Seeding Excellence Initiative

The Research Development Office’s Seeding Excellence Initiative (SEI) aimed to sustain the continued growth of the campus research enterprise by providing competitive seed funding in four strategic areas: 1) community engaged research and scholarship, 2) diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), 3) early career scholars, and 4) interdisciplinary research. SEI was made possible through funding to RDO from the public-private partnership (P3) Year 1 funding cycle.

OVPR Community Engaged Scholars

Applications were sought for collaborative, one-year OVPR Community Engaged Scholars proposals with awards up to $50k to support creating and solidifying community research and scholarship partnerships within Iowa. The goal was to support community engaged research and scholarship partnerships that reciprocally benefited the University and Iowa communities.

Promoting language outcomes in multilingual immigrant children in Iowa City. University Team Leaders: Philip Combiths (Communication Sciences and Disorders), Christine Shea (Spanish & Portuguese), David Johnson (Teaching and Learning). Community Leaders: Jana Garrelts (Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County), Andrew Coghill-Behrends (Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County).
Understanding Civic Participation for New & Long-term Citizens in Rural Iowa. University Team Leaders: Carolyn Colvin (Teaching and Learning), Melissa Lehan-Mackin (Nursing). Community Leaders: Cara McFerren (West Liberty Rotary Club, City of West Liberty), Brenda Arthur Miller (West Liberty Community School District), Bill Koellner (West Liberty Rotary Club, City of West Liberty), Omar Martinez (West Liberty City Council)
Cultivating Responsive and Inclusive City Governance Structures at North Liberty. University Team Leaders: Sherry Watt (Education Policy & Leadership Studies), Micah Bateman (School of Library and Information Science), Milad Mohebali (Educational Policy and Leadership Studies). Community Leaders: Angela McConville (City of North Liberty), Micah Ariel James (City of North Liberty).
The Future is Indigenous. University Team Leaders: Kay Ramey (Psychological and Quantitative Foundations), Margaret Beck (Anthropology). Community Leaders: Kirk Cheyney (Iowa City Fab Lab), Alicia Velasquez (House of Dotlizhi).
A Digital Twin Framework for Civic and Environmental Analysis of Railways. University Team Leaders: Ibrahim Demir (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Caglar Koylu (Geographical and Sustainability Sciences), Yusuf Sermet (IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering). Community Leaders: Andrew Kida (City of Camanche), Chad Schaeffer (City of Fort Dodge), Mark Buschkamp (Iowa Falls Area Development).

Building Community Capacity for Documenting Vanishing Local Archaeology. University Team Leaders: John Doershuk (Office of the State Arhcaeologist), Katina Lillios (Anthropology). Community Leaders: Marilyn Schaer (Elgin Historical Society), Johnathan Buffalo (Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa {Meskwaki Nation}).
Building Connected Communities in Rural Watersheds: Collaborative Partnerships for Actionable Science. University Team Leaders: Kate Giannini (IIHR), Gabriele Villarini (IIHR), Brandi Janssen (Occupational and Environmental Health). Community Leaders: Ross Evelsizer (Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development), Rod Marlatt (Turkey River Watershed Management Authority).
Experiencing Health Services in Iowa Prisons: Descriptive Case Studies Examining Care and Treatment During Incarceration. University Team Leaders: Ebonee Johnson (Community and Behavioral Health), Heather Erwin (Transform{ed} Justice Collaboratory and Liberal Arts Beyond Bars), Christopher Veeh (Social Work). Community Leaders: Jeremy Mask (Hope Street Scholars), Helen Neumann (Independent Counselor and Art Therapist), Dan Tallman (Independent Counselor).
Language and Culture Contextualization: Digital Intervention in Intercultural Communicative Competence Development with Iowa's Non-profit Community Organizations. University Team Leaders: Duhita Mahatmya (Education), Yuchen Liu (Office of Teaching and Learning), Kate Magsamen-Conrad (Communication Studies), Nicole Novak (Community and Behavioral Health), Duhita Mahatmya (College of Education Grants & Research Services Center), Elizabeth Constantine (College of Education Grants & Research Services Center), Amy Chastain (English as a Second Language), Julia Rajan (Spanish and Portuguese), Peter Gerlach (International Studies). Community Leaders: Deb Dunkhase (Open Heartland), Elizabeth Bernal (Open Heartland), Teresa Stecker (African Communities Network of Iowa {ACN}/International Studies).

OVPR Community Engaged Scholars (Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences [AHSS])

In collaboration with the Obermann Center, applications were sought for collaborative, one-year OVPR Community Engaged Scholars (AHSS) proposals with awards up to $5,000 to support publicly engaged, research-based projects in the arts, humanities, and social sciences that mutually benefited university research and scholarship and the involved community. The goal was for university/community teams to find productive approaches to solving problems the faculty and partner both deemed significant. In FY23, it was anticipated that there would be up to eight OVPR Community Engaged Scholars (AHSS) awards funded through SEI.

