Three teams take flight with RIO New Frontiers planning grants
The Research & Innovation Office (RIO) and New Frontiers Grant partners鈥攖he College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences, and the School of Education鈥攁nnounced鈥痯lanning grant winners鈥痠n the鈥New Frontiers Grant Program, a novel initiative designed to foster new, interdisciplinary research directions for CU Boulder.听
The three selected projects seek to better understand and address some of society鈥檚 most pressing challenges by sparking the formation of diverse teams of research leaders and perspectives from colleges, departments and research institutes spanning the campus.听
听听Each of these three interdisciplinary planning grant winners is exploring possibilities that push boundaries in their respective fields and represent significant potential for benefiting the public.鈥澨
鈥Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes
These New Frontiers Planning Phase Awards provide grants of $50,000 to each recipient.鈥听
The teams were chosen through a competitive process that included eight in-person pitches, all by teams aiming to address important societal problems through broad, interdisciplinary approaches. Developing new research strengths for CU Boulder, the program embodies interdisciplinarity by requiring teams to include two different colleges or schools and at least one institute.听
鈥淲ith last year鈥檚 cycle already producing exciting results, we are eager to see where these new projects take us as they further develop their approaches,鈥 said Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes. 鈥淓ach of these three interdisciplinary planning grant winners is exploring possibilities that push boundaries in their respective fields and represent significant potential for benefiting the public.鈥澨
听听Selected projects
New Frontiers in the Renewable Energy Transition: Mapping Technological and Social Dimensions of Geothermal Development in Colorado
- PIs:鈥疊ri-Mathias Hodge鈥擠epartment of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI); Shae Frydenlund鈥擟enter for Asian Studies
- Team includes:鈥疌omputer & Energy Engineering; Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI); Center for Asian Studies
- Project overview:鈥疓eothermal energy is an underutilized resource that could play a significant role in Colorado鈥檚 energy future. Despite abundant resource potential, there are significant, yet poorly understood, technological and social barriers to increased deployment. This project brings together CU Boulder researchers to build an interdisciplinary team capable of making the university a geothermal leader. This project proposes an innovative interdisciplinary methodology melding the engineering, physical, and social sciences in preparation for proposals opportunities such as NSF Engineering Research Centers and Global Centers.
Seamless Skin Integration of Brain/Body-Computer Interfaces for Cybernetic Human Advancement
- PIs:鈥疌arson Bruns鈥擜TLAS, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering; Grace Leslie鈥擜TLAS, College of Music, Institute for Cognitive Science (ICS)
- Team includes:鈥疉TLAS; Biomedical Engineering; Institute for Cognitive Science (ICS); Materials Science; Mechanical Engineering; College of Music
- Project overview:鈥疘ntegrating technology with the human body provides transformative opportunities to overcome natural limitations, unlock new realms of cognitive and physical potential, and enhance wellness. However, limitations on performance, safety, convenience, size/weight and cost make these systems inaccessible and under-utilized for the public. For techno-biological interfaces to reach full potential to enhance the human condition for all, major transdisciplinary advances are needed to make brain/body-computer interfaces seamless, comfortable, long-lasting, affordable, safe and ethical.听
New Frontiers in Physically-Grounded Geospatial AI for Understanding Complex Global Phenomena with Multi-Modal Data
- PIs:鈥疎sther Rolf鈥擟omputer Science; R. Steven Nerem鈥擜erospace Engineering, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES); Morteza Karimzadeh鈥擥eography, Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS)
- Team includes:鈥疉erospace Engineering; Computer Science; Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES); Geography; Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS)
- Project overview:鈥疎arth landscapes and phenomena are highly complex, making them challenging to model through physical models and data-driven approaches, which often fail to capture the complexity revealed by observations. Meanwhile, a new generation of geospatial foundation models powered by AI can identify complex patterns across vast earth observations but generally lack the integration of physical processes necessary to make them accurate and trustworthy for the sciences. This project aims to transform the representational capabilities of Geospatial AI for the physical sciences.听
What鈥檚 next?
The awarded teams will use the next year to further develop their projects, build their teams and conduct preliminary data collection to inform their efforts. Like the 2024 Planning Phase Grantees, teams will then compete for the single Launch Phase Grant of $200,000, which will be awarded in June 2026.鈥
A second round of the competition will solicit new ideas starting in January 2026.听