2021 CUSE Grants Fund 79 Projects

Syracuse University’s Office of Research has awarded funds to 79 projects for the fourth round of the annual internal grant program to provide intramural funding for faculty research and scholarly projects. The program is funded through Invest Syracuse.

The Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (CUSE) grant program supports faculty research in all disciplines, including basic, translational and applied sciences; social sciences; physical and life sciences; engineering; liberal arts; humanities; professional schools; and creative arts, as well as various forms of scholarly activities. A total of $1.25 million was awarded for 2021 to projects representing all degree-granting schools and colleges. A full list of recipients is available on the Office of Research website.

CUSE grants are designed to grow the research enterprise, enhance interdisciplinary collaborations, and increase both extramural funding and high-quality scholarly output by Syracuse University faculty. The application and merit review processes emulate the most common practices found in leading external sponsors, with an expectation that CUSE-funded faculty members will seek extramural support for their developed projects.

One recent example is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of more than $575,000 over three years awarded to Davoud Mozhdehi, assistant professor of chemistry. Mozhdehi and co-principal investigator Shikha Nangia, associate professor of biomedical and chemical engineering, will combine experiments, simulations and machine learning to accelerate the discovery and design of new smart nano-biomaterials for biomedical applications. “A CUSE grant supported the collection of some of the preliminary data that made this proposal successful. We were able to present a convincing case that this will be a fruitful approach to designing recombinant nanoparticles with programmable properties such as shape and cell-targeting,” says Mozhdehi

“Professor Mozhdehi’s grant is just one example of how CUSE grants are being leveraged to bring exceptionally competitive external funding to Syracuse University and build academic excellence. In this case, a seed grant investment of under $5,000 provided an exponential return to the University and another prestigious NSF grant in a year where our faculty have already been exceptionally competitive,” says Interim Provost John Liu.

The program funded five types of grants for 2021:

• Seed Grant: Funding is capped at $5,000 per grant. (21 funded)
• Innovative and Interdisciplinary Research Grant: Funding is capped at $30,000 per grant. (35 funded)
• Good to Great Grant: Funding is capped at $30,000 per grant. (8 funded)
• Interdisciplinary Seminar Grant: Funding is capped at $10,000. (2 funded)
• COVID-Relief Grant: Funding is capped at $15,000. (13 funded)

“We hope that the new COVID-Relief category will provide some bridge funding to help faculty whose projects have been slowed by the pandemic achieve their research goals. At the same time, this years’ successful grantees represent a truly broad range of research and scholarship, impressive interdisciplinary collaborations and projects that are sure to enhance Syracuse University’s reputation for innovative research and scholarship,” says Interim Vice President for Research Ramesh Raina.

The CUSE Grant program would not be possible without the dedicated service of University faculty each year as volunteer peer reviewers. This year’s program benefited from the time and expertise of 67 individual peer reviewers who vetted awards across 12 major University units and more than 39 departments, centers and institutes. More than half of the applications received were from assistant professors, reflecting a stated goal of the program to support the research agendas of junior faculty.

For more information on the program, types of grants or the application process, visit the CUSE Grants Program webpage.