Early Career Awards

Active awards, July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024.
*Indicates new in 2023–2024.

NSF CAREER Grants
National Science Foundation CAREER grants are awarded only to untenured junior faculty. These grants recognize research and education “of the highest quality and in the broadest sense.” CAREER grants are unique in requiring a four- to five-year plan for the scientist’s development as both a researcher and an educator.

Aich, Nirupam

Civil and Environmental Engineering
*CAREER: 3D Printed Carbon-Metal Nanohybrid Aerogels for Highly Efficient Adsorptive/Catalytic Removal of PFASs
$491,627
1/1/20236/30/2027

Alexandrov, Vitali

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
CAREER: Advancing Mechanistic Understanding of Nanocrystal Dissolution in Aqueous Environments
$520,244
7/1/20206/30/2025

Bavarian, Mona

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
CAREER: Continuous Flow Chemistry of Microelectronics Polymers via Combined Physics-based and Machine Learning Models
$576,802
7/1/20236/30/2028

Bradley, Justin

Computing
CAREER: Foundations for a Resource-aware, Cyber-physical Vehicle Autonomy
$499,968
6/1/202111/30/2026

Dishari, Shudipto

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering/Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience
CAREER: Confined Ionomeric Systems and Imaging of Ionic Distribution
$609,949
5/1/20184/30/2024

Duncan, Brittany

Computing
CAREER: Drones in Public: Foundational Interaction Research
$599,647
5/1/20184/30/2024

Eichhorn, Catherine

Chemistry/Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication
CAREER: Molecular Mechanisms of Ribonucleoprotein Assembly
$1,048,975
1/1/202112/31/2025

Elkins, Lynne

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
CAREER: Modeling Two-phase Flow, Multi-lithologic Melting, and Chemical Disequilibrium with Uranium Series Isotopes
$696,573
6/15/20215/31/2026

Eun, Jongwan

Civil and Environmental Engineering
*CAREER: Multi-physical and Multi-scale Testing and Modeling of Water Infiltration through Frozen Soils
$635,820
8/1/20237/31/2028

Filina, Irina

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
CAREER: An Integrated Geophysical Approach to Research and Education to Solve the Tectonic Puzzle of the Northern Atlantic
$746,284
3/1/20232/29/2028

Ghashami, Mohammad

Mechanical & Materials Engineering
CAREER: Understanding Nanoscale Radiative Transport in Multi-body Systems
$629,702
7/1/20236/30/2028

Glowacka, Katarzyna

Biochemistry/Center for Plant Science Innovation
CAREER: Understanding Non-photochemical Quenching under Chilling in the Warm-season C4 grasses
$1,375,334
3/1/20222/28/2027

Grifo, Eloisa

Mathematics
CAREER: Problems in Commutative and Homological Algebra
$425,000
8/1/20237/31/2028

Guo, Hongzhi

Computing
CAREER: Long-range Near Field Communication for Ultra-dense Internet of Things
$499,337
1/1/20236/30/2027

Guo, Yinsheng

Chemistry/Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience
*CAREER: Structural Dynamics and Optoelectronics of Anharmonic Soft Semiconductors
$648,335
4/1/20243/31/2029

Holland, Kathryn

Psychology
CAREER: The Efficacy of Sexual Assault Mandatory Reporting Policies
$502,113
6/1/20225/31/2027

Iverson, Nicole

Biological Systems Engineering
CAREER: Extracellular Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide Detection and Quantification via Biocompatible Carbon Nanotubes
$550,000
7/1/20226/30/2027

Jeffries, Jack

Mathematics
CAREER: Differential Operators and p-Derivations in Commutative Algebra
$400,000
6/1/20215/31/2026

Louis, Joe

Entomology/Biochemistry
CAREER: Deciphering Sorghum Resistance Mechanisms to Phloem-feeding Aphids
$1,515,525
6/1/20195/31/2025

Males, Lorraine

Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
CAREER: Examining Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers Learning to Use Curriculum Materials to Plan and Enact Instruction
$628,995
3/15/20172/29/2024

Markvicka, Eric

Mechanical & Materials Engineering
*CAREER: Universal Strategy for Manufacturing Solid Particle-incorporated Liquid Metal Mixtures
$691,771
8/1/20247/31/2029

