Posted July 31, 2025 by Dan Moser
The Office of Research and Innovation invites applications for its 2025-2026 Research Development Fellows Program. RDFP is an eight-month program designed to help faculty at the assistant-level rank position themselves for success in securing external funding for their research, scholarship and creative activity. Sept. 12 is the application deadline.
Up to 12 faculty will be selected to participate in the 2025-2026 program. To learn more about program activities and to apply, visit the RDFP website.
More than 284 faculty from each of UNL’s nine academic colleges have participated in RDFP. Program participants develop a strategic plan for pursuing external funding and gain practical experience to effectively communicate their research, scholarship and creative endeavors to potential funders and other audiences.
Ciara Ousley, assistant professor of special education and communication disorders and a member of the 2022-2023 RDFP cohort, said, “Coming into the program, I was hoping to solidify my five-year research funding plan and fine-tune my grant writing skills. While these two goals were accomplished during the program, RDFP helped me achieve so much more.”
Faculty who complete RDFP average 2.5 times more externally funded projects active at any given time than their non-RDFP peers, and the size of those externally funded project awards is double that of non-RDFP faculty.
On Sept. 4, R&I will host a virtual information session to answer questions about the program from 12-12:30 p.m. Register for this session. For additional information, contact Heather Borck, research development program coordinator, at 402-472-4090.
