USF Research & Innovation and the Florida High Tech Corridor have announced a partnership to provide $100,000 in funding for four new projects through the Early Stage Innovation Fund program. The initiative is designed to help early-stage ideas move forward and create potential impact in the community.
The selected projects are led by faculty from the University of South Florida’s College of Arts & Sciences, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences, and College of Education. These efforts represent USF’s campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee.
This round of seed funding will focus on developing a roadmap for AI literacy education for K-12 students, training bilingual professionals in education, creating an immersive virtual reality learning experience for youth, and expanding a multicultural curriculum to improve social and emotional learning among students.
“Across our campuses every day, USF faculty are developing creative solutions to society’s biggest challenges,” said Dr. Sylvia Wilson Thomas, USF Vice President for Research & Innovation. “This important work supports the breadth and depth of community engaged, high-impact research at USF. This round of Early-Stage Innovation funding was an opportunity for USFRI and the Corridor to highlight USF researchers’ ingenuity around social sciences, design, and education and student engagement.”
Paul Sohl, CEO of the Florida High Tech Corridor, emphasized that these projects aim to connect emerging technologies with broader community needs: “The Florida High Tech Corridor launched this seed funding initiative as a means of supporting promising new ideas from University of South Florida faculty and kickstarting research ideas that go on to become larger initiatives,” Sohl said. “These projects will involve and serve the wider community in unique and meaningful ways, and we’re excited to see the returns from this effort.”
The Early-Stage Innovation Fund was established in 2022 by USF Research & Innovation together with the Florida High Tech Corridor. It aims to support innovations with potential commercial or community impact by providing early financial support that can lead to industry investment or licensing opportunities.
Previous rounds have supported advancements such as artificial intelligence tools, sustainable manufacturing methods, defense technology applications, Alzheimer’s disease research efforts, vaccine development strategies, and infection-fighting approaches.
USF researchers can apply for up to $25,000 per project through this fund to cover expenses tied directly to advancing their innovations. Additional information about future application rounds is available at www.usf.edu/corridor.
The newly funded projects include:
– A plan led by Dr. Fan Yang (College of Arts & Sciences) focused on designing a roadmap for introducing AI literacy into Tampa Bay K-12 schools.
– A methodology developed by Dr. Matthew Foster (College of Behavioral & Community Sciences) aimed at preparing bilingual leaders for careers related to special education.
– An immersive virtual reality experience spearheaded by Dr. Lindsay Persohn (College of Education), where young participants use interactive spaces like libraries or workshops within a digital “World of Wonder” environment.
– Curriculum development by Drs. AnnMarie Alberton Gunn and Susan V Bennett (College of Education) intended to increase vocabulary skills as well as social-emotional learning among early childhood students in Pinellas County.
Information regarding upcoming application periods will be released soon.
