We received 50 proposals requesting $353,000 in funding in the January Flash Funding cycle. Thank you, UVA for your innovative ideas and commitment to further enhance the University!
If you missed January, our February Flash funding proposal form is open. Flash grants are capped at $10,000 and focus on short-term projects or immediate use opportunities, often for student organizations. Proposals must be submitted no later than February 29, with decisions announced on March 15.
For additional information, please visit our Grant Seekers page or contact Amy Bonner at abonner@virginia.edu to discuss your idea and potential funding.
Meghan Puglia, Assistant Professor of Neurology, received a Trust grant for the Transformative Autism Biomarker Research Initiative, studying babies in the NICU to detect early indicators of autism. A few years later, Zack Landsman, Systems Engineering PhD student, received a Trust grant for his work to recycle plastic waste and electronic equipment, creating them into new materials.
Colorful shredded plastic from recycled pipette tips.
Zack and Meghan were previous collaborators on another project, so when UVA Today featured Zack’s work to add recycling capabilities to UVA and Charlottesville, Meghan contacted him with a plastic waste “gold mine”.
“Meghan has been one of my favorite collaborators as she shows great passion for her work. The plastic recycling collaboration began after one email from Meghan and has jumpstarted all of our work! This story is a perfect example of waste stream identification helping to create an entire process. Our sights are currently set on blue wrap, a polypropylene hospital staple that, accounts for an estimated 19% of all operating room waste by weight,” shares Zack.
Many labs produce a large amount of discarded pipette tips that aren’t often recycled and end up in a landfill. “They are a perfect starter item, all the same plastic, well labeled, require no cleaning (sticker removal on some), and come in cool colors” shares Zack.
Since Zack’s team began collection, they have worked to refine their recycling process. They sort by color, type, and size, then shred the plastics and re-sort based on manufacturing needs.
Zack has formed a partnership with the School of Architecture to supply them with recycled plastics and is working with UVA Sustainability and Green Labs to increase contributions from labs across Grounds.
In 2023, the Trust awarded $96,350 to fourteen flash grant projects, across three funding cycles. Based on the short timelines of flash projects, many are complete, but a few are in the midst of their work. We’re excited to share updates from three:
Behavioral Sciences Across Grounds received $9,240 to help establish a gathering of behavioral scientists across the University, providing an opportunity for improved collaborations, better training, engaging in strategic planning, and a greater sense of community. The first stage of the project was so well received that the team divided the conference into two stages. The first was held in 2023, and the second will take place in early 2024. “Feedback has been extremely positive, and we feel like this event has really brought together this community and built strong bonds. We are in a strong position to consider ways to build bridges to bring in external funding,” shared project lead, Gabrielle Adams.
Talking Trees was awarded $1,546 to purchase a print press, creating a folio of wood prints to assemble a visual catalogue of the different species of trees from across Grounds. An article published in LUNCH, the Architecture school’s student-run publication, details some of the tree cookie prints and their procurement, as well as the project collaboration with UVA Sawmilling. A small edition of prints have been shared with Sawmilling for larger distribution.
Tree cookie print example from Talking Trees grant.
{in}Visible Magazine received $3,170 to help launch the first literary publication at UVA dedicated to the Asian Pacific Islander South Asian American (APISAA) community on Grounds, creating a space for exploring and sharing unique experiences through writing and art. Since launching they have published four issues and are working on the next to release in spring 2024.
“We’ve been surprised by the amount of interest in joining our staff; we’re managing more writers and artists than we ever have before, and more than we’ve expected,” shared the project student leader. “We’ve also applied for CIO status!”
We are excited to see what great ideas and projects will arise in the 2024 flash grants process!
