Research Opportunities Initiative
The UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative (ROI) is funded by the North Carolina General Assembly to support some of the most innovative and important research projects within the UNC System. Awards are designed to build capacity in research areas that are strategically important to North Carolina. UNC ROI awards target “game-changing research” taking place in six priority areas: advanced manufacturing; data sciences; defense, military, and security; energy; marine and coastal science; and pharmacoengineering. The UNC ROI invests up to $3,000,000 per year in seed funding and programmatic support for potentially groundbreaking research projects.
Criteria for awarding these grants varies year by year. Use this page to review past award outcomes.
Request for Proposals
Timeline
- September 8, 2025: Solicitation release
- March 9, 2026: Proposals due
- June 9, 2026: Awards Announced (anticipated)
- July 1, 2026: Earliest funding start
FY 2025 Research Opportunity Initiative Awardees:
Nature Inspired Collaborative Energy Research (NICER)
PI: Dr. Shabnam Hematian
ROI Focus Area: Energy
Institution: UNC Greensboro
Collaborating Institutions: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ultra-High Efficiency Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells
PI: Dr. Jingsong Huang
Primary Focus Areas: Advanced Manufacturing, Energy
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collaborating Institution: North Carolina State University
Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies (TEAL-SHIPS)
PI: Dr. Bradley Tolar
Primary Focus Area: Coastal Marine Sciences
Institution: UNC Wilmington
Collaborating Institutions: East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dashboards
Previous Research Opportunity Initiative Awardees:
| Year | Institution | Project Title | PI | Collaborating Project Institution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2024 |  | Next Generation Protective Materials for Soldier Empowerment (NextGen Promise) | Dr. Sherine Obare | UNC Greensboro, Fayetteville State University, and Winston-Salem State University |
| FY 2024 |  | AMBI: Acelerated Molecular and Biological Innovation Enabled by Integrated Engineering & Sciences | Dr. Joshua Pierce, Dr. Milad Abolhasani, Dr. Caroline Proulx, Dr. Melanie Simpson, and Dr. Wentao Tang | |
| FY 2024 |  | NC Research Capacity Building for a Secure & Reliable Power Grid 2050 | Dr. Meera Sridhar | NC Agricultural and Technical State University and NC State University |
| FY 2022 |  | Consortium for Self-Aware Machining and Metrology | Dr. Harish Cherukuri | Fayetteville State University |
| FY 2022 |  | Winston-Salem State University Center for Applied Data Science (CADS) | Dr. Debzani Deb | |
| FY 2022 | | A Center for Additive Manufacture of Advanced Ceramics (CAMAC) | Dr. Brigid Mullany | NC State, NC A&T |
| FY 2022 |  | Nanocrystal Factory: Advanced Manufacturing of Quantum Dot Inks for Next-Generation Solution-Processed Photonic Devices | Dr. Milad Abolhasani | |
| FY 2022 |  | Water-Energy Nexus: Off-Grid, Zero Waste Desalination Technology | Dr. Kura Duba | Elizabeth City State University |
| FY 2022 |  | Appalachian Multi-purpose Apiary Informatics System | Dr. Rahman Tashakkori | UNC Charlotte |
| FY 2022 | | Enhancing Sustainable Water Treatment While Adding Value to Aquatic Systems | Dr. Natasha Bell | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2021 | | Winston-Salem State University Center for Applied Data Science | Debzani Deb, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2021 | | North Carolina Consortium for Self-Aware Machining and Metrology (CSAM) | Harischandra P. Cherukuri, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2021 |  | Pharmacoengineering Approaches to Enhance the Immune Response to Neoantigens | Andrew Wang, Ph. D. | UNC Charlotte |
| FY 2021 | | Nanocrystal Factory: Advanced Manufacturing of Quantum Dot Inks for Next-Generation Solution Processed Photonic Devices | Milad Abolhasani, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2021 |  | Water-Energy Nexus: Off-Grid, Zero Waste Desalination Technology | Kura Duba, Ph. D. | Elizabeth City State University |
| FY 2020 | | Pharmacoengineering Approaches to Enhance the Immune Response to Neoantigens | Andrew Wang, Ph. D. | UNC Charlotte |
| FY 2020 | | Center of Hybrid Materials Enabled Electronic Technology | Jinsong Huang, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2020 | | North Carolina Consortium for Self-Aware Machining and Metrology (CSAM) | Harischandra P. Cherukuri, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2020 |  | Solar-Enabled Green Liquid Fuels: On-Demand Carbon-Neutral Liquid Fuel Production from Biogas | Debasish Kuila, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2019 | | Pharmacoengineering Approaches to Enhance the Immune Response to Neoantigens | Andrew Wang, Ph. D. | UNC Charlotte |
