The University Research Council (URC) Faculty Scholars Research Awards Program builds on the legacy of the University Research Council (URC), which is the university’s oldest and most prestigious internal funding program. It recognizes promising early-career individual faculty at UC who are proposing transformative, future-shaping ideas that are either discipline-focused or interdisciplinary in nature.

Congratulations to the following awardees!

Congratulations to the 2025 URC Faculty Scholars Research Awards Program Awardees!

Emily J Braun

Communication Sciences & Disorders

College of Allied Health Sciences

Personalization of Phonological Treatment for Word Retrieval Impairment in Individuals with Post-Stroke Aphasia

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder most commonly caused by stroke. Aphasia has a significant negative impact on communication and participation in previous meaningful life activities. The purpose of this work is to refine aphasia therapy in the service of improved functional communication outcomes for these individuals.

Andre Curtis-Trudel

Philosophy

College of Arts & Sciences

The AI Revolution in Science: Trust, Risk, and Opportunities

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a revolutionary technology, and it is playing an increasingly important role in scientific knowledge production. This project will outline some of the key challenges associated with uses of AI in future science and it will identify best practices when using AI for scientific innovation.

Dinc Erdeniz

Mechanical and Materials Engineering

College of Engineering & Applied Science

Effect of Solid-Solution Channel Size on the Creep Resistance of Eutectic Alloys

My research focuses on developing aluminum alloys that maintain their strength and stability at high temperatures, making them more durable for industrial applications. These advanced materials could improve performance in transportation, aerospace, and energy systems, leading to longer-lasting components, lower maintenance costs, and increased energy efficiency.

Tianyu Jiang

Computer Science

College of Engineering & Applied Science

Evaluation Framework for Implicit Language Understanding

This research will enhance the safety and reliability of AI systems by ensuring they correctly understand human communication with all its nuances and implicit meanings. By developing better evaluation methods for language models, the project will help prevent potentially harmful misunderstandings in AI-powered tools used in critical sectors like healthcare, education, and emergency services.

John Martin

Biomedical Engineering

College of Engineering & Applied Science

Development of a non-surgical therapy for the targeted dissolution of bone spurs

Bone spurs affect millions of adults each year and can be debilitating in afflicted patients. For severe cases where the spurs are inhibiting normal function or causing incapacitating pain, removing the pathologic bone via surgery is the only treatment strategy available. Developing simpler and less-invasive treatments for these pathologies has the potential to dramatically improve patient quality of life by decreasing post-operative pain, shortening or eliminating hospital stays, and improving a patient’s movement in the affected area.

Sarah Schwab-Farrell

Rehabilitation, Exercise, & Nutrition Sciences

College of Allied Health Sciences

Collaborative Design and Production of Stroke Motor Control Research Studies

Every 3 seconds, someone worldwide has a stroke. Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, and there is a need to produce high quality research that addresses the unique needs of people post-stroke. This project seeks to specifically address the motor control needs (e.g., walking, balance) of people post-stroke in a way that meaningfully involves people with stroke in all aspects of the research process such that future research is more relevant, beneficial, and authentic to people with the lived experience of stroke.

Kristy Swift

Composition, Musicology, and Theory

College-Conservatory of Music

Thinking About Music History: Textbooks and the Canon

A URC Faculty Scholars Research Award will support completing my monograph, Thinking About Music History: Textbooks and the Canon, which provides a new critical framework for thinking about the socio-cultural and historical impacts of textbooks. Based largely on newly discovered archived sources, my monograph reveals a multiplicity of voices and processes used in the creation of specifically music history textbooks. I demonstrate how these books have educated generations of musicians throughout North America and have transformed the study of music into transdisciplinary fields.

Tianren Wu

Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management

College of Engineering & Applied Science

Indoor Nanoaerosol Formation from Ozone Reactions with Human Skin Oils

Insights from this research will raise public awareness about the significant role occupants play as a source of indoor air pollution and provide valuable information to promote indoor health and well-being. The findings will catalyze new approaches to indoor air quality management, inform regulatory policies, and improve ventilation strategies and public health guidelines.