Moore, Keegan

Mechanical & Materials Engineering
CAREER: Foundations for Understanding the Long-term Evolution and Dynamics of Nonlinearities
$727,410
9/1/20238/31/2028

Nejati, Siamak

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
CAREER: Molecular Layer Deposition of Porous Organic Frameworks
$593,240
8/1/20217/31/2026

Neta, Maital

Psychology/Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior
CAREER: Functional Brain Networks Mediating Positivity Bias in Healthy Aging
$766,508
5/15/20184/30/2025

Nie, Shuai

Computing
*CAREER: Terahertz on the Move: Enabling a Dynamic Last Mile for 6G Wireless Networks
$812,995
7/1/20246/30/2029

Obata, Toshihiro

Biochemistry/Center for Plant Science Innovation
CAREER: Establishing the Roles of Multi-enzyme Complexes in Metabolic Network Regulation
$746,955
1/1/201912/31/2024

Panther, Grace

Civil and Environmental Engineering
*CAREER: Re-envisioning Engineering Pedagogy to Support a Range of Visuo-spatial Skills
$649,950
7/1/20246/30/2029

Park, Jae Sung

Mechanical & Materials Engineering
CAREER: Unraveling Predictive Dynamics and Multiscale Linkage in Turbulence for Flow Control
$506,780
12/15/202111/30/2026

Pedrigi, Ryan

Mechanical & Materials Engineering/Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication
CAREER: Characterizing the Mechanobiological Response of Endothelial Cells to Ultrasound
$543,020
7/1/20206/30/2025

Rojas, Clemencia

Plant Pathology/Center for Plant Science Innovation
*CAREER: Dissecting the Cellular Pathways and Signaling Networks Orchestrating Plant Defense Responses and Their Interplay with Bacterial Virulence Factors
$483,090
1/1/20234/30/2025

Roohi, Arman

Computing
*CAREER: Elastic Intermittent Computation Enabling Batteryless Edge Intelligence
$679,831
8/1/20247/31/2029

Roston, Rebecca

Biochemistry/Center for Plant Science Innovation
CAREER: How SFR2 Allows Chloroplast Envelope Membranes to Survive Freezing, from Initial Signal to Molecular Mechanism
$847,731
4/1/20193/31/2024

Saha, Rajib

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
CAREER: Dissecting a Metabolically Versatile Non-model Bacterium’s Lignin-derived Compound Catabolism
$767,855
6/1/20205/31/2025

Shizuka, Dai

Biological Sciences
CAREER: Structure and Resilience of Social Networks under Population Turnover
$781,111
4/15/20183/31/2024

Turk, Judith

Natural Resources
*CAREER: Human-induced Soil Change on the U.S. Great Plains
$854,327
5/1/20244/30/2029

Votruba, Ashley

Psychology
*CAREER: Equitable Access to Justice: Determinants of Engagement with the Civil Justice System
$660,000
7/1/20246/30/2029

Wachs, Rebecca

Biological Systems Engineering
CAREER: Alternative Non-opioid Therapies for Low Back Pain
$510,389
5/1/20194/30/2025

Wittich, Christine

Civil and Environmental Engineering
*CAREER: Integration of Agricultural Infrastructure Vulnerability and Rural Community Resilience for Multiple Hazards
$615,387
9/1/20248/31/2029

Yang, Ruiguo

Mechanical & Materials Engineering
CAREER: Characterization of the Rate-dependent Mechanical Behavior of the Cell-Cell Adhesion Interface
$536,907
10/1/20229/30/2027

Yesselman, Joseph

Chemistry/Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication
CAREER: Determining the Fundamental Rules of RNA Tertiary Contact Formation
$1,235,574
6/1/20225/31/2027

Yu, Hongfeng

Computer Science and Engineering
CAREER: Scalable Techniques for Visualizing Very Large Graphs
$476,951
9/1/20178/31/2024

Zhang, Limei

Biochemistry/Nebraska Center for Redox Biology/Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication
CAREER: Structural and Mechanistic Studies on an Iron-Sulfur Cluster-based Nitric Oxide Sensor
$600,000
7/1/20196/30/2025