer proposals are invited to advance to the final phase: the submission of a full, NSF CAREER-like proposal. Full proposals from these finalists will be evaluated using NSF proposal review criteria by external experts in the field. The Nebraska EPSCoR Committee will select FIRST Award recipients.
Grantees are required to submit a CAREER Award proposal to NSF within the next award period. Check Nebraska EPSCoR's Requests for Proposals page for submission details and to submit a pre-proposal online.
Recent FIRST Award Recipients
*NAMES WITH ASTERISK HAVE EARNED NSF CAREER OR DOE EARLY CAREER AWARDS
2023
- Steven Fernandes, Creighton University - Computer Science, Design and Journalism
- Kwangsung Oh, University of Nebraska at Omaha – Computer Science
- Lochana Palayangoda, University of Nebraska at Omaha - Department of Mathematics
- Arman Roohi, University of Nebraska-Lincoln – School of Computing
- Shibiao Wan, University of Nebraska Medical Center - Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy
- Jieqiong Wang, University of Nebraska Medical Center – Department of Neurological Sciences
2022
- Mona Bavarian*, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Mohammad Ghashami*, UNL Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- Jayne Jonas-Bratten, University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) Department of Biology
- Guadalupe Leon, Doane University Engineering and Physics
- Qiang Liu, UNL School of Computing
- Jane Roitsch, UNK Department of Communication Disorders
- Yanan Wang, UNL Electrical and Computer Engineering
2021
- Dr. Jennifer Auchtung, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)
- Dr. Benjamin Brandsen, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Creighton University
- Dr. Leah Butler, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)
- Dr. Jorge Fandinno, Computer Science Department, UNO
- Dr. Amy Napoli, Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, UNL
- Dr. Shuai Nie, School of Computing, UNL
- Dr. Dung Tran, School of Computing, UNL
2020
- Dr. Wei Bao*, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)
- Dr. Maria Becker, Department of Physics, Nebraska Wesleyan University
- Dr. Joel Destino*, Department of Chemistry, Creighton University
- Dr. Katarzyna Glowacka*, Department of Biochemistry, UNL
- Dr. Keegan Moore*, Dept. of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Robert Streubel, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Joseph Yesselman*, Department of Chemistry, UNL
2019
- Dr. James Checco, Department of Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Catherine Eichhorn*, Department of Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Jae Sung Park*, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Xinghui Sun, Biochemistry, UNL
- Dr. Fabio Vitor, Dept. of Mathematics, UNO
- Dr. Ashley Votruba, Dept. of Psychology, UNL
2018
- Dr. Christos Argyropoulos, Electrical and Computer Engineering,UNL
- Dr. Clay Cressler, School of Biological Sciences, UNL
- Dr. Nicole Iverson*, Biological Systems Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Tiffany Messer, Biological Systems Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Siamak Nejati*, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Brett Schofield, Dept. of Biology, Doane University
- Dr. Christine Wittich, Dept. of Civil Engineering, UNL
2017
- Dr. Bai Cui, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Lynne Dieckman*, Chemistry, Creighton University
- Dr. Peisi Huang, Physics and Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Philippe Malcolm, Biomechanics, UNO
- Dr. Vivien Marmelat, Biomechanics, UNO
- Dr. Alexandra Seceleanu, Mathematics, UNL
- Dr. Ruiguo Yang*, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, UNL
2016
- Dr. Vitaly Alexandrov*, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Hamid Bagheri, Computer Science & Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Shudipto Dishari**, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Anna Selmecki, Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University
- Dr. Daizaburo Shizuka*, School of Biological Sciences, UNL
- Dr. Ryan Wong*, Biology, UNO