Christine Shea- Spanish and Portuguese/Linguistics, CLAS
Loyce Arthur- Theatre Arts, CLAS

Julia Kleinschmit- Social Work, CLAS
Hayley O'Malley- Cinematic Arts, CLAS

OVPR Early Career Scholars

People on desk on computers and writing notes

Applications were sought for single investigator, one-year OVPR Early Career Scholars proposals with awards up to $30k. Successful applications also received individual grantsmanship consulting and support to visit program officers. The goal was to help tenure-track assistant professors develop a competitive proposal and secure an externally funded award.

Ruth Chimenti- Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, CCOM
Beste Basciftci- Business Analytics, College of Business
Jiajie Xu- Finance, College of Business
Ashley Howard- History/African American Studies, CLAS
Ece Demir Lira- Psychological and Brain Sciences, CLAS
Helen Lillie- Communication Studies, CLAS
Nathaniel Jenkins- Health and Human Physiology, CLAS
Ravitej Uppu- Physics and Astronomy, CLAS
Robert Bowers- Family Dentistry, College of Dentistry
Anvita Maharishi- Family Dentistry, College of Dentistry
Jared Izumi, Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, College of Education
Sajan Goud Lingala- Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Kishlay Jha- Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Sena Chae- Nursing, College of Nursing
Yuanlu Sun- Nursing, College of Nursing
Oluwafemi Adeagbo- Community and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health
Shannon Watkins- Community and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health

Tara Bynum- English and African American Studies, CLAS
Eric Freedman- Teaching and Learning, College of Education
Marie Gaine- Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy
Dorit Kliemann- Psychological and Brain Sciences, CLAS
Sarah Nash- Epidemiology, College of Public Health
Clarissa Shaw- Nursing, College of Nursing
Erin Talbert- Health and Human Physiology, CLAS
Cristina Vidal- Operative Dentistry, College of Dentistry
Miranda Welbourne Eleazar- Management and Entrepreneurship, College of Business
Kristan Worthington- Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

OVPR DEI Supplements

Awards were available in 2022 and 2023. This is not active programming.

Applications were sought for single investigator, one-year OVPR diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) supplements to existing externally funded awards. The Principal Investigator (PI) was awarded up to $25k to advance their science while recruiting, retaining, and advancing UI students who supported diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in research, with a preference for students from traditionally marginalized groups. The goals were for the PI to advance the aims of the externally funded award’s science while engaging these students in mentored research and training experiences that prepared them to excel as next generation researchers and scholars.

Nicole Novak- Community and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health
Matthew Potthoff- Neuroscience and Pharmacology, CCOM

Elizabeth Chrischelles- Epidemiology, College of Public Health
Marie Gaine- Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy
Maurine Neiman- Biology, CLAS
Matthew Potthoff- Neuroscience and Pharmacology, CCOM
Jason Radley- Psychological and Braine Sciences, CLAS
Yongren Shi- Sociology and Criminology, CLAS
Aislinn Williams- Psychiatry, CCOM

OVPR DEI Team Awards

Awards were available in 2022 and 2023. This is not active programming.

Applications were sought for collaborative, one-year OVPR diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) team awards. Awards were up to $25k to support disciplinary teams consisting of multiple investigators working with a collection of undergraduates, with a preference for students from traditionally marginalized groups. The goals were to engage these students in mentored research and training experiences that prepared them to excel as next generation researchers and scholars.

Juliana Pacheco - Political Science, CLAS

Christine Shea- Spanish and Portuguese/Linguistics, CLAS
Ebonee Johnson- Community and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health
Bob McMurray- Psychology, CLAS
Brian Lai- Political Science, CLAS

OVPR Interdisciplinary Scholars

merging ideas and lightbulbs in yellow and red

Applications were sought for collaborative OVPR Interdisciplinary Scholars proposals with awards up to $220k for 18 months. Successful proposals had to focus on areas of interdisciplinary strength at the University of Iowa that had significant societal impact. As part of the application, proposers needed to identify and justify why their proposal area was considered an institutional strength. The goal was to enable teams of researchers to build on existing strengths to achieve significant growth in the area of focus.

Hongli Sun- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dentistry
Julien Sebag- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, CCOM
Thomas Folland- Physics and Astronomy, CLAS
Phillip Polgreen- Internal Medicine, CCOM
Brady G'Sell- Anthropology, CLAS

Greg Carmichael- Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Engineering
David Cwiertny- Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
Marc Linderman- Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, CLAS

Hans-Joachim Lehmler- Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health

OVPR Interdisciplinary Scholars: Radiochemistry

Tori Forbes Radiochemistry research in action

Applications were sought for collaborative OVPR Interdisciplinary Radiochemistry research proposals with awards up to $45k for 18 months. Successful proposals had to focus on research projects that integrated radiochemistry with other disciplines, fostering advancements in scientific knowledge, technology, and applications. Interdisciplinary applications were encouraged that transcended traditional boundaries and addressed pressing societal challenges in fields such as medicine, environmental sciences, nuclear energy, materials science, and more. The goal of these awards was to enable teams of researchers to build on new and/or existing strengths to achieve significant growth in interdisciplinary radiochemistry research and applications.

Updates are coming soon.

Office of the Vice President for Research