The Jefferson Trust has awarded $761,000 to support five new initiatives across the University of Virginia.
“These grants are indicative of a leap forward for UVA and the Trust, said Brent Percival, Executive Director of the Jefferson Trust. “In this cycle, Trustees awarded their largest grant ever at $360,000 which we hope will propel UVA forward in the field of artificial intelligence.”
Experiential learning and research are central to all five funded projects, reflecting the Trust’s continued commitment to student impact.
The 2026 Spring Major Cycle Grants:
AI Research Initiative @ UVA: $360,000
This initiative aims to revise UVA’s research enterprise by embedding advanced AI skills and tools across all disciplines, positioning UVA as an AI research leader, building AI research infrastructure, and fostering cross-school research collaboration.
Pre-Med Student Shadowing and Mentoring Pilot Program: $113,600
Offering a hybrid learning approach with virtual and in-person clinical experiences, this program will offer undergraduate students interested in medical careers exposure to clinical reasoning, patient interaction, and medical culture.
Baby Cavs Express: $188,000
Funding helps early developmental screenings for Autism and Cerebral Palsy go mobile, offering screenings and support to underserved communities, removing access barriers and providing hands-on training for UVA trainees.
High Knob Explorers: $50,000
In partnership with Virginia State Parks and the City of Norton, this UVA Wise environmental education project plans to create STEM learning experiences at the High Knob Destination Center.
A view from High Knob in southwest Virginia.
Pilot Trial for Patients on VV ECMO for ARDS: $49,700
This research study aims to improve outcomes for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and mechanical ventilation patients, while generating preliminary data to support future NIH funding.
The Trust has awarded more than $111,000 across 17 flash grants since February, supporting student-led initiatives that expand learning beyond the classroom.
This cycle highlights a strong emphasis on experiential learning in healthcare, including projects such as Medical Device Make-a-Thon; Cavalimbs; and Virginia Healthcare Consulting. Grants also support creative and cultural engagement through initiatives like Arts in Wise; Theatre, Translation, and Global Exchange; and Flash Tiny Desk Lawn Concerts.
Different than the Trust’s Major Cycle grants, Flash Grants are capped at $10,000 per project and are awarded monthly in the fall and spring.
The 2026 Spring Flash Grants:
Virginia Healthcare Consulting: $7,055 UVA’s first dedicated healthcare consulting program will combine education, real-world consulting experience, and industry exposure through healthcare consulting projects, a speaker series, and UVA’s first healthcare-focused case competition.
Cavalimbs: $3,335 Funding helps Cavalimbs design and build a prosthetic arm, with the goal of offering a solution that can be implemented on real patients at UVA Health.
Medical Device Make-a-Thon: $10,000 Students will design and prototype low-cost medical devices that address healthcare needs for underserved communities, connecting healthcare challenges and theory with real-world clinical needs.
Art in Wise: $10,000 Funding helps develop a series of visual arts workshops for k-12 students and adults in the community, increasing accessibility and engagement.
Theatre, Translation, and Global Exchange: Learning Laboratory at UVA: $6,490 “Theatre, Translation, and Global Exchange” brings Argentine playwright Rubén Mosquera and actresses Sol Leone Martens and Griselda Milagros Mongia to Grounds for a bilingual residency aimed at engaging students through performance-based language learning, public performances, and developing an English translation of a new Argentine play.
Flash Tiny Desk Lawn Concerts: $1,000 Tiny Desk Lawn Concerts will host free student band concerts on the Lawn this spring open to any student or person passing by.
SEED Consulting: $667 SEED Consulting, one of UVA’s undergraduate consulting organizations, will host a Presentation Showcase & Competition to accelerate the growth of their newest members and celebrate them.
CalmSphere: VR Prototype for Wellness and Mental Health: $6,309.88 CalmSphere is a student-built virtual wellness tool, offering students access to guided breathing, calming visuals, and reflective prompts creating a low-pressure space to mentally reset.
FCAP Structural Intake Validation: $10,000 A study at the Fried Center for Advancement Potential will help validate clinical screening methods, building a structural screening tool for broader clinical use.
Roots on the Road: $10,000 UVA Students are biking across America to meet with farmers, chefs, truck drivers, and everyday eaters to raise awareness that agriculture is everyone’s responsibility through short videos, a mini-docuseries, and a children’s story book.
Students bike in preparation for their Roots on the Road ride across the country.
Restorative Justice at UVA (RJ at UVA): $9,840 Partnering with Community Justice of Central Virginia, UVA students will be trained in restorative justice practices, focusing on facilitation and conflict resolution, then working with local youth on conflict-navigation skills.
MedAscend: $8,400 MedAscend aims to provide local high-school youth with STEM and college preparation resources by offering regular STEM events, college prep sessions, and mentorship from UVA undergraduates.
AI Mixer: Conversations on AI, Society & Culture: $1,250 Through small-group discussions, faculty lightening talks, and hands-on demonstrations of AI tools, this event brings together UVA undergraduates, grad students, and faculty to engage critically with the societal and cultural implications of AI.