- Dr. Alex Zupan, Mathematics, UNL
2015
- Dr. Joe Louis*, Entomology, UNL
- Dr. Massimiliano Pierobon, Computer Science & Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Brian Ricks, Computer Science, UNO
- Dr. Rebecca Roston*, Biochemistry, UNL
- Dr. Eric Villa, Chemistry, Creighton University
- Dr. Qin Zhou, Mechanical & Materials Engineering, UNL
2014
- Dr. Hernan Garcia-Ruiz, Plant Pathology, UNL;
- Dr. Yuebin Yu, Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, UNL
- Dr. Andrew Baruth, Physics, Creighton University
- Dr. Trenton Franz, Natural Resources, UNL
- Dr. Amanda Glass, Chemistry, University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK);
- Dr. Alexey Kovalev, Physics & Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Stephen Morin*, Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Sangjin Ryu, Mechanical & Materials Engineering
2013
- Dr. Joshua Darr, Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)
- Dr. Ashley Hall, Entomology, UNL
- Dr. P. Roxanne Kellar, Biology, UNO
- Dr. Kenneth Kramer, Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University
- Dr. Alexander Sinitskii*, Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Wenliang Zhang, Mathematics, UNL
2012
- Dr. Carina Curto, Mathematics, UNL
- Dr. Carrick Detweiler, Computer Science and Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Dawn Simon, Biology, UNK
- Dr. Patricia Soto, Physics, Creighton University
- Dr. Cliff Stains, UNL
- Dr. Jian Zhang*, Chemistry, UNL
2011
- Dr. Xia Hong*, Physics and Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Tiffany Kodak, Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Dr. Siu-Kit Lau, School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, UNL
- Dr. Yusong Li, Civil Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Diego Riveros-Iregui, School of Natural Resources, UNL
- Dr. Heather York, Biology, Doane College
2010
- Dr. Sanjukta Bhowmick, Computer Science, UNO
- Dr. John Gates, Hydrogeology, UNL
- Dr. Jinsong Huang*, Mechanical Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Shadi Othman, Biological Systems Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Richard Wilson, Plant Pathology, UNL
- Dr. Yaoqing (Lamar) Yang, Computer & Electronics Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Chi Zhang, Biosciences, UNL
2009
- Dr. Ming Han, Electrical Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Stephen Hartke, Mathematics, UNL
- Dr. Christine Kelley, Mathematics, UNL
- Dr. Rebecca Lai*, Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Senem Velipasalar*, Electrical Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Bin Yu, Biological Science, UNL
2008
- Dr. Chin Li Cheung, Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Wonyoung Choe, Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Shashank Dravid, Pharmacology, Creighton
- Dr. Angela Pannier*, Biological Systems Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Bradley Parsons, Chemistry, Creighton University
- Dr. Bradley Shadwick, Physics and Astronomy, UNL
2007
- Dr. Kirill Belashchenko, Physics and Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Andrea Holmes*, Chemistry, Doane College
- Dr. Chunsheng Liu, Computer & Electronics Engineering, UNL
2006
- Dr. Greg Bashford, Biological Systems Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Myra Cohen*, Computer Science and Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Eileen Hebets*, Biological Sciences, UNL
- Dr. Lisong Xu, Computer Science and Engineering, UNL
- Dr. Li Tan, Engineering Mechanics, UNL
- Dr. Mark Wilson, Biochemistry, UNL
- Dr. Lin Wu, Mechanical Engineering, UNL
2005
- Dr. Shireen Adenwalla, Physics and Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Aaron Dominguez*, Physics and Astronomy, UNL
- Dr. Jaekwon Lee, Biochemistry, UNL
- Dr. Irakli Loladze, Mathematics, UNL
- Dr. Robert Powers, Chemistry, UNL
- Dr. Guangshun Wang, Eppley Institute, UNMC
2004 AWARDEES (formerly Type II awards)
- Dr. Hai-Feng Guo, Computer Science, UNO
- Dr. Jiangyu Li, Engineering Mechanics, UNL
- Dr. Etsuko Moriyama, Biological Sciences, UNL
- Dr. Julie M. Stone, Biochemistry, UNL - NSF CAREER Award recipient