Twenty-one projects representing colleges across UCF and several centers were selected for 2024-25 Seed Funding awards. This is the fourth year the program has been available to faculty and aims to support new, innovative research or creative activity projects that are sustainable through external funding.
The program, a result of a collaboration between the Office of Research and the Office of the Provost, is directed at promoting competitiveness in attracting external funding and enhancing visibility and recognition of UCF.
Recognizing that various projects and disciplines can require different levels of seed funding to have impact, a total of $500,000 was awarded between two award categories: Tier-1 (T1) and Tier-2 (T2). T1 awards support single or multi-investigator research and T2 awards support multi-investigator led research.
Tier-1 Awards (T1)
More than 35 applications were received for T1 awards, and a total of 13 were selected. The recipients include the following:
Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hawkins
College of Community Innovation and Education
The Effectiveness of Mandated Inter-regional Collaboration on Ending Homelessness
Beth Rapp Young and Brook Miller
College of Arts and Humanities
Noah Webster’s Dictionary Online
Chen Chen
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Developing a Multimodal Foundation Model for Breast Cancer Prediction
David Mohaisen
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Towards AI-based Software Vulnerability Detection and Repair
Eduardo Mucciolo and Volodymyr Turkowski
College of Sciences
Quantum-computing-assisted Density Functional Theory
Estela Del Mar Fernandez Valenzuela
Florida Space Institute
Rapid-Defender: A New Polarimeter for Planetary defense
Jayan Thomas
NanoScience Technology Center
Weightless Batteries for Exoskeletons
Jessica Robkin and Lori Walters
College of Arts and Humanities, Institute for Simulation and Training
Safeguarding Heritage in a Changing World: Scalable 3D Technologies for Preservation
L. Colby Mangum and Laura Brattain
College of Health Professions and Sciences, College of Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Institute for Simulation and Training
Automation of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (AUTONOMOUS) Imaging in Patients with and without a History of Low Back Pain
Qianxia Jiang
College of Health Professions and Sciences
Dog-Facilitated Physical Activity: A Culturally Tailored mHealth [Mobile Health] Intervention to Promote Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behavior Among Hispanic/Latinx Families with Children
Sarah Freidline
College of Sciences
Integrative 3D Modeling and CT Analysis of Facial Growth in Fossil Humans
Yanga Fernandez
College of Sciences
You Used to Wear Your Hairy Stars Differently: New Comet Science from Old Comet Data
Yannick Salamin
College of Optics and Photonics
Quantum Entanglement in Frequency Combs for Next-generation Spectroscopy
Tier-2 Awards (T2)
More than 50 applications received for T2 awards, and a total of 8 were selected. The recipients include the following:
Andrea Blanco-Redondo, Rodrigo Amezcua Correa and Darren Hudson
College of Optics and Photonics
Sources of Quantum Light in Hollow-Core Fibers
Karin Chumbimuni-Torres, Wencai Zhang and Deborah Penchoff
College of Sciences, College of Medicine
Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Electrochemical Biosensors Towards Early Detection of Lung Cancer
Mehdi Razavi and Melanie Coathup
College of Medicine
Ultrasound-Responsive siRNA Nanobubbles in Simulated Microgravity for In-Space Therapeutic Manufacturing
Nan Hua, Qiushi Fu and Haiyan Bai
Rosen College of Hospitality Management, College of Community Innovation and Education, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Assessing Caregiver Work Movements and Their Impact on Musculoskeletal Health and Well-being in Senior Living Environments
Piotr Kulik and Yongho Sohn
College of Engineering and Computer Science
3DREAM (3D-printing with Recycled rare-Earths and gas-Atomized Magnets)
Stephen Eikenberry, Jaesung Lee, Paola do Vale Pereira, and Eric van Stryland
College of Optics and Photonics, College of Engineering and Computer Science
A Space-based Laser Frequency Comb Gravitational Wave Detector
Woo Hyoung Lee and Yeonwoong Jung
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Novel Multifunctional Nanosensor Platform for On-site PFAS Detection and Degradation of PFAS in Surface Water and Wastewater
Xueqiang Wang and Yao Li
College of Engineering and Computer Science, Institute for Simulation and Training
Developing Experiential Learning of Dark Patterns for Older Adults
