University of Nebraska - Lincoln
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

The Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (UCARE) program at UNL is a paid opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty research advisor in fields ranging from arts, education, engineering, and humanities to traditional sciences like chemistry, biology, and physics. Research projects vary from studying switchgrass plants grown for biofuel to identifying and cataloging the poems of Walt Whitman, from exploring the effects of background noise on productivity to creating textiles made from corn. Through UCARE, you'll work alongside world-class UNL faculty members conducting cutting-edge research that will shape the future of Nebraska and beyond.

https://ucare.unl.edu/

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln community has identified seven grand challenge thematic areas in which to focus its expertise and resources, as outlined in the N2025 Strategic Plan. Faculty are charged with imagining how their areas of research, scholarship, creative activity and outreach intersect with these challenges and what specific opportunities within these areas they could work across disciplines to help solve. The Chancellor’s Office and the Office of Research and Economic Development have committed $40 million over four years from 2022 to 2025 to invest in strategic, goal-based solutions. Two of the grand challenges are specifically sustainability focused; Climate resilience and Sustainable food and water security. Three additional grand challenges could also be considered for sustainability research; anti-racism and racial equity, health equity, science and technology literacy for society.

https://research.unl.edu/grandchallenges/

The library provides support for sustainability research in 5 areas: consultations with librarians (faculty) on research projects, regularly scheduled workshops and course instruction, research assistance, development of research tools, and collection and preservation of historical information.

Positive outcomes include:
• Faculty and student contributions to the Digital Commons. The UNL Digital Commons, one of the University’s institutional repositories, supports faculty research by providing an easily discoverable depository of research conducted at UNL. The UNL Digital Commons hosts over 100,000 articles, papers, e-books, documents, presentations, creative activities, master’s theses, public-access dissertations, and more. UNL also provides repositories for managing and preserving data and multi-media products of research. The University Libraries are also members of the Digital Preservation Network (DPN), which is committed to long-term preservation of research material.
• Development of research guides for faculty and students that include web-based tutorials for self-paced learning. https://libraries.unl.edu/research
• UNL Libraries support students working in UCARE & McNair programs. Funded in part by gifts from the Pepsi Quasi Endowment and Union Bank & Trust, UCARE supports UNL undergraduates to work one-on-one with faculty research advisers in research or creative activities. UNL's McNair Scholars Program prepares selected undergraduates for graduate study by providing opportunities to define goals, engage in research, and develop the skills and student/faculty mentor relationships critical to success at the doctoral level.