Find a UCARE Opportunity

Artificial Intelligence Applications for Emerging Transportation Technologies

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Faculty Advisor
Wissam Kontar
Contact Email wkontar2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Engineering
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Sciences, Industrial/Human Factors Engineering

Position Description:

Automated Vehicle Driving Simulation Platform Development

Civil & Environmental Engineering
Faculty Advisor
Li Zhao
Contact Email lizhao@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Engineering
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend (Summer Only!)
Hours Per Week
20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
School of Computing

Opportunity Description:
This is a hands-on project focused on developing a co-simulation platform for automated vehicle driving. The platform will be built using CARLA and other traffic simulation software. Strong Python coding skills are preferred, but graduate students will be available to work with you and provide assistance if issues arise. We will also use machine learning and AI for sensor data analysis.

Faculty Advisor Mentoring Philosophy:

Coaching Parents of Autistic Children from Underserved Backgrounds to Promote Communication

Special Education and Communication Disorders
Faculty Advisor
Birdie Ganz
Contact Email jganz3@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Education & Human Sciences
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Special education, early childhood education, elementary education, psychology, communication disorders
Position Description

The project's purpose is to develop and evaluate a culturally sensitive model for coaching caregivers in strategies to improve the communication of their preschool and elementary-aged children with autism/intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who require the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in natural contexts.

Development of a deep learning model for predicting crack propagation in rocks

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Faculty Advisor
Yumeng Zhao
Contact Email yzhao52@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Engineering
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Computer science/engineering, computational biology/bioinfo, data science, electrical/civil/mechanical engineering
Opportunity Description:

This undergraduate research position focuses on developing data-driven models to predict crack initiation and propagation in geomaterials. The motivation stems from the need to better understand and forecast rock failure processes in energy and hazard applications such as geothermal development, hydrogen storage, and landslide prevention. Ground-truth data will be provided obtained from physical simulations.

Digital Legal Research Lab

History
Faculty Advisor
Katrina Jagodinsky
Contact Email kjagodinsky@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Arts and Sciences
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Pre-Law, ENGL, HIST, IES, MODL, POLI, SOCI, WGS

Opportunity Description

Discovering Novel Drugs and Tools for Food Security, Animal and Human Health

Entomology
Faculty Advisor
Georgina V Bingham
Contact Email gbingham@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Paid by Faculty Funding
Paid Rate
$15.00/hour (Faculty Funding)
Hours Per Week
10-20 (UCARE); 3-10 (Faculty Funding)
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!

Opportunity Description

Dissecting cellular pathways in plant immunity

Plant Pathology
Faculty Advisor
Clemencia Rojas
Contact Email crojas2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Volunteer
Hours Per Week
10
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!
Opportunity Description:

Plants respond to pathogens by activating a plant defense system that has some commonalities to humans' immune system. We are advancing the characterization of plant immunity by using a model plant named Arabidopsis thaliana. We have generated genetically engineered plants that express fluorescent proteins that move inside the cell to deploy defense responses.

Dissecting plant cellular processes participating in defense responses against pathogens

Plant Pathology
Faculty Advisor
Clemencia Rojas
Contact Email crojas2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Volunteer
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!
Opportunity Description:

Plants detect potential pathogens and are able to deploy defense responses. Those defense responses include multiple strategies at the cell and molecular level. We use the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to dissect these processes, and we genetically engineer plants that have proteins of interest label with fluorescent markers to be visualized by fluorescent microscopy techniques.

Early-Life Programming of Male Fertility

School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Amy Desaulniers
Contact Email desaulniers@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!
Position Description

Approximately 48.5 million couples worldwide experience infertility, and reproductive failure is a major challenge in livestock production. Our research group studies how conditions before and shortly after birth can shape the male reproductive system for life. This process is called developmental programming, which means that during early-life exposures (such as heat stress, bioactive compounds, or chemicals) can permanently change how organs develop and therefore function in adulthood.

Effectiveness of prescribed fire in oak woodland restoration in Nebraska

School of Biological Sciences
Faculty Advisor
Sabrina E. Russo
Contact Email srusso2@nebraska.edu
Advisor College:
Arts and Sciences
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend (Summer Only)
Hours Per Week
20
Position Description

This project has the potential to be a team-based UCARE project. The goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed fire management for oak woodland restoration in Nebraska. Oak woodlands are fire-dependent ecosystems that were once common in the Great Plains. Decades of land use change and fire suppression have made oak woodlands a threatened ecosystem in Nebraska. Prescribed fire is being used to restore oak woodlands, but its effectiveness has not been evaluated quantitatively.

