In the external funding opportunities listed below, you will see collaboratoria hashtags between the red and blue lines. These appear to be a strongest fit for the solicitation.
This is not meant to exclude any fit you might determine, but perhaps to help you focus on your top interests!
Artificial Intelligence & Advanced Computing Systems (#AI&ACS) Examines advanced AI techniques and their integration into complex computing systems, with an emphasis on practical applications.
Cybersecurity (#CYBRSEC) Focuses on minimizing risk to information systems due to cyber threats.
Human-Centered Computing (#HCC) Focuses on improving the interactions between humans and computers across diverse contexts and fields.
3D Interfaces & Simulation (#3DI&SIM) Explores the design and use of immersive 3D environments for education, training, and research.
Bioinformatics & Health Informatics (#BIO&HEALTH-INFO) Integrates biology, computer science, and informatics to analyze biological and health data.
Computing Education (#COMPEDU) Focuses on improving, innovating, and expanding accessibility to computing education.
UNeMed has kicked off their Back-of-the-Napkin contest. Eligible entries will be limited to medical devices and innovations related to artificial intelligence programs or systems, software tools and applications, and research tools and judged by UNeMed’s internal Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC). Submissions will be evaluated for their novelty, market potential and possible intellectual property protection.
Selected entries will be awarded additional development and financial support, which may include prototyping, feasibility testing, other developmental guidance and support as deemed most appropriate by STAC.
Click the link above for complete information.
UNO ORCA Student Funding
Proposal deadline: Rolling while funds available. Submissions re-opened January 5, 2026 for a Summer 2026 timeline (activities occurring May-August 2026)
Deadlines: LOI March 6, 2026. Proposal by Invitation
The Fanconi Cancer Foundation supports research advancing understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of Fanconi anemia. In addition to biological and clinical studies, the program welcomes computational, data-driven, and systems-oriented approaches that directly advance FA research and care.
Focus Areas Aligned to CIST
Biomedical data analytics and modeling
AI/ML for rare disease research
Secure and privacy-aware health data systems
Computational support for translational and clinical research
Award summary:
Typical $100,000 – $150,000 per year
Duration 1-2 years
Cisco Research - Multiple Open RFPs
Deadlines: Rolling (submit ASAP; may be withdrawn as needs are met)
Award Summary: Cisco’s research gift mechanism generally uses a standard one-year gift term; funding levels are not stated publicly on the Open RFP pages.
Research to characterize and mitigate semiconductor reliability mechanisms (e.g., soft errors, wear-out, defect mechanisms) across a wide range of components and materials.
Advances intent translation, policy activation, and assurance/closed-loop monitoring for enterprise networks; includes ML/NLP and formal/simulation approaches.
Seeks approaches to reduce hallucination, improve factuality, and strengthen reasoning in LLMs and multimodal foundation models, including benchmarking and multi-agent reasoning. Competitive concepts will define measurable factuality/reasoning metrics and reproducible testbeds.
Seeks proposals on agentic systems, including lifelong learning, memory architectures, multi-agent frameworks, human–agent interaction, multimodal agents, and safety/ethics. Strong candidates include evaluation/benchmarking plans and risk controls for autonomy, safety, and security.
Proposal Deadlines: Rolling but deadline March 2, 2026
High-risk/high-reward research in advanced microsystems (microelectronics, photonics, quantum/bio-inspired circuits, sensing, secure computing) with transition potential for defense/dual-use applications.
Proposals must be at ≥TRL 5 and aim to reach TRL 6 by end of project
Dual Anonymous Peer Review (DAPR) and a mandatory anonymized Open Science and Data Management Plan (OSDMP)
Focus Areas Aligned to CIST
Hardware-aware AIEdge AI architectures
Co-design
Microsystem security/verification
Sensing + comms + intelligent networked platforms
Deep learning/vision/time-series methods for heliophysics data
Rolling or Recurring Federal Funding Opportunities
Proposal Target Dates (no hard deadline): February 05, 2026, First Thursday in February, annually; Second Thursday in September, annually
Future CoRe is the main umbrella for CISE “core” research. It covers algorithms, systems, networks, AI, HCI, data/ML, cyber-physical systems, and foundations of emerging technologies—essentially the full IS&T research spectrum.
Proposal Target Dates (no hard deadline): Jan 26, 2026, Last Monday in January, annually; Last Monday in September, annually
Flagship program for cybersecurity, privacy, resilience, and “trust in cyberspace,” spanning computing, AI, social/behavioral, mathematics, and education. Ideal for work in security, usable privacy, trustworthy AI, and socio-technical security.
Proposal Deadlines: May 4, 2026, First Monday in May, annually
Foundational methods for biomedical/healthcare digital twins and synthetic data/synthetic humans, emphasizing interdisciplinary mathematical and engineering foundations.
Proposal Deadline: Fourth Wednesday in July, annually
Early-career faculty submit CAREER proposals to a disciplinary program (e.g., a Future CoRe subprogram like SHF or HCC, or SaTC 2.0).
CAREER proposals are evaluated within those core programs but under the CAREER expectations (integrated research and education plan, career development trajectory).
Please send any leads you think should be included in MavOps!
The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its education programs or activities, including admissions and employment. The University prohibits any form of retaliation taken against anyone for reporting discrimination, harassment, or retaliation for otherwise engaging in protected activity.
