An initiative to enhance funding for the arts, an AI-enabled digital imaging platform to treat cancer and a software tool that leverages the capabilities of UF’s HiPerGator supercomputer are among the seven new projects earmarked to receive strategic funding at UF.

According to a UF press release sent on Monday, UF President Ben Sasse announced the seven new projects that will receive strategic funding in an initiative designed to advance interdisciplinary scholarship and the student experience.  

“These proposals will help take UF to the next level. Each of these bold initiatives will enhance the future of Florida and the world,” said Sasse in a press release. “We’re committed to being both elite and practical. I couldn’t be prouder of the way our incredible units at UF are putting this strategic funding to good use. We want to tackle big challenges and these projects are the kind of ambitious, interdisciplinary, and collaborative work that only a large, comprehensive, land-grant university like ours can do.” 

The Florida Legislature sent UF $130 million in new funding this year and Sasse established that more than half of the funds would be used for strategic purposes.

According to the press release, “A total of $24 million was directly delivered to deans to report back on their strategic uses of funds, and another $50 million was made available across all colleges and administrative units to submit proposals for how the money could best be spent. UF received more than 250 submissions.”  

In October, the first round of awardees received $9.2 million in funding. The second round of awards is being announced in three tranches on Nov. 13, Dec. 4, and Dec.18.  
 
Receiving a total of $5,352,990, the following winners were selected based on their impact on student experience and research productivity: 

• UF/IFAS: Innovation Hub for Urban Pest Management, $985,000 over three years – Funding will support the $2.2-billion industry in Florida through workforce development, expanding industry partnerships, and innovating new control technologies for invasive pests. 

• College of Veterinary Medicine, UF Health: Creating an AI-Enabled Digital Imaging Platform for Veterinary Medicine and One Health, $750,000 over three years – An investment in an AI-enabled digital imaging platform will address bottlenecks in the pathway to implementing personalized cancer diagnoses and treatments, including the scarcity of veterinary pathologists and the heterogeneous nature of cancer disorders. 

• College of the Arts, supported by UF/IFAS: Arts Impact Engine, $1,005,790 over four years – Support for a research team-building initiative will help faculty and students write competitive proposals for external funding opportunities, advancing UF’s fast-growing and highly grant-funded arts program. 

• College of the Arts, Center for Arts in Medicine, UF Health: Journal of Arts in Health, $79,500 over three years – As the Center for Arts in Medicine creates the global field of Arts in Public Health, this initiative will launch a new open-access journal for the industry that will cement UF’s place as a leader in integrating arts and public health.  

• College of Medicine, Jacksonville: Center for Convening Transformative Care, $1,098,700 over three years – Funding for the center will help enhance personalized patient care, increase patient safety, foster population health data research and grant procurement, and strengthen local and state partnerships that will lead to more sustainable population health interventions. 

• Fixel Institute (supported by the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, the College of Public Health & Health Professions, the College of Nursing, the College of Medicine, the College of Health and Human Performance, and the College of the Arts): Research & Technology Innovation Incubator, $960,000 for one year – An investment in the Fixel Institute will transform 20,000 square feet of unrenovated space into a state-of-the-art hub for interdisciplinary work, positioning the campus as an international destination for cutting-edge science collaborations.   

• Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, supported by the College of Education and the College of Design, Construction, and Planning: Leveraging the Power of Large Language Models, $474,000 over two years – Support for the project will help develop a large language model-based software tool to leverage the computing-intensive capabilities of HiPerGator, collecting beneficial data for instructors and administrators about student performance.  

According to the press release, “A third group of submissions is currently undergoing a preliminary feasibility study. Proposals to support UF’s partnerships with businesses, use longitudinal data to support K-12 students, and expand the university’s prowess in space science are among the projects that will move forward with the study.”