Effects of Integrated Instruction in Writing Meaningful Word Problems

Special Education and Communication Disorders
Faculty Advisor
Pamela Bazis & Jing Wang
Contact Email pbazis2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Education & Human Sciences
Additional Faculty jwang99@unl.edu
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes
Start Date
Start Date
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Funding
Hours Per Week
10
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any Education majors, Psychology, Early Childhood, Math Majors

We are looking for undergraduate students to join our team contribution to the project titled, Effects of Integrated Instruction in Writing Meaningful Word Problems. Specifically, we are looking for a student interested in learning more about intervention design and effective instruction for math and writing for elementary students. The student will gain experiences in conducting math and writing assessments, scoring and analyzing student samples, and conducting related literature reviews.  

Gender, Race, and Judges in the U.S.

Political Science and Ethnic Studies
Faculty Advisor
Alice Kang
Contact Email akang2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Arts and Sciences
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Open to any major

Opportunity Description:

Health Outcomes and Water

School of Natural Resources
Faculty Advisor
Martha Rhoades
Contact Email mrhoades1@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Paid by Faculty Funding
Paid Rate
$15.00/hour (Faculty Funding)
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
If something about our program sounds interesting, we have a place for you, regardless of major.

Opportunity Description

Human-machine interaction in Automated Driving Systems

Civil & Environmental Engineering
Faculty Advisor
Li Zhao
Contact Email lizhao@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Engineering
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Civil Engineering, Psychology, Computer Science

Opportunity Description:
This research position involves conducting literature reviews to develop human-machine interaction strategies for automated driving systems. The project will also include the development of a simulator platform that integrates an interface for shared control between human drivers and automation systems. Driver cognitive states and biomarkers (such as heart rate, skin conductance, and gaze) will be measured to analyze driver behavior and mental activities.

Faculty Advisor Mentoring Philosophy:

Identifying antimicrobial molecules produced by environmental bacteria

Plant Pathology
Faculty Advisor
Clemencia Rojas
Contact Email crojas2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Volunteer
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!
Opportunity Description:

Environmental bacteria produce antimicrobial molecules to compete with other microorganisms in the environment. We identified an environmental bacterium that has antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogens causing diseases in numerous plants. This project focuses on identifying antimicrobial molecules produced by the environmental bacterium Pseudomonas protegens PBL3 that suppress plant bacterial pathogens.

Modifications of Two ESCRT-I Subunits with Distinct Ubiquitin Chains Regulate Plant Immunity

Plant Pathology and Center for Plant Science Innovations
Faculty Advisor
Lirong Zeng
Contact Email lzeng3@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Start Date
Start Date
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by Faculty Funding
Paid Rate
$13.5/hour
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
MBIO, Biochemistry, Agronomy & Horticulture, Plant Biology, Biology-related

Undergraduate Research Assistant Opportunity: Investigating the Molecular Basis Underlying Regulation of Plant Immunity by Ubiquitination

Our laboratory is currently seeking a highly motivated junior or senior undergraduate student to join our research project focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms governing plant immunity. This project involves study of targeting components of the plant endosomal sorting complex required for transportation (ESCRT)-I by ubiquitination to better understand their role in regulating plant defense against bacterial infection.

Nebraska Stories of Humanity, Holocaust Survivors and WWII Veterans, Network Portal and Educational Website

Harris Center for Judaic Studies and Digital Humanities
Faculty Advisor
Beth Dotan
Contact Email dotan2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Arts and Sciences
Additional Faculty Ari Kohen
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
History, Political Science, Education, Psychology

Opportunity Description
This research position is part of a team that gathers materials on Nebraska Holocaust survivors and US Servicemen who liberated Nazi camps during WWII. This position requires work at the computer - research, training in the technology programs required with minor coding (no prior experience required), learning to transcribe content, listening to testimony, scanning, and some writing. We look for students with a passion to know more history and contribute to this education web portal.

Facutly Advisor Mentoring Philosophy

Orchestrating sustainability goals in transnational mega infrastructure projects

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Yunping Liang
Contact Email yliang17@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Engineering
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Position Description

Transnational mega infrastructure, such as the Gordie Howe Bridge between the U.S. and Canada, serves far more than functional roles. These projects shape local, regional, and national economies, environments, and societies. Because of these wide-ranging impacts, researchers have increasingly examined how the transportation sector aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including how the goals appear in standards and rating systems across jurisdictions. However, little work shows how SDGs actually materialize within a specific project.

