Research Identity Areas

Introduction 

Nebraska is a global agricultural leader and a “living laboratory” that supports research, teaching, and engagement across diverse environments. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) is uniquely positioned to advance research on the state’s interconnected food, energy, and natural resource systems to enhance environmental health and resiliency while ensuring a safe, nutritious, and abundant supply of food and bioindustry feedstocks. Advancing agricultural and bioindustrial innovation requires understanding the ecological interactions among crops, livestock, soils, water, wildlife, and microbial communities, as well as the evolutionary processes that drive adaptation in plants, animals, pests, and pathogens. Integrating these perspectives strengthens Nebraska’s ability to anticipate and respond to environmental change, emerging threats, and long‑term sustainability challenges. Through collaborations across campuses and disciplines, partnerships with stakeholders throughout Nebraska and beyond, and a commitment to data-driven decision-making and stewardship, UNL will continue fulfilling its land‑grant mission by forging pathways where digital agriculture, water and environmental health, advanced sustainable biomanufacturing, and economic development converge to enhance lives, communities, and ecosystems.

Significance and Scope

The world is facing a growing demand for plant, animal, and natural resource systems to sustain an estimated population of 10 billion people by 2050. Nebraska’s agriculture and bioindustry sectors serve as powerful economic engines. Improving livestock and animal health is essential to Nebraska’s agricultural economy, strengthening productivity, reducing production losses, and supporting the long‑term resilience of the state’s food and bioindustry systems. Agricultural biotechnology enables the development of new products contributing to societal well-being, from sustainable fibers and fuels to pharmaceuticals. Food and water security contribute directly to social stability, national security, and human health.

Nebraska’s rich natural resources—including soil, grasslands, and groundwater—combined with producers who are global leaders in resource-efficient production, position UNL and its partners as central to a thriving global society. However, new challenges continue to emerge: shifting labor markets, novel pests and pathogens, threats to water quality and quantity, extreme weather events that reduce productivity and displace communities, and increasing competition for biobased materials and fuels. These challenges are fundamentally ecological and evolutionary—driven by factors like shifting species interactions, weather-related range expansions, and rapid evolutionary responses such as pesticide and antimicrobial resistance. Meeting these challenges requires advancing fundamental and applied sciences and integrating data science, at site and at scale, while translating discoveries into sustainable technological, economic, and policy solutions.

Context and Rationale

UNL is uniquely positioned to address emerging challenges in agriculture and the bioindustry because of Nebraska’s location in the Great Plains above the Ogallala Aquifer. The state’s geography supports diverse forms of agricultural production. Its precipitation and temperature gradients create an ideal setting for developing the most productive crops and livestock adapted to local microclimates. Nebraska’s distinctive geology enables exceptional groundwater recharge and storage, creating a natural system in which groundwater and surface water are closely connected and together provide an integrated environment for studying sustainable production and resource management. Solving agricultural and bioindustrial challenges in Nebraska requires solutions that are broadly relevant and transferable to other regions of the nation and the world. Opportunities for expanded international collaboration further strengthen UNL’s global impact.

UNL’s research strengths in agriculture and bioindustry include advanced facilities and expertise that enable the creation and use of large, spatio-temporally resolved datasets. High-capacity computing, research core facilities, and world-class phenomics infrastructure provide links between laboratory science and in-field application. These resources are complemented by UNL’s statewide network of field stations, experiment sites, and trusted relationships with producers—all of which allow discoveries to be tested and scaled in real-world environments. In addition, a number of centers and programs like the Beef Innovation Hub, Center for Plant Science Innovation, Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, Food Processing Center, and the Platte River-High Plains Aquifer Long-term Agroecosystem Research Network support faculty and students engaged in interdisciplinary collaboration. Strong agricultural economics, data science, and policy research further enhance UNL’s ability to study the full agricultural value chain, from production efficiency and resource conservation to consumer well-being and market resilience.

Opportunities and Challenges

UNL’s agriculture and bioindustry research identity is shaped by the need to understand how crops, livestock, and production systems interact across ecosystems to drive productivity, sustainability, and resilience. At the same time, building a resilient agricultural sector requires strengthening rural and urban communities, fostering international collaborations, and expanding ecosystem services that support long-term agricultural and environmental resilience. Addressing these challenges requires an integrated and networked data-driven systems approach that can link gene-level discoveries to management, markets, and policy.

Nebraska serves as a unique living laboratory, with natural gradients in soil, climate, and water availability; exceptional strengths in phenotyping and precision, AI-enabled data collection and integration; a statewide network of field stations; and producers who are global leaders in stewardship and innovation. UNL’s biological collections and natural history datasets can serve as essential resources for climate and environmental resilience, crop and livestock improvement, and understanding long-term ecological change. Anticipating future agricultural challenges requires integrating ecological principles—such as biodiversity, nutrient cycling, soil-microbe interactions, and landscape connectivity—with evolutionary insights into plant and animal adaptation, pest and pathogen evolution, and long‑term responses to environmental change. Together, these strengths enable discoveries to be tested in real-world environments and scaled across landscapes and industries.

Nebraska’s integration of biological, physical, and socioeconomic research is essential to advancing sustainable production systems. The university’s partnerships with producers, industry, and government agencies translate research into practice, while Nebraska Extension and public science venues connect discovery and engage the broader public, building a strong and sustained system of support for Nebraska agriculture. These efforts also cultivate a future-ready workforce by equipping students and professionals with the skills and experiences needed to lead in a data-driven, innovation-focused agricultural economy. Enhanced investment in these collaborative enterprises will accelerate innovation and position UNL and Nebraska at the forefront of global agricultural and bioindustrial transformation.

To fully leverage these strengths, UNL must strengthen operational support at research sites, invest in data infrastructure that enhances access and interoperability, strategically diversify the biomaterials production portfolio for Nebraska-grown agriculture feedstocks, test and disseminate circular biomanufacturing and resource management technologies, and expand interdisciplinary capacity through dedicated staff and policies encouraging frequent research communication. Most importantly, among UNL’s strengths are its many excellent researchers and reputation for sustained research excellence in these areas. This allows the university to convene interdisciplinary teams, attract competitive funding, and translate fundamental discoveries into practical innovations that strengthen agriculture, bioindustry, and water and food security locally and globally. 

Multiple institutes and centers support faculty and students engaged in interdisciplinary collaboration. However, UNL needs to accelerate its capacity to integrate large datasets and promote bioindustry innovation. Enacting a long-term sustainable development strategy and building stronger connections among biological, geological, computational, engineering, climate, and social sciences will help the university respond to emerging challenges such as water scarcity, new pests and pathogens, labor shifts, and expanding markets for bio-based products. By doing so, UNL can help shape a future for agriculture and the bioindustry that sustains both people and the planet—advancing productivity and prosperity while stewarding our natural resources to ensure lasting food and resource security.

