Today, University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval announced the inaugural group of award recipients for the new President’s Award for Research, Innovation and Scholarly Impact program. Thirteen faculty members were awarded about $700,000 in research funding.

“This program represents a unique investment in pivotal research, scholarship and creative activities that have the potential to transform our campus and our understanding of the world around us,” Sandoval said. “The bold visions set forth by these awarded projects reflect the intellectual and creative ingenuity that defines our University, and I am confident their work will yield discoveries and insights with lasting impact for Nevada and beyond.”

The 13 awardees were chosen from a pool of 82 proposals, a remarkable response that speaks to the depth and breadth of research and scholarly excellence across the campus. Proposals underwent a rigorous, two-step review process with representation from across campus, including the Faculty Senate and Staff Employees’ Council. Each proposal reflected significant effort, thought and commitment to professional, intellectual and scholarly advancement within the respective fields. The President remarked that he is very grateful to every applicant for sharing the vision and rigor of their work. 

The President’s Award for Research, Innovation and Scholarly Impact was established to invest in bold ideas with the potential for sustained impact, future extramural support or broader institutional adoption as the University continues to make a transformational impact on the world. 

The 2026 President’s Award recipients are as follows.

Convergence Awards

Convergence Awards support multidisciplinary teams of investigators from distinct disciplinary areas pursuing high-impact research or creative activity addressing nationally significant challenges or strategically important opportunities for Nevada. Convergence projects are positioned to compete for major federal, foundation or multi-institutional funding and to establish the University of Nevada, Reno as a recognized leader in emerging areas of research and innovation of national importance.

Sesh Commuri, College of Engineering, Electrical and Biomedical Engineering

Project: AI-Enabled Colposcopy: Improving Diagnostic Precision for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

Ankita Shukla, College of Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering

Project: AI-Piloted Critical Mineral Recovery from Spent Batteries via Molten-Salt Electroreduction

Catalyst Awards

These awards support projects that require targeted investments to move promising ideas from concept to implementation. Funded projects demonstrate how a time-limited, presidential investment enable meaningful advancement in instructional practice, scholarly or creative activity, or community-engaged work. These awards are intended to generate preliminary results, establish new collaborations, or position projects for competitive external funding.

Emily Berthelot, College of Liberal Arts, Criminal Justice

Project: Measuring Fear of Institutional Authority: Development and Validation of Micro-Level Scales of Fear of Police and Immigration Enforcement

Heather Burkin, School of Medicine, Pharmacology

Project: Bio-printed Models of the Human Preterm Laboring Uterus

Lyndsey Darrow, School of Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health

Project: Physiological Response to Heat and Wildfire Smoke in Pregnancy

Edward Ester, College of Science, Psychology

Project: Causal Neurostimulation of Cortical Traveling Waves: TMS Pilot Data and Capacity Building at the University of Nevada

Dylan Kosma, CABNR, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Project: Buzzed Seeds: Wolf Pack-Branded Wildland Restoration Seed Mix for Pollinators

Russ Renzas, College of Engineering, Electrical and Biomedical Engineering

Project: Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing Education & Workforce Development

Timur Tscherbul, College of Science, Physics

Project: Catalyzing Quantum Information Science at UNR: Benchmarking Next-Generation Architectures for Chemical Reaction Dynamics

Sergey Varganov, College of Science, Chemistry

Project: Modeling Electron Spin Dynamics for Quantum Information Science Using Agentic AI

Bijun Wang, College of Engineering, Chemical and Materials Engineering

Project: Streamsync: Multimodal Home Uroflowmetry and Wearable Monitoring for Phenotyping Voiding Etiology in Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Yu Yang, College of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project: Wildfire-Catalyzed Polymerization Reactions: A Hidden (“Dark”) Impact of Fire

Kim Gross , Athletics

Project: Student-Athlete Services Peer Academic Mentorship Program for Student-Athletes: Enhancing Academic Success and Campus Integration 

“Congratulations to all the recipients who demonstrate the tremendous excellence that is the work of the people of our University,” Sandoval said. “The statewide, national and worldwide competitiveness that is demonstrated on our campus by our faculty and staff has made this an era of incredible societal impact and well-deserved recognition.”

Applications for the President’s Award for Research, Innovation and Scholarly Impact will be accepted again next spring. More information will be sent to faculty and staff during the spring semester. 

Questions regarding the President’s Award should be directed to Carrie Bushá, Director of Research Development in Research & Innovation, at researchdevelopment@unr.edu. Find out more about the President’s Award, including criteria and application requirements on the Research & Innovation webpage.