ChemE Cube Club at UVA: $10,000 This student-led project plans to design and build a fully operational chemical plant model for the AIChE ChemE Cube Competition, applying chemical engineering principles to real-world problems and establishing a new student organization on Grounds.
From Research to Living Rooms: Family Literacy Resources: $9,600 In partnership with McGuffey Reading Services, graduate students in the School of Education will research and develop accessible materials to help families support children’s reading.
Machine Learning @ UVA: $4,620 This student-led machine learning organization aims to offer experiential, project-based AI education accessible to undergraduates of all majors.
Sol/Luna: $2,489 From the School of Architecture Student Council, Sol/Luna offers an active learning experience to create long-term impact: designing and building two respite pods for students, encouraging mindfulness, a healthy studio approach, and improving mental well-being for students.
Catch-up on recent media coverage of Jefferson Trust-supported projects:
Roots on the Road is biking across the country this summer to research and raise awareness of what the future of food looks like. Find out more about this student-led initiative in this CBS19 News feature.
Installation of the new Dark Matter Radio Telescope at Fan Mountain Observatory
With support from the Trust, Associate Professor Hudson Golino is building open-source tools that make AI more transparent, measurable, and aligned with human values. Explore more in this College of Arts & Sciences article.
The Trust was an early supporter of Become a Problem-Solver (BAPS), supporting students applying Systems Engineering principals to help UVA service organizations address operational challenges. Read how BAPS is expanding their reach and impact across Grounds.
Big ideas take time and we’re here to help curate them. Our Major Grant Cycle supports requests over $10,000 that enhance UVA and the student experience. Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) can be submitted anytime, and early submissions are encouraged for feedback and refinement. Full proposals (by invitation) are due July 31, 2026.
Flash Grants support innovative, student-driven initiatives, at $10,000 or less, with a quick turnaround. Stay tuned, flash is moving to year-round opportunities starting July 1!
Students participate in the Prometheus Hybrid Rocket Launch, a Jefferson Trust flash grant project.
In the January Flash Funding cycle, we received 23 proposals requesting more than $200,000, an encouraging reflection of the innovative ideas emerging across the University.
If you missed the January deadline, February Flash funding is open. Flash grants, capped at $10,000, support short-term projects or immediate-use opportunities, often benefitting student organizations.
Proposals must be submitted no later than February 28, with decisions announced on March 15.
Visit our Grant Seekers page for full details and timelines, and contact Amy Bonner (abonner@virginia.edu) to discuss your idea and potential funding.
A Fried Center student intern assists a student patient during a physical therapy session. Photo by Matt Riley
Catch-up on Jefferson Trust-funded projects recently featured in local and University media:
Wormi and Project LochNess are two recent Flash Grant recipients highlighted on NBC29 News, showcasing innovative, student-driven projects in action.
Fried Center for Advancement Potential was awarded a grant in 2025 to support its Intern Training Program, which provides UVA students with hands-on training and professional development. Learn more about the program’s impact in this UVA Today feature.
The Learning Hub was featured in the Cavalier Daily for its use of AI avatars alongside in-person instruction to help first-year students develop effective study strategies. Read more about this innovative approach.
Visions of Progress: Portraits of Dignity, Style, and Racial Uplift has returned as a traveling exhibition, now on display at Trinity Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall through March 11, 2026. The exhibition features images commissioned from the Holsinger Portrait Studio, highlighting African Americans in Central Virginia during the early twentieth century.
The Trust was an early supporter of UVA’s partnership with the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe in Sisseton, South Dakota. See how this work has grown and student experiences continue to evolve in this UVA Today feature.
Now is the time to start thinking about a Jefferson Trust Major Cycle proposal.
The Major Cycle supports funding requests over $10,000. Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) may be submitted at any time; applicants invited to advance must submit full proposals by July 31, 2026. Early LOI submissions are strongly encouraged to allow time for feedback, refinement, and collaboration.
Visit our Grant Seekers webpage for full details. We like bold, original ideas that create a tangible impact on the student experience, UVA community, or broader society.
The Trust has awarded $75,480 across 16 flash grants since September.
“This was our first time running a Flash Funding cycle in the Fall semester. The high request volume is an indicator of students’ drive to advance UVA, and the wide variety of projects showcase the vibrancy of our student body. We look forward to the Spring round!”
—Brent Percival, Executive Director
Student research and learning experiences are key themes this fall. Projects like Tangible Microbes, Living Tectonics, Project Loch Ness, and others are offering students hands-on learning in the classroom.
Different than the Trust’s Major Cycle grants, Flash Funding grants are capped at $10,000 per project and are awarded monthly in the fall and spring.
The 2025 Fall Flash Grants:
Interpreting the Night Sky: $9,425 A team from the Astronomy Department is developing the first astronomy course for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, aiming to make astronomy education more accessible to the Deaf community.
Tangible Microbes: 3D Printing for Hands-On Microbiology Learning: $4,049 Students will create physical, interactive 3D models of microbes, transforming microbial concepts into tangible learning experiences.