Impacts

The long-term impact of UNL’s contributions to agriculture and the bioindustry will be a more productive, resilient, and sustainable agro-industrial system that strengthens Nebraska’s economy while addressing global challenges in food, water, and energy security. Enhancements in agricultural productivity, efficiency, and integrated biomanufacturing will translate into economic growth, workforce enhancement, and prosperity across the state, positioning Nebraska as a model for resilient agriculture and bioindustry. By applying ecological understanding and evolutionary foresight, UNL strengthens Nebraska’s capacity to maintain productive landscapes, steward natural resources, and adapt to emerging environmental and biological pressures. Research outcomes will ensure sustained crop and livestock productivity, improved water quality and quantity, and the development of bio-based products that will reduce environmental impacts while creating new economic opportunities. Through these efforts, UNL will help create a future where agriculture and the bioindustry drive innovation, environmental stewardship, and economic vitality, contributing to a secure, and sustainable, world.

Introduction

Diseases affecting humans, animals, crops, and ecosystems pose ongoing threats to health, food security, and economic stability. Understanding disease mechanisms requires integrating molecular and cellular processes with the ecological interactions and evolutionary dynamics that govern pathogen emergence, transmission, host susceptibility, and long‑term adaptation across human, animal, plant, and environmental systems. This understanding also is essential for developing effective diagnostics, treatments, and prevention strategies. Researchers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) are uniquely positioned to address these challenges through interdisciplinary approaches spanning ecology, evolutionary and molecular biology, immunology, neuroscience, nutrition, physiology, plant pathology, social and behavioral health, and veterinary science. These efforts are supported by advanced structural, computing, and data science capabilities, along with statewide engagement networks that position UNL as a leader in disease research that benefits Nebraska, the United States, and the world.

Significance and Scope

Disease in humans disrupts normal biological functions, leading to suffering, reduced quality of life, and economic and societal burdens. Disease risk is shaped not only by molecular and genetic factors but also by ecological drivers—such as climate change, land use, biodiversity loss, and vector ecology—that influence pathogen spread and host exposure. Evolutionary pressures, including resistance development in crops, livestock, and human pathogens, amplify these challenges. Diseases across human, animal, and plant systems threaten U.S. food security, disrupt supply chains, and cause billions in economic losses through reduced crop yields, livestock mortality, trade restrictions, and increased consumer prices. Disease outbreaks related to agriculture paralyze rural economies, reduce exports, and trigger trade bans that last years. Disease also poses a serious threat to U.S. biosecurity because it disrupts public health systems; compromises food, agriculture, and natural resource safety; and exposes vulnerabilities in national defense and emergency preparedness. Rising rates of metabolic and drug-resistant diseases, zoonotic pathogens, and vector-borne illnesses highlight the urgent need for foundational research into disease mechanisms—the detailed biological processes that explain how a disease starts, develops, and causes damage.

Context and Rationale

As a land-grant, research-intensive university with strengths in biomedical, behavioral, and agricultural sciences, UNL is well-positioned to lead fundamental disease research. Its statewide infrastructure provides real-world testbeds, while partnerships with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Nebraska Extension, and other stakeholders enable translational pathways from lab to clinic and community. UNL also is home to significant collections of biological data and specimens that can be leveraged to support data-informed approaches to disease prediction, monitoring, and intervention, and facilitate the integration of insights from the social sciences, arts, and public policy. UNL’s expertise in the mechanisms of disease spans the continuum from synapse to society, providing a comprehensive foundation for the study of disease across species and environments.

UNL centers and programs like the Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior; Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication; Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases; Nebraska Center for Virology; Nebraska One Health, Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center, and Redox Biology Center drive new scientific insights and leverage the interconnectedness and balance required to support the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. These centers collectively integrate molecular mechanistic research with ecological surveillance, evolutionary analyses, and host-pathogen interaction studies.

Innovations in biochemistry and computing enable predictive models like a digital twin of the human immune system that is paving the way for personalized therapies. AI and bioengineering approaches reveal how diseases disrupt biological communication—from intracellular signaling and host-pathogen interactions to neural and behavioral pathways—to identify intervention points. Nutrition and health sciences researchers study chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver disease. Sex‑specific differences in disease mechanisms—particularly those affecting women’s health, such as autoimmune disorders, metabolic disease progression, reproductive health conditions, and disparities in diagnosis and treatment—represent critical areas where mechanistic insights can drive more equitable health outcomes. Advances in ecological modeling and evolutionary forecasting, combined with AI‑driven analytics, allow researchers to predict how pathogens may adapt, spread, or shift hosts under changing environmental conditions.

UNL’s focus on student and workforce development ensures discoveries translate into local health, economic, and societal benefits. Training pathways integrate field ecology, evolutionary genetics, surveillance science, and computational modeling to prepare students for careers in public health, agriculture, and biosecurity. One Health initiatives address zoonotic diseases, environmental contamination, and vector-borne illnesses through interdisciplinary fieldwork and community engagement to better appreciate how diseases operate across temporal, ecological, and evolutionary scales. Neuroscience and behavioral science researchers investigate the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying disease-related behaviors, stress responses, and mental health outcomes—complementing molecular and cellular research for a comprehensive understanding of disease. Collaborations with the Nebraska Food for Health Center and the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center support diagnostic, therapeutic, and prevention strategy innovations. Extension’s statewide network plays a critical early role in translating disease insights into public-facing programs.

Opportunities and Challenges

UNL’s interdisciplinary strengths, department breadth, collaborative culture, proximity to UNMC and stakeholder partnerships, robust Extension network, and access to federal and industry funding offer opportunities for the institution to emerge as a national and global leader in disease research.

UNL researchers are investigating questions such as:

• What molecular pathways drive disease progression?
• How can disease be detected and prevented earlier?
• What roles do environment and lifestyle play in disease?
• How does information flow within and between cells, organisms, and communities help shape disease emergence and treatment response?
• How can structural biology and data science accelerate diagnosis and therapy?
• How might we better predict evolutionary responses to therapeutic intervention?
• Is it possible to identify ecological tipping points for disease emergence?
• How do microbiome dynamics influence immunity and susceptibility?
• What are the neural and behavioral correlates of chronic disease and mental health?
• How can cross-species models enhance understanding?
• How do evolutionary processes influence disease emergence, adaptation, and long-term dynamics?
• What mechanistic differences in immunity, metabolism, and neurobehavioral pathways underlie sex‑specific disease risk, and how can UNL accelerate breakthroughs in women’s health?
• How can omics approaches—including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics—deepen mechanistic understanding?
• What applied pathways (e.g., drug discovery, small-molecule intervention, biotherapeutics) can accelerate translational outcomes?

