The 2020 Research & Innovation Seed Grant Competition resulted in 25 new grants for a total of over $1.1M being awarded to CU Boulder faculty across disciplines.

2020 Funded Projects

PI Name PI Department Review Category Project Title
Mirela Alistar Computer Science, ATLAS Institute Engineering & Applied Sciences  Phago Tag My World: A Platform to Capture and Analyze the Bacteriophages Around Us
Angela Bielefeldt Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering Engineering & Applied Sciences Building STEM Identity Among Undergraduate Student Mentors
Justin Brumbaugh Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) Biomedical Sciences Discovering Epigenetic Mechanisms that Direct Intestinal Cell Identity
Gang Cao Physics Basic Physical Sciences Field-Editing Technology for Quantum Materials Synthesis: Development of a High-Magnetic-Field Laser Instrument
Yifu Ding Mechanical Engineering Engineering & Applied Sciences Artificial Snakeskin via Solid Liquid Interfacial Polymerization (SLIP) Process
Virginia Ferguson Mechanical Engineering Engineering & Applied Sciences Establishing a New Paradigm: Mechanical Damage and Inflammation Combine to Cause Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Gerardo Gutierrez Anthropology Social Sciences & Professional Schools A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Maya Blue Pigment through Material Science, Archaeology, and Art History: Revisiting the Invention and Technological Development of the First Synthetic Organic-Inorganic Nanomaterial of the New World
Michael Hermele Physics Basic Physical Sciences Mathematical Physics of Quantum Matter
Shu-Wei Huang Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering Engineering & Applied Sciences Novel Optical Magnetometer for Room-Temperature Magnetoencephalography
Mahmoud Hussein Aerospace Engineering Sciences Engineering & Applied Sciences Resonant Inclusions:  A New Paradigm in Thermoelectricity
Sarah James Classics Arts & Humanities The Brač Island Project
Christina Lacerenza Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics Social Sciences & Professional Schools Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in STEM: A Multi-Study Effort Examining the Effects of Intrateam Role Segregation on Team Effectiveness and Career Outcomes of Underrepresented Students in Engineering
Mark Meany Leeds School of Business Grand Challenge Space and Sustainability: Norms of Behavior for the Sustainable Development of Commercial Space Activities
Daniel Medeiros Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Biomedical Sciences A Functional Genomics Approach to Understanding the Evolution of “Endless Forms”
Will Medlin Chemical & Biological Engineering Engineering & Applied Sciences An Interdisciplinary Approach to Recycle Polyolefins
Corey Neu Mechanical Engineering Biomedical Sciences 3D Printed and Layered Tissue for Articular Cartilage Engineering
Orit Peleg Computer Science Engineering & Applied Sciences Bee-Honeycomb Formation under Geometric Frustration
Markus Raschke Physics Basic Physical Sciences “Thinning to Nothing” – Control of Decoherence from Microscale to Molecular Quantum Opto-Mechanics by Atomic Layer Etching
Sandra Ristovska Media Studies Social Sciences & Professional Schools The Law Through the Lens
Karl Rittger INSTAAR Geological & Environmental Sciences Soil Development and Carbon Cycling’s Relation to Snow Persistence
David Root Psychology & Neuroscience Biomedical Sciences Imaging Synaptic Neurochemical Dynamics Underlying Stress
Sean Shaheen Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering Engineering & Applied Sciences Organic Reservoir Computing: A Joint Theory-Experiment Study
Yaffa Truelove Geography Social Sciences & Professional Schools Adapting to the ‘Waterless’ City: The Production of Extreme Water Scarcity and Gender, Class, and Ethno-Religious Inequalities in Shimla, India
Carrie Wall Bell Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Geological & Environmental Sciences Finding Little Fish in Big Data: Automated Pattern Analysis and Anomaly Detection in the Fisheries Acoustic Archive
Ajume Wingo Philosophy Arts & Humanities A Virtual Reality Programming Language Based on African Philosophy