| FY 2019 | | North Carolina Consortium for Self-Aware Machining and Metrology (CSAM) | Harischandra P. Cherukuri, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2019 | | Center of Hybrid Materials Enabled Electronic Technology | Jinsong Huang, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2019 | | Solar-Enabled Green Liquid Fuels: On-Demand Carbon-Neutral Liquid Fuel Production from Biogas | Debasish Kuila, Ph. D. | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2018 | | Center of Hybrid Materials Enabled Electronic Technology | Jinsong Huang, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2018 | | Pharmacoengineering: Integrating Engineering with Pharmaceutical Sciences to Improve the Delivery of Therapeutic and Diagnostic Agents | Michael Jay, Ph. D. | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2018 | | Solar-Enabled Green Liquid Fuels: On-Demand Carbon-Neutral Liquid Fuel Production from Biogas | Debasish Kuila, Ph. D. | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2018 | | Advancing the Science and Practice of Metal-based Additive Manufacturing | Christopher J. Evans, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2018 |  | Bioengineering microalgae for large-scale production of therapeutic antibodies against Ebola, West Nile virus and rabies | TinChung Leung, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2018 | | Salinity Gradient Energy – An Inexhaustible Clean Energy Resource for North Carolina | Douglas Call, Ph. D. | UNC Chapel-Hill |
| FY 2018 | | Data Science: Infohub for Rare Diseases | Alexander Tropsha, Ph. D. | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2018 | | Revolutionizing and commercializing rapid molecular diagnostics for viral and bacterial pathogen quantification in marine waters and seafood | Rachel T. Noble | UNC-Chapel Hill |
| FY 2017 | | North Carolina Consortium for Manufacturing Data Science (NC-CMDS) | Tony Schmitz | |
| FY 2017 | | Revolutionizing and commercializing rapid molecular diagnostics for viral and bacterial pathogen quantification in marine waters and seafood | Rachel T. Noble | UNC-Chapel Hill |
| FY 2017 | | Towards a North Carolina Smart and Connected Communities Initiative | Arcot Rajasekar | |
| FY 2017 | | Pharmacoengineering: Integrating Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences to Improve the Delivery of Therapeutic and Diagnostic Agents | Frances Ligler | UNC-Chapel Hill |
| FY 2017 | | Salinity Gradient Energy – An Inexhaustible Clean Energy Resource for North Carolina | Douglas Call | UNC-Chapel Hill |
| FY 2017 | | Advancing the Science and Practice of Metal-based Additive Manufacturing | Christopher J. Evans, Ph. D. | |
| FY 2017 | | Bioengineering microalgae for large-scale production of therapeutic antibodies against Ebola, West Nile virus and rabies | TinChung Leung | |
| FY 2017 | | NC Data Science and Analytics Initiative – Data-Driven Risk Mitigation | Dr. Mirsad Hadzikadic | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2015-16 | | NC Data Science and Analytics Initiative – Data-Driven Risk Mitigation | Dr. Mirsad Hadzikadic | |
| FY 2015-16 | | Pharmacoengineering: Integrating Engineering with Pharmaceutical Sciences to Improve the Delivery of Therapeutic and Diagnostic Agents | Michael Jay | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2015-16 | | Bioengineering microalgae for large-scale production of therapeutic antibodies against Ebola, West Nile virus and rabies | TinChung Leung | |
| FY 2015-16 | | Salinity Gradient Energy – An Inexhaustible Clean Energy Resource for North Carolina | Orlando Coronell | North Carolina State University |
| FY 2015-16 | | Revolutionizing and commercializing rapid molecular diagnostics for viral and bacterial pathogen quantification in marine waters and seafood | Rachel Noble | UNC Charlotte |
| FY 2015-16 | | NC Carbon Materials Initiative: Materials Design, Processing, and Manufacturing for Defense and Energy Needs | Harald Ade | UNC-Chapel Hill |
| FY 2014-15 | | NC Data Science and Analytics Initiative – Data-Driven Risk Mitigation | Dr. Mirsad Hadzikadic | |
| FY 2014-15 | | NC Carbon Materials Initiative: Materials Design, Processing, and Manufacturing for Defense and Energy Needs | Harald Ade | UNC-Chapel Hill |
| FY 2014-15 | | Revolutionizing and commercializing rapid molecular diagnostics for viral and bacterial pathogen quantification in marine waters and seafood | Rachel Noble | UNC Charlotte |