Rheology of irregular-shaped granular materials

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Faculty Advisor
Yumeng Zhao
Contact Email yzhao52@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Engineering
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Civil/mechanical Engineering
Opportunity Description:

Granular materials are ubiquitous in both natural and engineered systems and they play critical roles in energy production and hazard mitigation. The efficient storage, transport, and mechanical processing of irregular particles, such as ground corn stalks, are essential for bioenergy utilization but are often hindered by complex flow behavior. Similarly, natural hazards like landslides and debris flows involve irregular grains whose interlocking and frictional characteristics govern large-scale mobility.

Secrets of Photosynthesis!

Biochemistry
Faculty Advisor
Rebecca Roston
Contact Email rroston@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Arts and Sciences
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Biochemistry, Plant Biology, or related majors

Opportunity Description
Are you passionate about plants or curious about the mysteries of the chloroplast? We're seeking talented undergraduate students to join our research team and explore the mechanisms behind lipid transport within the photosynthetic thylakoid membranes.

Unraveling the secrets of photosynthesis: Our research focuses on understanding how lipids are transported within the chloroplast to support the assembly and repair of thylakoid membranes.

Student Research Scientist in the Nebraska Evaluation and Research Center

Educational Psychology
Faculty Advisor
Dr. James Bovaird
Contact Email jbovaird2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Education & Human Sciences
Additional Faculty jwheeler21@unl.edu, caron.clark@unl.edu
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes
Start Date
Start Date
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Funding
Hours Per Week
20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Psychology, sociology, education, exercise science, nutrition, biology, pre-medicine, nursing, or related fields.

Do you like to work with statistics? How about designing research studies to answer important questions? Would you like to learn best practices in developing data collection tools like surveys, questionnaires, or tests? Better yet, are you curious about how statistical tools, different research designs, and fair measurement practices allow social, behavioral, and educational researchers to inform policy and practice?

Targeted Gut Microbiome Modulation with Dietary Fibers

Food Science and Technology Department
Faculty Advisor
Edward Deehan
Contact Email edeehan2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Nutrition, Food Science, and Related Fields

Opportunity Description:
Our laboratory is currently seeking highly motivated undergraduate students to join the Deehan Lab. Undergraduate research assistants will contribute to ongoing research projects that are focused on the development and application of dietary interventions rich in dietary fibers for the manipulation of gut microbiota in humans. Moreover, students will contribute to an ongoing research project that aims to develop a Nebraska bio-bank of human microbiomes to facilitate future microbiome research at the University of Nebraska.

Targeted Gut Microbiome Modulation with Dietary Fibers

Food Science and Technology Department
Faculty Advisor
Edward Deehan
Contact Email edeehan2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Nutrition, Food Science, and Related Fields

Opportunity Description:
Our laboratory is currently seeking highly motivated undergraduate students to join the Deehan Lab. Undergraduate research assistants will contribute to ongoing research projects that are focused on the development and application of dietary interventions rich in dietary fibers for the manipulation of gut microbiota in humans. Moreover, students will contribute to an ongoing research project that aims to develop a Nebraska bio-bank of human microbiomes to facilitate future microbiome research at the University of Nebraska.

The Dreher Report Podcast

English
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Kwakiutl L. Dreher
Contact Email kdreher2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Arts and Sciences
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
All College of Journalism

Position Description:

Un-Endangering Nebraska // Wild Times Environmental Education Publication

School of Art, Art History & Design
Faculty Advisor
Stacy Asher
Contact Email stacyasher@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Hixon-Lied College of Fine & Performing Arts
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Graphic Design, Illustration

Opportunity Description:

Understanding how environmental bacteria fight pathogens

Plant Pathology
Faculty Advisor
Clemencia Rojas
Contact Email crojas2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Volunteer
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!
Opportunity Description:

This project investigates how molecules produced by a beneficial bacterium influences the virulence and gene expression profile of the rice pathogen Burkholderia glumae. The student will help establish a protocol to enrich bacterial cells from infected rice panicles and perform RNA extraction from both in planta samples and in vitro bacterial cultures treated with the secretome.

Understanding plant responses to salt stress

Plant Pathology
Faculty Advisor
Clemencia Rojas
Contact Email crojas2@unl.edu
Advisor College:
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Potential UCARE Research Position?
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
Paid or Volunteer
Paid or Volunteer
Paid by UCARE Stipend or Volunteer
Hours Per Week
10-20
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors
Any!
Opportunity Description:

Salt stress significantly impacts plant productivity. To understand the processes that plants use to cope with this type of stress, we are using the model plant Arabiodpsis thaliana. The student will evaluate seed germination, root growth under in vitro conditions, chlorophyll levels, ROS accumulation, and expression of stress-related genes by real-time PCR, as well as monitor flowering and senescence.