Through initiatives like the Great Plains IDeA-CTR Network at UNMC and the Rural Drug Addiction Research Center, UNL translates biomedical discoveries into community-engaged interventions, especially in underserved and rural populations. Deepening engagement with rural and Indigenous communities and further investment in research core facilities, interdisciplinary infrastructure, and graduate student support will increase the institution’s impact as will strengthening structural biology research capacity in response to new developments in single-molecule cryo-electron microscopy and the application of AI to protein structural prediction and design.

Impacts

UNL’s research in disease mechanisms improves health outcomes, reduces agricultural losses, and strengthens community resilience. Mechanistic insights enhanced by data science and AI support earlier detection, precision interventions, and broader access to health and biosecurity innovations. By integrating basic science with applied solutions and leveraging its integrated communication and partnership networks, UNL contributes to a healthier Nebraska and a more secure global food and health system. By incorporating ecological context and evolutionary dynamics, UNL advances predictive and prevention strategies that anticipate resistance, emergence events, and the long-term‑term effects of environmental change.

Introduction

Architecture, design, history, literature, philosophy, visual and performing arts, and other arts and humanities disciplines have been central to the research and creative activity identity of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) throughout its history. UNL has been home to a variety of esteemed artists, scholars, and writers (evidenced by the receipt of numerous prestigious awards, fellowships, and invitations for exhibitions and performances); the longest continually published literary magazine in the country; premier collections of American art; and one of the earliest research centers to support digital scholarship in the humanities. This valuable history, strengthened by UNL’s museums, libraries, archives, and publishing enterprises, is a foundation on which to develop the next era of excellence in arts and humanities research and creative activity.

Creative Engagement and Cultural Heritage represents an area of research distinction at UNL, encapsulating a range of projects, products, and outcomes that share a focus on human expression and culture and on discovering human stories and sharing them broadly. Recognizing the many forms this area of research and creative activity can take—from traditional publications, exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and recitals to new media experimentation that generates knowledge enhanced by emerging technology—there is also opportunity to achieve strength in this work through collaborative engagement with a broad array of disciplinary and public communities.

Significance and Scope

The Creative Engagement and Cultural Heritage research area engages our shared artistic, cultural, historical, and literary heritage. It connects our past to our present and future through scholarship and creative activity exploring the human experience. This research identity area is vital to the University of Nebraska’s interest in readmission to the American Association of Universities (AAU).

At UNL, many of the highly prestigious awards and book publications contributing toward AAU’s Phase 1 indicators originate from the arts and humanities disciplines. More broadly, Creative Engagement and Cultural Heritage is vital to the citizens of Nebraska and the wider world because it focuses on how people find meaning and create community. This research identity area’s scope includes the traditional arts and humanities disciplines and extends across UNL’s interdisciplinary programs that have achieved national and international recognition, including the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, the Center for Great Plains Studies, the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, and the Institute for Ethnic Studies, as well as creative scholarship in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications and community-centered humanities research that engages the social sciences and STEM partners. This area also utilizes emerging strengths in arts and humanities research projects that partner with and engage community stakeholders, such as the “Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives” veterans’ outreach project, the Nebraska History Harvest, the Nebraska Writing Project, Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors, as well as PreK-12 arts education research, and is bolstered by community-based architecture, planning, design-build, and built-environment research that shapes the built and natural environments in ways that reflect cultural values and improve civic life.

UNL’s museums and cultural heritage partners bridge research, public engagement, and creative practice by stewarding collections, supporting interpretation, and presenting scholarship and creative work to diverse audiences across the state and nation. These include the Great Plains Art Museum, International Quilt Museum, Lied Center for Performing Arts, Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska State Museum (Morrill Hall), and film and media venues such as the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. University Libraries, archives, and special collections further serve as essential cultural heritage partners through preservation, access, visual and informational literacy initiatives, and community-facing programming. The University of Nebraska Press and editorial projects including The Cather Project and the Walt Whitman Archive broaden cultural scholarship and support discovery, open and enduring access, and the statewide and national visibility of Nebraska-rooted scholarship.

Context and Rationale

Humans investigate and make sense of their lives through storytelling, historical accounts, design, artistic works, creative writing, filmmaking, and new media forms. Artists, designers, and humanists strive to co-create knowledge through both collaborative engagement and individual scholarship, respecting lived experiences, and widening access to cultural knowledge by engaging with other disciplines, scientists, educators, organizations, industry partners, and community groups. The novelty of these expressions is not just in forms of publication and presentation, but also in methodological approaches. The potential impact is vast because of the wide audience for films, fiction, and open access digital collections.

UNL scholarship in Creative Engagement and Cultural Heritage embraces traditional practices and publishing, as well as new approaches that challenge ideas about how and where this work happens and who gets to participate. It preserves historical methods and living heritage while innovating toward the future through digital scholarship, new media, and emerging creative technologies. Several examples highlight this scholarship. Across two decades and many high-impact projects, the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities has been a leader in the exponential growth of the digital humanities field. This work has positioned UNL to achieve continued research advancements, engaged millions of viewers around the world, and generated significant external funding. Since 1976, the Center for Great Plains Studies has carried out research rooted in the unique environment and cultures of the Great Plains. It has also showcased and partnered with Indigenous peoples to help tell their unique stories. For more than a century, the Prairie Schooner literary magazine has advanced research and creative work grounded in this particular region, while also appealing to national and international audiences. The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts promotes growth, creativity, and interdisciplinary collaboration across established and emerging creative and technological practices, generating new knowledge in private and academic sectors.

Many faculty are practicing artists who engage in shared creative processes, design, and pedagogy to expand who produces cultural knowledge and how that knowledge circulates. For example, creative research in the Ervin and Loretta Krause Creative Writing Specialization in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Glenn Korff School of Music, the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, and the School of Art, Art History and Design, advances socially engaged artistic and scholarly output—from studio and performance work to criticism, history, and public humanities—that fosters cross-cultural and intergenerational understanding and reaches audiences statewide and beyond. Architectural design and planning research elevates community well-being by creatively shaping the built and natural environments in ways that reflect cultural values, inspire meaningful experiences, and support sustainable living. This built-environment research also strengthens cultural heritage by interpreting, preserving, and re-framing the built and cultural landscapes of Nebraska and beyond, while connecting design professions, teaching, research, and service to address societal, environmental, and cultural challenges.

Opportunities and Challenges

UNL has a robust infrastructure that supports dynamic research and creative expression. Our proven record of developing distinctive approaches to myriad questions in the arts and humanities prepares us for national leadership in generating and sustaining new expressions of artistic and humanistic research. Although there is great opportunity in prioritizing forms and approaches that invite broad access (e.g., free online publication or deep partnership with communities outside academia), there are challenges in supporting and sustaining this work.

• Does the university’s reward structure adequately incentivize community-engaged research and creative activity?
• Is the institution prepared to support the technical infrastructure required to sustain free online publication?
• What is required to embrace the changeable and decentralized external funding landscape for research that engages with creative expression and cultural heritage?