Student AI Guides: Partners in Teaching and Learning: $10,000 Through workshops, learning communities, consultations, and resource development, students will help shape the use of generative AI in classrooms and ensure that student perspectives are included in university-wide conversations.
Living Tectonics: Bio-Based Futures Studio: $3,400 From the School of Architecture, Living Tectonics is a hybrid studio that engages undergraduate and graduate students in developing engineered living materials (ELMs) through casting and robotic additive manufacturing, upcycling agricultural and post-consumer waste into mycelium-based composites.
Project Loch Ness: $3,000 Students from the Engineering School plan to design, build, and test an underwater stealth technology demonstrator to showcase the viability of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) propulsion as a silent alternative to propeller-based systems for underwater vehicles.
CanSat Project: $1,000 The UVA CubeSat Design Team aims to design UVA’s first CanSat for the American Astronautical Society annual competition, providing hands-on engineering experience for UVA students. This year’s challenge is to create a rocket payload that separates and deploys a paraglider to glide to a specific location to drop another payload.
Project Pegasus: $2,000 A team of students in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department will study combustion and detonation physics by creating a system for examining detonation wave properties through curved geometrics. The project allows them to gain research experience and contribute to propulsion innovation.
Dancer and Choreographer Fana Tesfagiorgis prepares for the Gullah Meditations performance.
Gullah Meditations: Performance and Guest Artist Residency: $10,000 “Gullah Meditations” is a choreographed concert of new, jazz arrangements of unpublished Gullah spirituals performed this fall. The project aims to preserve and reimagine African American musical heritage while providing educational opportunities for UVA students.
Beyond the Surface: Innovating and Elevating Artistic Swimming: $6,820 This project plans to establish the first artistic swim team at UVA and introduce artistic swimming to the local community.
Mobilizing the Occultation Group Fleet of Telescopes: $6,343 Funding helps the Occultation Group purchase hardware to modify their telescope systems for overseas research, enabling the observation of stellar occultations when asteroids pass in front of distant stars.
Revitalizing University Records: $2,863 University Records is expanding and upgrading the musical equipment available to students for music creation, practice, recording, and performance, as well as creating affordable practice spaces.
Girls Who Innovate: $9,922 Girls Who Innovate (GWIn) provides free entrepreneurship education and networking to help high school and college girls launch their ideas, including a Summer Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.
Dissemination of Novel Type II Diabetes Management Method for Awareness and Empowerment: $3,332 Funding helps to publicize materials for Type II Diabetes management developed by the Center for Behavioral Medicine, helping patients manage their diabetes more effectively than traditional methods.
KINEcted- Undergraduate Kinesiology Networking Event: $1,775 This event brings students, alumni, and industry experts together for career exploration and networking opportunities.
Wormi: $350 A student-led composting initiative, Wormi aims to divert organic waste from landfills by creating a composting network that transforms kitchen scraps into living soil amendments.
Japanese Cuisine in America: $1,200 Funding enables a group of students to explore cross-cultural dynamics through Japanese cuisine and local businesses by touring North American Sake Brewery and visiting Bad Luck Ramen.
Our grantees have been busy! Catch up on projects recently featured in the news:
The UVA Speaking Center is a free resource available to all UVA Students. Learn more about the work of this flash grant.
Jefferson CARES Concussion Management Protocol, a 2025 grant, has received publicity in UVA Today, NBC29 News, and CBS19 News as the program has launched this fall.
The Roadmap Scholars from UVA Law received a Trust grant in 2022 to establish the program. Meet two Scholars who are now first-year Law students in the UVA Law magazine.
Personalized Student Support and Stronger, AI-Empowered Teaching Assistants, a new Major Cycle Grant, is featured in the School of Data Science Newsletter.
The SPRINT Program, a 2024 recipient, is featured in UVA Today, highlighting its work in helping young people recover physically and mentally from knee injuries.
Associate Professor of Kinesiology Chris Kuenze monitors Research Assistant Cadence Layne’s progress on the treadmill. (Photo: Matt Riley)
A team at UVA Health is studying microplastics in human heart valves. Learn more about this groundbreaking grant project.
Dr. Alisa Bahl was recently featured on the Behavioral Health Today podcast to discuss her work with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. She is a 2025 grant recipient.
Sound on Grounds has many episodes of “Pilot Projects: From Seed to Story”, featuring Jefferson Trust grants! Listen here
Are you considering applying for a Jefferson Trust grant in Spring 2026? Now is the time to start planning!
Major Cycle: For requests over $10,000. Submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) at any time; those invited to the next stage must submit full proposals by January 31, 2026.Early LOI submissions are strongly encouraged to allow time for feedback and refinement.
Flash Funding: For requests of $10,000 or less, with the proposal form opening on January 1, 2026. Designed for short-term projects or immediate-use opportunities, grants will be awarded monthly until the semester’s $100,000 allocation is fully distributed.
Visit our Grant Seekers webpage for full details and timelines of both cycles. We like bold, original ideas that create a tangible impact on the student experience, UVA community, or broader society.
