NCESR, in collaboration with Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), provides major funding for two-year research projects to University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) faculty. The NCESR funds enable UNL faculty to conduct innovative research to develop or enhance energy science and technologies and educate undergraduate and graduate students on various energy-related aspects. Faculty are expected to use NCESR’s funding as a seed to pursue major external funding. NPPD provides several letters of support for UNL faculty each year as they bid on federal grants (e.g., Department of Energy, Department of Defense, etc.).
On March 9, 2026, NCESR released its annual Request for Preproposals (RFP), inviting UNL faculty to submit innovative ideas in energy sciences research and collaboration. This marks the twenty-first annual cycle in which UNL faculty can compete in the internal energy research grant competition. Preproposals were due on April 24, 2026.
The NCESR Executive Council (EC), which includes NPPD liaisons and UNL professors with diverse expertise, met on May 21, 2026, to carefully review and rank the 22 submissions. Eleven preproposals were invited to advance to the next stage by submitting full proposals, which are due on July 17, 2026.
Experts outside UNL will review the full proposals. In the fall, principal investigators will present their full proposals to the EC, which will evaluate the proposals, the external reviews and the presentations to determine which projects to recommend to the NCESR External Advisory Committee (EAC) for funding. The EAC, which includes the leadership of UNL and NPPD, and its board of directors, will convene on November 19, 2026, to make the final funding decisions. Awarded projects will start on January 1, 2027.