The Creative Engagement and Cultural Heritage research area can be developed and sustained in the following ways:

• Cultivating relationships with private foundations.
• Utilizing technology transfer to share commercializable products with the public.
• Connecting with under-served groups (e.g., low-income neighborhoods, refugees in Lincoln, tribal communities).
• Expanding university-industry partnerships (e.g., with major architectural design and planning firms; design software companies; instrument, tool, and creative technology makers).
• Addressing critical community priorities (e.g., affordable housing, community flood resilience, economic development).
• Utilizing the Center for Great Plains Studies/Great Plains Art Museum, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, and Sheldon Museum of Art exhibition and performance spaces and events as the cultural hub of the arts in Nebraska.
• Adopting and adapting the Extension model to better connect the arts and humanities with rural and urban communities.

Impacts

Collectively, the discovery, creativity, and innovation that distinguishes the Creative Engagement and Cultural Heritage research area will:

• Strengthen communities through improved service to the state.
• Foster and satisfy curiosity, a desire for knowledge, and understanding of humanity.
• Find new research connections with fields outside of the arts and humanities to extend the research into new and various forms of shareable and accessible knowledge.
• Develop critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills by examining culture, history, art, and creative thought.
• Discover meaning through community and community interaction, storytelling, and critical reflection.
• Advance community resilience and cultural preservation by integrating design, planning, and engagement practices that honor local heritage and support long-term social, economic, and environmental well-being.
• Enhance Nebraska’s communities through collaborative planning initiatives and research partnerships that translate creative ideas into tangible improvements in the built and natural environments.
• Foster shared narratives about our world and our place in it through informational and visual literacy.
• Produce creative and scholarly output that reaches broad audiences, supports statewide impact, and garners meaningful recognition and national visibility, thus strengthening the university.

Introduction 

Advancements in the human condition coincide with the development of new advanced materials. From the first stone tools and the rise of metallurgy to the semiconductor era that underpins our modern digital world, each technological leap has been driven by advances in materials science. Today, the global community faces significant challenges resulting from the growing demand for energy and depletion of natural resources. To meet these challenges, materials and energy once again take center stage as the source for many innovations, including energy generation, conversion, storage, and use. This research area recognizes the vital, intersecting role materials and energy play in every major technological revolution and articulates some of the ways the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) may continue to advance innovative materials and energy research.

Significance and Scope

Developing new materials and material processing methods is vital to meet growing technological and energy demands. By engineering advanced materials and processes, progress will occur in areas such as energy harvesting, transport, and storage; materials life-cycle management (circularity and sustainability); light-matter interactions; nuclear fusion; quantum materials for computing and sensing; active soft matter; materials for critical mineral recovery; and materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions. Foundational materials research, including theory and basic science, continues to underpin these advances.

UNL has established expertise in interdisciplinary materials and energy science, spanning nano- and micro-scale fabrication, advanced characterization, novel processing methods, data storage and processing, biological and bio-derived materials, as well as computational modeling. This strength positions UNL to lead a new paradigm of materials-by-design for energy, sustainability, agriculture, quantum technologies, and circularity. By integrating artificial intelligence (including foundational AI research) and data-driven approaches with experimental and theoretical materials discovery and natural resources, UNL can accelerate the development of transformative materials for energy harvesting, conversion, storage, and consumption—ranging from next-generation photovoltaics and batteries to thermal management, semiconductors, and quantum materials for sensing and computation. By uniting these efforts, UNL can distinguish itself as a leader in materials enabled energy and quantum innovation, fostering breakthroughs that advance decarbonization, electrification, and quantum-enabled sustainability—ultimately shaping the technologies that power and illuminate the future.

Context and Rationale

UNL is uniquely positioned to lead in sustainable materials science, biological materials research, and energy innovation, leveraging decades of expertise and infrastructure. For nearly half a century, it has been a leader in materials science research, culminating in the establishment of the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN). This long-standing infrastructure supports cutting-edge research in nanomaterials, thin-film fabrication, spectroscopy, and materials characterization. By harnessing unique electronic, magnetic, photonic, and topological properties, quantum materials enable breakthroughs in energy generation, storage, sensing, and information technologies. They are central to the development of next-generation devices that can dramatically reduce energy consumption in AI data centers, improve renewable energy efficiency, and enable entirely new technologies in quantum sensing, communication, and computation. These capabilities have helped UNL build nationally recognized interdisciplinary centers, such as the Center for Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE), which bridges the evolution from nanoscale materials to quantum materials—those that harness quantum phenomena for advanced sensing, communication, computation, and discovery-driven research.

Complementing this foundation, the Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research (NCESR) fosters translation of materials innovation into applications for energy generation, conversion, storage, transport, and consumption. Through partnerships with industry and state agencies, NCESR facilitates the deployment of new materials in renewable systems, the discovery of alternative energy resources, innovative solutions for energy transfer and storage, including the integration of existing technologies such as wind and solar power. 

Challenges remain—current photovoltaic materials need higher efficiency, turbine blade materials require recyclability, new classes of sustainable and self-repairing materials are needed for extreme environments, such as those encountered in nuclear energy systems or hydrogen-based energy production. Addressing these challenges requires precisely the kind of cross-disciplinary materials expertise available at UNL. By building on this legacy and expanding capacity in materials-enabled energy and quantum innovation, UNL is uniquely positioned to develop transformative materials solutions—bridging energy science, quantum technology, and sustainability—through materials innovation, energy science, and AI-driven solutions.

Opportunities and Challenges

The next technological frontier will be defined by our ability to design, synthesize, and control materials with atomic-scale precision to achieve emergent functionalities—from energy conversion to quantum information processing. UNL is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation by combining long-standing expertise in agricultural sciences, biological engineering, materials science and engineering, and natural resources with emerging strengths in data science, nanophotonics, quantum materials, and sustainable energy systems.

This research identity is guided by fundamental and application-driven questions, including:

• How can we engineer materials to exhibit quantum behavior at the macroscopic scale and leverage these effects to realize transformative technologies?
• How can we exploit light-matter interactions to drive photocatalytic, energy-conversion, and quantum-sensing processes with unprecedented efficiency?
• How can we create materials that operate reliably under extreme environments, such as those in compact nuclear systems, hydrogen storage, or deep-space applications?
• How can we achieve safe, efficient production, storage, and distribution, and enable circularity of energy—while ensuring materials circularity and/or a hydrogen economy to support electrification and decarbonization?

Together, questions like these emphasize the role of materials as the universal enabler for progress across energy, sustainability, and quantum technology. UNL’s strength lies in its integration of artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, multiscale characterization, and biological/ecological data science to accelerate discovery of next-generation materials. Machine learning and AI-driven simulations allow researchers to explore vast compositional and structural design spaces, identifying promising materials far faster than through conventional trial-and-error methods. The transition from nanomaterials to quantum materials science—supported by UNL’s existing expertise and facilities—offers a new paradigm where AI-guided design, in situ characterization, and theory-driven modeling converge to enable predictive and adaptive materials engineering.

