Nine Projects Funded in N.C. A&T, University of Minnesota Research Partnerships Phase I Round

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Feb. 6, 2025) – The Research and Innovation Office (RIO) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) has awarded $87,699 to nine projects as part of the UMN Research Partnership, a seed grant program aimed at developing a research partnership between UMN and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University – a leading research institution among America’s historically Black colleges and universities.

Though the RIO had initially planned to fund five projects in this Phase I cycle, additional funding was allocated as an exception this year because of the priority of the program for the office. This allowed for all proposals received to be funded this cycle considering their strong alignment with the objectives and purpose of the program. The Phase I awards, which were up to $10,000 per project, will build relationships between faculty at both institutions and across all research areas, and will include researcher exchanges, seminars, lectures, lab visits and other relevant activities.

“The wide-ranging expertise researchers from our institutions bring to these projects underscores the sentiment that we can tackle complex problems, generate more innovative solutions and produce research with real-world applicability,” said Melissa Hodge-Penn, Ed.D., N.C. A&T interim vice chancellor of Research. “As we continue along the path of exponential growth in ground-breaking research and collaborations, we will make strides in creating solutions that are impactful for our communities.

“This collaboration between North Carolina A&T and the University of Minnesota emphasizes the power of collective effort, highlighting how pooling resources and knowledge across disciplines accelerates progress,” she said. “Through partnerships like these, we can tackle the most pressing challenges facing our society, from healthcare and sustainability to education and technology, ultimately driving meaningful change that benefits everyone.”

“Solving complex grand challenge problems requires research universities like ours to actively seek out collaborators and talent to pursue field leading research,” said Shashank Priya, Ph.D., UMN vice president for Research and Innovation and one of the organizers of the partnership. “That work leads to the development of innovative solutions and trained workforce with hands-on experience on cutting-edge interdisciplinary technologies, for our respective states and the country more broadly.”

The following projects received funding:

• Advancing Leadership and Participation of Underrepresented Adult Learners in STEM: A Collaborative Initiative between UMN and N.C. A&T

• Building Cross-Institutional Black STEM Educational Research and Praxis Solidarities through Mentorship

• Creating a Collaborative Neuroscience System (CNS)

• Do Small Niche Swine Farms Fit in the Future Swine Industry?

• Improving Transportation Equity through Collaborative Development of Transportation Methodologies

• Racial Disparities and Vascular Dysfunction in PTSD

• Scaling Social Determinants of Health from Neighborhoods to the Nation

• UMN – N.C. A&T University Agricultural Research Partnership

• Understanding Associations between Body Image, Dress & Appearance, Gender Roles, and Media Use among LGBTQ+ Black Youth

Another round of Phase I seed grants will be offered in fall 2025 and then move to Phase II in 2026, which will provide higher funding for conducting joint seed projects. Applicants who have completed a successful Phase I effort will be eligible to submit Phase II proposals.

Collectively, the collaborations developed in Phase I and Phase II are expected to build upon their outcomes and approach for additional funding from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and the United States Department of Agriculture, among others.