The University of Notre Dame has announced the awardees of its 2025 Strategic Framework Grant (SFG) Program.
Launched in 2024, the program is an internal funding opportunity that stimulates engagement with the priorities outlined in Notre Dame 2033: A Strategic Framework. The program, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Notre Dame Research, and ND Learning, serves as a broad invitation to members of the faculty to creatively imagine ways to align their research and teaching efforts with the Strategic Framework and to support them in doing so.
The program drew a strong response in its second year, with research and teaching proposals from 139 faculty members representing 47 different departments, centers, and institutes across every college and school, along with units that report to the Office of Research and the Office of the Provost. The proposals also included 12 external partners from communities as close as South Bend and spanning four other continents.
“In its second year, the Strategic Framework Grant program is encouraging faculty to ‘think as an institution’ through collaborative, multidisciplinary research projects,” said John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost and Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at Notre Dame. “The selected projects reflect how faculty are embracing the University-wide Strategic Framework, aligning their work with Notre Dame’s priorities as a leading global Catholic research university.”
Strategic Framework Research Grant
The following awardees of the Strategic Framework Research Grant will receive funding to support new and novel outstanding research and/or creative endeavors that advance Notre Dame’s scholarship in alignment with the priorities of the framework.
Ryan Sensenig, a professor of the practice in the Department of Biological Sciences, will lead a research project titled “Interactive effects of fire and grazing on carbon accumulation in grasslands: the role of microbial biomass and necromass.” Sensenig will be joined by co-principal investigator Melissa Berke, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences.
Daniel Tadmon, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology with an affiliation with the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, and Molly Copeland, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, will lead a research project titled “Novel Empirical Approaches to Examine Spatial-Social Integration and Suicide.”
Alejandro Estefán Dávila, an assistant professor of development economics at the Keough School of Global Affairs, and co-principal investigator Enrique Seira Bejarano, the incoming Joe and Deborah Loughrey Professor of Economics and Human Development in the Department of Economics, will lead a research project titled “Civic Education and Democratic Citizenship: A Multisite Randomized Intervention.”
Paola Crippa, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Richard “Drew” Marcantonio, assistant professor of environment, peace and global affairs at the Keough School of Global Affairs, and Danielle Wood, director of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, are co-leading a research project titled “Transformative Solutions for a Global Health Crisis: A Novel Urban Air Quality Strategy.”
Fanny Ye, Galassi Family Collegiate Professor in Computer Science and Engineering in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Kristin Valentino, professor in the Department of Psychology and director of the Veldman Family Psychology Clinic, and Marya Lieberman, a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, will co-lead a research project titled “Understanding Social Drivers of Opioid Misuse and Addiction Among Teenagers and Young Adults and Intervention Strategies.”
Sr. Ann Astell, the John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology, and co-principal investigator Jennifer Newsome Martin, the John J. Cavanaugh Associate Professor of the Humanities and Director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, both in the Department of Theology, will lead a research and creative works project titled “Saint Hildegard’s Illustrated Prayer Book (ca. 1180): A Prayer Book for Today.”
Cynthia Katsarelis, assistant professor of the practice in conducting in the Sacred Music program, and co-principal investigator Lee Haines, associate research professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, will lead a research and creative works project titled “Symphonic Wings: A Story of Peril and Promise.”
Patrick Yim, assistant professor of violin and viola in the Department of Music, will lead a research and creative works project titled “Beyond Orientalism: Contemporary Classical Music at the Global Crossroads in Chinese-American Composer Zhou Long’s First Violin Concerto.” Yim will be joined by co-principal investigators Zhou Long, Bonfils Distinguished Research Professor of Composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, and Chen Yi, Lorena Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
Strategic Framework Teaching Grant
The following Strategic Framework Teaching Grant recipients will receive support to develop new courses or to substantially change existing courses to address important topics and themes aligned with the priorities of the framework.
Brett Savoie, the Coyle Mission Collegiate Professor of Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, will develop a graduate-level multidisciplinary course titled “Machine Learning for Scientists and Engineers.” Savoie will be joined by co-principal investigators Alexander Dowling, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ryan McClarren, a professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Jarek Nabrzyski, founding director of the Center for Research Computing, Hai Lin, a professor of electrical engineering, and Alex Taflanidis, professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences.
Michael Kackman, associate teaching professor in Film, Television, and Theatre, will develop an integration course titled “The Mediated Climate: Critical Media Literacy and the Climate Crisis.”
Catherine Cavadini, a teaching professor in the Department of Theology, will develop a course titled “Japanese Saints & Japanese Stories.”
Originally posted at provost.nd.edu by Emily Monacelli Guzman on May 21, 2025.