The scale and complexity of materials-driven challenges demand broad interdisciplinary collaboration. UNL research on materials and energy naturally connects chemical and biological sciences, chemistry, computational modeling, data science, electrical and mechanical engineering, and physics. Externally, engagement with national laboratories, federal agencies, industry partners, and other research universities will be key to translating materials discoveries into societal and economic benefits. Integrating materials research with workforce development, public education, and industrial innovation will amplify Nebraska’s role as a regional hub of materials-based innovation.

UNL’s assets include deep expertise in energy and quantum materials, a strong interdisciplinary foundation, and advanced infrastructure. To maintain leadership and competitiveness, UNL must invest in:

• Workforce development in AI-guided materials design and quantum nanophotonics.
• Next-generation biomaterials engineering, including tools for fabrication and characterization.
• Expanded partnerships with industry and government for technology translation.
• Greater national visibility through cross-institutional collaborations and high-impact research initiatives.

Impacts

The long-term vision of this research identity area is to harness materials innovation to address humanity’s most urgent global challenges while ensuring a sustainable, secure, and equitable future. Energy and materials science will make critical contributions to virtually all major challenges that threaten humanity’s quality of life or even its survival. The design of new materials and energy sources can threaten environmental and natural resource sustainability. Understanding and preventing these challenges while achieving energy abundance could, by itself, resolve pressing issues related to water, food, and health. Materials science is central to this vision, enabling sustainable energy solutions, high-performing materials for new applications, and advancing emerging fields such as quantum information science. The long-term impact will be an increased quality of life through our ability to meet growing technological needs and energy demands, while minimizing health and environmental impacts.

Introduction 

Social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences are critically important for promoting accessibility, equity, and well-being of people, families, businesses, and communities. Researchers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) approach well-being holistically through innovations in education, health, political and civic engagement, economic opportunity, and technology across ages, life stages, and types of communities. Interdisciplinary and creative approaches are required to address this research identity, including connections with the other UNL research identities and cross-cutting areas of distinction. Integrating behavioral, biological, developmental, cultural, geographic, and social perspectives advances understanding of—and solutions to—the world’s most pressing challenges, improving societal outcomes.

Significance and Scope

Transforming social, behavioral, educational, and prevention systems to ensure better opportunities and outcomes for everyone is important. For example, not all children have access to necessary health services (physical, mental, behavioral) or educational opportunities that will prepare them for 21st century careers and as next-generation leaders. Improving outcomes requires a systems perspective that recognizes the interconnectedness among the areas and organizations where individuals live, work, and play. Community-engaged research and interdisciplinary research grounded in context (e.g., employers, organizations, schools, or communities) and covering the lifespan lays the foundation for understanding how social, health, economic, and other concerns arise in a population or community, as well as the settings and groups most affected. Basic and applied research approaches and findings are needed to uncover threats facing people and communities, identify mitigating strategies, and develop processes/timelines to implement change. A variety of research methods are necessary, with an emphasis on rigorous and relevant real-world studies that account for voice, perspective and community need. The end result is development of evidence-based, multi-component practices, programs, and policies delivered sustainably to the people and communities who need them. 

Context and Rationale

Communities throughout Nebraska and the United States are experiencing unprecedented challenges to social well-being, including growing employment crises, accelerated technology development, decreased trust in institutions, a child and youth mental health and healthcare crisis, substance use crisis, and teacher shortages. As a result, individuals and communities are struggling and need timely, context-based, effective solutions to fulfill their social, public health, educational, and economic needs. UNL has made great strides in social, behavioral, educational, and prevention research and practice, providing the foundation needed to launch the next generation of initiatives supported by a strategic, sustained investment of resources. The potential pay-off of such investments in the social and behavioral sciences is the realization of healthy, thriving communities through the widespread scale-up of rigorous research that generates measurable economic returns.

UNL is well-positioned to lead this research due to its history of sustained accomplishments in this space, as well as its existing resources and infrastructure. Examples include the Bureau of Sociological Research; Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior; the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education; Center on Children, Families, and the Law; Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools; Public Policy Center; and Rural Drug Addiction Research Center, as well as research within and across units and departments including architecture, political science, psychology, and special education and communication disorders. The strong connection between campus-based research and statewide engagement through Nebraska Extension creates opportunities for research-informed solutions to real problems.

Opportunities and Challenges

Research questions in social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences encompass a continuum from basic to applied and examines factors, processes, and experiences that promote health and well-being (holistic); productive social, educational, and economic institutions; positive development and experiences over the life course; and learning. UNL researchers are addressing complex topics such as: 

• Understanding neural, behavioral, social, and environmental, and technological foundations of health and the human experience.
• Identifying modifiable factors that threaten health and well-being.
• Studying processes of human judgment and decision-making to improve the outcomes of the decisions that everyday people, their leaders, and their institutions make.
• Investigating educational systems and supports that yield student success.
• Determining what interventions work and for whom.
• Assessing how changing technologies impact individuals and communities.
• Exploring how community-based research-practice partnerships can address local problems.
• Examining how the answers to these questions vary across rural and urban contexts.

Challenges for maximizing the impact of these strengths include accessing diverse, sustained funding streams; promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across interconnected areas; rewarding faculty for multi-disciplinary engaged research; communicating the value and impact of basic and applied research; and developing trusting, sustained relationships with community partners who contribute to all phases of research, dissemination, and practice. Addressing these challenges will continue to enhance UNL’s role as a leader in advancing understanding of complex social, behavioral, and educational dynamics to drive improved societal outcomes.

UNL’s strengths, including expertise in rigorous social science research designs and extensive development and evaluation of community-based programs, provide a foundation for addressing persistent challenges and opportunities to tackle emergent research areas (e.g., the impact of rapid adoption of AI technologies across education, health, well-being, technology, business, and communities). Examples of UNL assets that make unique approaches possible include:

• Multiple research centers and institutes focused on health, well-being, and education, including specific attention to rural well-being.
• UNL faculty are engaged in community partnerships and UNL recently achieved distinction as a Carnegie Community Engagement Classified institution. There is multi-disciplinary expertise in community engaged research and co-design of interventions. This is a particular strength of Nebraska Extension, another valuable UNL asset.
• Promoting health and well-being and community resilience requires an interdisciplinary approach, and faculty in diverse disciplines (e.g., architecture, communication sciences and disorders, education, engineering, Extension, food science, health sciences, human development, landscape design, political science, pharmaceutical sciences, psychobiology, psychology, and sociology) are collaborating on research and interventions. 
• UNL researchers use a variety of research methods, cutting-edge technology, and well-established data collection infrastructures to address research questions that span specific to broad and across disciplines.
• UNL Libraries provide advanced data and information-intensive research support, including evidence synthesis methodologies and research data curation, which promotes rigor and open science across disciplines and mobilizes knowledge produced.
• The University of Nebraska State Museum connects UNL researchers with the community in Lincoln and across Nebraska through its educational programming.

Impacts

This research identity area impacts the success and well-being of current and future generations of Nebraskans and the long-term viability of communities across the state. Long-term impacts include the promotion of healthy, resilient, and thriving individuals and communities through the development, evaluation, and scaling of evidence-based practices, programs, interventions, and policies. Individuals and communities throughout the state, nation, and world actively engage with university-based researchers to implement sustained, research-based solutions to address needs, creating healthy and economically vibrant communities Research and practice initiatives promote behavioral, mental, social, and physical well-being and reduce health, educational, technological, and economic disparities. Research success positions UNL and Nebraska as a hub for rigorous, community-engaged research and practice initiatives. Sustainability through innovation and diversification of funding streams are maximized through community-engaged approaches that ensure long-term commitment to mutual goals.

Introduction

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) advances research in intelligent, interconnected, and human-centric systems that transform how we move, build, and interact with the world. This research identity area integrates architecture, autonomous systems, infrastructure, transportation, and robotics. UNL’s research ecosystem brings together nationally recognized groups such as the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, Nebraska Transportation Center, NIMBUS Lab, and major robotics clusters to address fundamental and applied challenges. These collaborations support next‑generation technologies including artificial intelligence (AI)‑native engineering for sensing and connectivity, autonomous systems, digital twin modeling, and field and aerial robotics. UNL’s interdisciplinary expertise addresses fundamental and applied questions to create safer, more efficient, and more reliable systems for critical sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Significance and Scope

Autonomous technologies, infrastructure, robotics, and transportation play significant roles in shaping a safer, more productive, and resilient future. These areas of innovation drive solutions that enhance safety, efficiency, and improve the quality of life while fueling economic growth across Nebraska and beyond. By integrating advanced automation, connectivity, data-driven decision-making, and intelligent systems, these technologies increase productivity. These technologies also contribute to economic development by generating new products, industries, and job opportunities, which strengthens UNL’s role in fostering regional growth and community resilience. This research area unites researchers across computing, engineering, and other disciplines in several key areas of strength, including:

• AI-native engineering for sensing, monitoring, connectivity, decision-making, and digital twin modeling.
• Applications in precision agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure.
• Built environment design, construction, and resilience (sustainable materials, adaptive infrastructure, and hazard-resistant systems).
• Applied field robotics (unmanned aerial systems, autonomous vehicles).
• Cyber-physical and networked systems (advanced communication networks, optical communications, spectrum sharing).
• High-performance, cloud, and edge computing technologies and infrastructure.
• Robotics development and testing (field, medical, and bio-inspired robotics).
• Transportation safety and smart infrastructure.

Context and Rationale

UNL is uniquely positioned to excel in this research-driven area due to a combination of strategic investments, interdisciplinary expertise, and strong partnerships, which provide a robust foundation for research, testing, deployment, and learning opportunities focused on innovative technologies that advance safety, connectivity, and sustainability across sectors. UNL’s faculty engage in cross-cutting research that aligns with national priorities and bridges the gap between diverse disciplines, such as advanced manufacturing, agriculture, critical infrastructure, computing, and health, while integrating insights from the arts, social sciences, and public policy. This interdisciplinary approach enables UNL to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities with approaches that cut across traditional research areas. Strategic partnerships play a vital role in this ecosystem. Collaborations with the U.S. Strategic Command through the National Strategic Research Institute, private industry, and local/state/federal government agencies ensure research outcomes are relevant and impactful. Nebraska Extension provides a direct channel for translating research into practice, connecting innovations with producers, businesses, and communities across the state. UNL’s robotics and autonomous systems have been deployed internationally, and faculty regularly advise global partners, further distinguishing the university’s impact.

Opportunities and Challenges

Recent national priorities in advanced communication networks, agriculture, AI, cybersecurity, defense, resilient infrastructure, robotics, smart cities, and transportation create opportunities for UNL to expand its impact at state, national, and global levels. UNL has unique assets (e.g., Nebraska Innovation Campus, NFarms) and strong collaborations with regional innovation networks (e.g., Invest Nebraska, Great Lakes Region I-Corps Hub, The Combine, NMotion, and the Silicon Prairie) and robotics companies and transportation companies. Furthermore, there are cross-disciplinary collaborative opportunities with architecture, economics, healthcare, natural hazard resiliency, and public policy. These networks support translation of research into real‑world deployment across urban and rural environments.

Researchers are exploring key research questions that unite robotics, infrastructure, and autonomy. Their work focuses on integrating biological principles—such as adaptability and perception—into robotic systems to improve efficiency and resilience, while advancing cyber-physical systems that utilize modern communication networks for secure and reliable performance. They are also developing ways for robots to collaborate safely with humans and operate effectively in natural and built environments. Their research extends to resilience and safety, including how to strengthen smart transportation infrastructure to support Vision Zero goals for eliminating traffic fatalities. They are also leveraging digital twin technologies, medical robotics, and precision agriculture to improve healthcare delivery, optimize crop production, and create sustainable systems that empower communities and industries.

Realizing these opportunities requires addressing several significant challenges. Sustained investment in research, infrastructure, testbeds, and computational resources is essential to maintain momentum and competitiveness. Recruiting, educating, and retaining a future-ready workforce with expertise at the intersection of robotics, AI, and infrastructure systems remains a pressing need. Equally important is ensuring that the adoption of autonomous technologies is ethical, transparent, and trusted by the public, with appropriate frameworks for accountability and regulation. Finally, the long-term resilience of these systems must be prioritized to ensure they can withstand and adapt to natural or manmade threats, extreme events, and vulnerabilities in physical and cyber infrastructure. By proactively addressing these challenges, UNL is emerging as the home for responsible innovation and technological leadership in infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous systems.

Impacts

Advances in automation and connectivity enhance transportation safety, mobility, and infrastructure resilience while driving economic growth through new industries, high-quality jobs, and workforce development. Autonomous systems also transform key sectors such as environmental resilience, agriculture, and healthcare. Precision agriculture enabled by robotics and AI improves food security and production sustainability; and healthcare robotics expand access to quality care and improve patient outcomes. Incorporating biological principles, such as adaptability and perception, robotic systems achieve greater efficiency, resilience, and functional versatility. Overall, UNL’s advancements increase productivity, reduce costs, and support a healthier, more sustainable environment through smart mobility and efficient energy use. By aligning cutting-edge technology with societal needs, UNL advances a safer, more resilient, and more prosperous future that positions Nebraska as a global leader in smart and autonomous systems innovation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly evolving area of cross-cutting research distinction at UNL, offering foundational research and powerful tools in deep learning, computer visions, image processing, machine learning, multiagent systems, image processing, and more; curated collections and data repositories with foundational assets to enable data-intensive, AI-enabled research; and robust transdisciplinary collaborations to advance discovery, innovation, and societal impact across disciplines.

• In agriculture and bioindustry, Nebraska researchers integrate AI into precision agriculture systems and use machine learning to optimize crop management, monitor livestock health, and improve food system productivity and sustainability. AI also informs genomic prediction and phenotyping to enhance breeding strategies and resilience to environmental stressors.
• In the study of basic mechanisms of disease, AI plays a critical role in uncovering basic mechanisms of disease by integrating and analyzing complex biological datasets, including genomics, proteomics, and imaging data. These approaches support early disease detection, drug discovery, personalized medicine, and the identification of novel therapeutic targets, advancing biomedical research and clinical applications to improve human health.
• With respect to creative engagement and cultural heritage, AI empowers researchers to analyze large-scale textual, visual, and cultural datasets; reveal patterns in language, history, and artistic practice; and create new modes of digital scholarship and creative production. These capabilities foster interdisciplinary collaboration and expand the impact of humanities research by enabling deeper cultural insights, innovative interpretive methods, and enhanced access to human expression across time and place.
• In relation to material sciences and energy, AI accelerates the design and discovery of advanced materials through predictive modeling and high-throughput simulations. It enables intelligent control systems for energy-efficient technologies and supports the development of smart grids and renewable energy integration, enabling innovation in renewable energy, battery technology, and sustainable materials.
• In social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences, AI enables adaptive and nuanced learning technologies, predictive analytics for behavioral health, and data-informed interventions that address challenges such as substance use, educational disparities, and community health outcomes. Moreover, long-term research infrastructure, including curated collections and data repositories, helps to enable computational capacity, analytics, and education.
• AI is also at the core of the university’s research in transportation, infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous technologies, where it drives developments in unmanned aerial systems, autonomous vehicles, and robotic systems; human-machine interactions; real-time decision-making; and sensor fusion for manufacturing and field applications, infrastructure monitoring, and automation to improve safety, efficiency, and scalability.

Collectively, this work demonstrates how AI serves as an impetus for collaboration, exemplifies UNL’s commitment to interdisciplinary innovation and societal impact, and positions the university as a leader in applying AI to solve complex, real-world problems that impact Nebraska, the nation, and the world. 

UNL has established data management and preservation as a core area of research distinction that originates, facilitates, and enables rigorous, reproducible, and ethically responsible scholarship across disciplines.

• In agriculture and bioindustry, Nebraska researchers develop data systems that integrate genomic, environmental, and production data to enhance precision agriculture, improve crop and livestock resilience, and promote sustainable food systems. Nebraska researchers also develop standards, metadata frameworks, and long-term repositories that support phenotypic datasets and farm-scale sensor streams to accelerate breeding, sustainable production, and translational agricultural technology.
• In studies of basics mechanisms of disease, rigorous data management and preservation ensures the integrity, reproducibility, and accessibility of biomedical datasets, supporting breakthroughs in genomics, imaging, and translational research that advance early detection, treatment, and prevention. Cross-modal analyses, multi-institutional collaboration, and reproducible biomarker and mechanism discovery are enabled through data management and preservation structures such as interoperable, privacy-preserving data architectures and standardized clinical and -omics data dictionaries.
• Creative engagement and cultural heritage benefits from data management and preservation that empowers interdisciplinary scholarship through the curation of digital archives, cultural datasets, and creative works. These practices support long-term access, ethical stewardship, and innovative analysis of cultural heritage to advance cultural preservation and the societal impact of humanities research.
• Within material sciences and energy, robust data management frameworks enable the capture, organization, and preservation of high-throughput experimental and simulation data, accelerating the design and optimization of advanced materials, renewable energy technologies, and efficient energy systems.
• Data management and preservation is also at the core of Nebraska’s research in social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences, where curated collections and data repositories, longitudinal data curation, ethical governance models, and transparent preservation practices promote equity, enable rigorous causal inference, and increase the impact of interventions and policy-relevant research.
• In transportation, infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous technologies,data management and preservation underpin the collection, storage, and analysis of large-scale sensor and mobility datasets that inform real-time decision-making, infrastructure planning, and automation to enhance safety and efficiency. Robust data stewardship ensures integrity, traceability, and secure sharing of multi-sensor streams, simulation outputs, and field logs, supporting validation, safe deployment, and scalable system development.

Together, these multi-discipline efforts foster scholarly integration, amplify research impact, and position UNL as a leader in responsible data management and preservation. 

Economics and business research at UNL is a dynamic engine of interdisciplinary innovation, advancing knowledge and solutions across the university’s strategic research priority areas.

• In agriculture and bioindustry, economists and business scholars collaborate with field professionals to enhance agricultural productivity, sustainability, supply chains, and market resilience. This work informs the economics of precision agriculture, rural development, and global food systems, helping producers and policymakers navigate shifting trade landscapes.
• In the study of basic mechanisms of disease, scholars examine the financial and behavioral dimensions of healthcare delivery, biomedical entrepreneurship, and public health interventions to optimize resource allocation, improve access, and accelerate the translation of medical discoveries into practice.
• Economists and business scholars work closely with humanists, artists, and cultural institutions pursuing creative engagement and cultural heritage to examine the economic forces shaping creative industries; cultural entrepreneurship; and the production, circulation, and preservation of art and ideas. Through integrative analyses of cultural markets, digital media ecosystems, and community-based creative economies, this research strengthens cross-disciplinary collaboration and informs strategies that expand access, foster cultural vitality, and enhance the societal impact of humanities scholarship.
• In material sciences and energy, researchers apply economic modeling and business analytics to evaluate the feasibility, scalability, risk management, and market integration of emerging technologies, ensuring that scientific breakthroughs translate into economically viable solutions.
• Economics and business research also deeply intersects social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences as faculty explore how economic conditions, institutional environments, and behavioral incentives shape human development, performance, leadership economic mobility, workplace dynamics, and well-being across the lifespan. This work informs the design of healthier built environments; supports organizational and leadership development; educational policy, including early childhood development initiatives; and challenges such as social isolation and substance use through data driven policy and program evaluation.
• In transportation, infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous technologies, economics and business faculty contribute critical insights into labor market impacts, regulatory frameworks, consumer adoption, contracting models, operationsresearch, financial strategies, and infrastructure investment. This research supports the responsible deployment of autonomous systems and smart mobility innovations, fostering collaboration with computer scientists, engineers, and urban planners.

Through integrative scholarship, cross-campus collaboration, and a commitment to real-world impact, economics and business research at UNL empowers the university to address urgent societal needs and lead in transformative, crosscutting inquiry.

Research that explores ethical, social, legal, and policy implications is an important cross-cutting part of UNL’s commitment to responsible innovation and inclusive progress across its strategic research priorities.

• In agriculture and bioindustry, faculty collaborate across disciplines to examine the governance, equity, and societal consequences of advances in the industry, including biotechnology, food systems, and rural development. Their work helps ensure that innovation aligns with community values and environmental stewardship.
• In basic mechanisms of disease, faculty examine the implications of genetic and cellular research, molecular diagnostics, and experimental therapies, focusing on data governance, clinical trial ethics, and equitable access to innovation. Their work ensures that progress in understanding disease biology is matched by frameworks that protect individual rights and promote public trust.
• With respect to creative engagement and cultural heritage, researchers investigate how evolving creative practices, digital cultural environments, and new technologies intersect with questions of ethics, legality, and cultural stewardship. Through interdisciplinary collaboration that integrates humanistic inquiry with legal and policy analysis, they develop frameworks that protect intellectual and cultural rights, support equitable access to creative expression, and strengthen the societal impact of humanities scholarship.
• In material sciences and energy, researchers investigate the implications of breakthroughs in quantum physics and laser and material sciences. This work addresses the ethical deployment of quantum technologies, intellectual property frameworks, and the societal impact of next-generation computing and sensing systems. By integrating legal analysis with scientific innovation, scholars help shape policies that guide responsible development and equitable access to transformative technologies.
• Ethical, legal, social, and policy implementation research areas also intersect with social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences where scholars investigate how legal and policy structures influence human development, community resilience, and responses to challenges such as addiction and recovery, chronic loneliness, and disaster preparedness. Moreover, UNL researchers contribute to understanding the ethical, legal, and policy implications impacting advances in AI; communication technology; and the media, political economy, and democratic infrastructure.
• As transportation, robotics and autonomous technologies reshape transportation and labor markets, social science faculty explore issues of privacy, safety, liability, and workforce transitions. Their research informs inclusive policies and design standards that promote trust and accessibility in emerging systems.

Through interdisciplinary collaboration and commitment to public impact, UNL ensures that scientific and technological progress is guided by thoughtful, inclusive, and responsible frameworks. As a cross-cutting domain, research on ethical, social, legal, and policy implications is vital to ensuring UNL research is scientifically rigorous and socially responsible, equitable, and aligns with the public good. 

UNL recognizes high performance computing as a strategic, cross-cutting area of research distinction that provides the scalable networking, low-latency data transfer, and distributed systems necessary for transformative, data-intensive science.

• In agriculture and bioindustry, Nebraska researchers employ high performance computing to analyze large-scale genomic, environmental, and phenotypic datasets that drive precision agriculture, enhance crop and livestock productivity, and improve food system resilience. Agriculture and bioindustry researchers integrate real-time sensor networks, edge-to-cloud workflows, and high-throughput genomics pipelines to deliver rapid decision support for precision farming and pathogen surveillance.
• In the study of basic mechanisms of disease, high performance computing empowers computational biology, bioinformatics, and molecular modeling, facilitating breakthroughs in drug discovery, disease prediction, and personalized medicine.
• Pertinent to creative engagement and cultural heritage, high performance computing enables large-scale text analysis, digital preservation, exploration of linguistic corpora, and computational modeling of cultural artifacts, supporting interdisciplinary collaborations that deepen understanding of language, history, and creative expression. These collaborations between humanists, artists, and computer scientists leverage these capabilities to preserve cultural heritage, enhance digital scholarship, and expand creative inquiry, amplifying the impact and accessibility of humanistic research.
• In material sciences and energy, high performance computing supports predictive modeling, high-throughput simulations, in situ analytics, high-fidelity experimental steaming, and data-intensive workflows that accelerate the design of advanced materials, renewable energy technologies, and energy-efficient systems.
• In social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences, high performance computing advances large-scale data analytics, simulations, agent-based modeling, computational analysis of longitudinal multimodal datasets, and secure data sharing. These advances strengthen behavioral and educational research and inform policy and community interventions.
• In transportation, infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous technologies, high performance computing enables real-time computation, modeling, and communication essential for autonomous vehicles, sensor networks, and intelligent infrastructure systems. High performance computing provides deterministic networking, resilient distributed communication, and low-latency sensor fusion critical for coordinated multi-agent control, safe autonomous deployment, and vehicle-to-infrastructure systems.

Together, these efforts demonstrate how high performance computing fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, integrates computational and domain expertise, and positions UNL as a national leader in leveraging advanced computing to address complex challenges of regional, national, and global significance. 

UNL recognizes STEM learning and discipline-based education research as a strategic, cross-cutting area of research distinction that advances evidence-based teaching, learning analytics, curricular innovation, and equitable STEM pathways to strengthen discovery and workforce capacity through the classroom and infrastructure, including the University of Nebraska State Museum and living laboratories spread across the state.

• In agriculture and bioindustry, researchers advance experiential and data-driven learning that prepares students to apply biological, environmental, and computational knowledge to sustainable food and agricultural systems. Nebraska investigators design and evaluate experiential curricula, workforce-development programs, and industry-university partnerships that prepare students for careers in bioindustry and agriculture by embedding precision-agriculture training, agricultural technology internships, and translational research apprenticeships into undergraduate and graduate programs.
• In studies of basic mechanisms of disease, integrated pedagogies, cross-training initiatives, and collaborative lab rotations cultivate interdisciplinary fluency in molecular and biomedical methods, computational biology, and translational research practices that accelerate capacity and enhance understanding and engagement in the health sciences.
• Within creative engagement and cultural heritage, STEM learning and discipline-based education research supports digital humanities integration, experiential learning, and collaborative curriculum design that deepen critical thinking, cultural analysis, and creative expression. These efforts foster interdisciplinary engagement; expand access to humanities scholarship; connect humanistic inquiry with scientific, technological, and societal innovation; and enhance the societal relevance and impact of arts and humanities education.
• In material sciences and energy, scholars collaborate with scientists and engineers to design inquiry-based curricula and authentic research experiences that strengthen conceptual understanding and technical competencies essential for innovation in clean energy and materials design. Researchers create active-learning modules, laboratory-based pedagogy, and experiential learning opportunities that build student mastery of simulation, materials characterization, and sustainable energy technologies.
• In social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences, rigorous program evaluation, culturally responsive curriculum theory and design, longitudinal learning analytics, cognitive psychology, education psychology, thinking paradigms, and curated collections and institutional data repositories improve outcomes for diverse learners and generate evidence for policy and intervention scale-up.
• In transportation, infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous technologies, discipline-based education research informs project-based learning, safety-centered human-robot interaction training, ethical decision-making, and competency frameworks that produce engineers and technologists prepared for real-world deployment, systems integration, and automation and infrastructure challenges.

Collectively, these efforts in STEM learning and discipline-based education research foster scholarly collaboration, integrate discovery and education, and position UNL as a national leader in preparing a diverse, innovative STEM workforce equipped to address complex global challenges.