Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research | | | |
Nebraska Childcare Affordability Calculator
The Early Futures Partnership provides the Nebraska Child Care Affordability Calculator, which brings the cost of child care’s impact into focus for early childhood advocates, community leaders and policymakers who are working to make child care more affordable and accessible throughout the state.
Users can look up child care expenses for any Nebraska county and customize results based on household composition, income, child care arrangements and major expenses.
Learn more.
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Advertise your student research opportunities
Are you looking for graduate or undergraduate students to assist with your research? Our Student Research Opportunity page lists early childhood research positions of all types and is shared broadly with student and advising groups across NU campuses.
Post your research opportunities.
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Here are recent publications from NAECR researchers:
Supporting the NICU-to-Home Transition: Perspectives of Service Providers and Parents
Lisa Chiarello, Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, Drexel University
Kerry Miller*, Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Lisa Letzkus, Developmental Pediatrics, University of Virginia
Dana McCarty, Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A Large-Scale Descriptive Study of Kindergarten Teachers’ Assessment Practices
Amy Napoli*, Child, Youth & Family Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Rachel Schachter, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago
Pearl Avari, Center for Community Health & Development, University of Kansas
* Denotes NAECR Researcher
** Denotes NAECR Student Researcher
| | Would you like to see your work featured here? Contact us at naecr@unl.edu | | |
NAECR can assist you in finding research partners for your funding applications and staff in CYFS are available to assist with your proposal development for these or other funding opportunities.
Please contact Lisa Knoche if you are interested in building a collaborative team, need assistance with proposal development or would like to discuss funding opportunities for your research.
Internal funding opportunities by campus:
UNK
UNL
UNMC
UNO
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New! Engagement Scholarship Consortium Grants Program
The Engaged Scholarship Research/Creative Activities Grants Program for Faculty and Staff is providing financial support that helps facilitate positive outcomes for both scholars and communities.
Conducting scholarship that is mutually beneficial for both university scholars and communities is the very foundation of engaged scholarship.
The Scholarship Committee welcomes the submission of domestic and international engaged scholarship project proposals.
Award budget: Up to $5,000
Proposal due date: Oct. 14, 2026
Learn more.
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New! Brady Education Foundation
The Brady Education Foundation seeks to improve educational outcomes for children, including those living in low-income communities.
The Foundation supports research projects that have the potential to inform how to improve educational outcomes for children from birth through age 18.
It is specifically focused on supporting research that is consistent with a strength-based perspective and has the potential to inform future educational research, practice, major philanthropic giving and/or public policy.
Proposal due date: Nov. 1, 2026
Learn more.
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New! University of Nebraska Collaboration Initiative
The primary purpose of the Collaboration Initiative is to enhance the competitiveness of the University of Nebraska (NU) faculty for federal grant funding by fully leveraging the intellectual capacity and research resources across the NU campuses. The Fiscal Year 2028 request for applications focuses on a single, flexible grant type. This single-year seed grant is designed to facilitate research collaborations among faculty in any discipline that will help them to compete for federal extramural funding.
Award budget: $10,000 to $100,000
Proposal due date: Jan. 15, 2027
Learn more.
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Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood
The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is an incubator of promising research and development projects that appear likely to improve the welfare of young children, from infancy through 7 years, in the United States.
Funding is provided in the areas of early childhood welfare, early childhood education and play and parenting education.
Letter of inquiry due date: Sept. 30, 2026
Learn more.
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Thriving Children, Families and Communities Conference
Sept. 22, 2026
Kearney, Nebraska
Join partners from across Nebraska for a full day of connection, collaboration and problem-solving focused on Nebraska’s most pressing early childhood challenges.
Learn more.
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Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
2027 Annual Conference
Call for Proposals
March 6-9, 2027
Washington, D.C.
The AMCHP Annual Conference aims to highlight the impacts of maternal and child health programs on women, children and families, and to provide participants with tools and resources to develop, enhance and sustain programs and services.
Presenters will have the opportunity to showcase their work on a prominent stage through various session formats, including Workshops, Lightning Talks, Student and Early Career Professional Grand Rounds, and Discussions.
Proposal due date: Sept. 30, 2026
Learn more.
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Nebraska Maternal Child Health Summit
Nov. 19, 2026
Lincoln, Nebraska
Save the date for the 2026 Nebraska Maternal Health Summit, which will bring together people from all over the state working in many sectors of maternal child health — physicians, community health workers, maternal health advocates, lawmakers and mental health professionals — to discuss ways to improve perinatal outcomes in Nebraska.
Learn more.
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Minority Health Disparities Initiative Health Equity Conference
Call for Proposals
Feb. 19, 2027
Lincoln, Nebraska
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative is accepting proposals for the 2027 Health Equity Conference poster session.
Proposals from research and/or practice-oriented projects or presentations that provide theoretical frameworks from undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, government organizations and community members or organizations are welcome.
Topics should ideally relate to health disparities and health equity among minoritized, marginalized and vulnerable populations. Abstracts with a particular focus on thriving, resilience and coping as they relate to experiences of discrimination and/or life stressors are strongly encouraged.
Proposal due date: Dec. 4, 2026
Learn more.
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New! 2026 Fall Webinar Series:
Insights into Early Childhood Mental Health & Development
The Nebraska Resource Project for Vulnerable Young Children and the University of Nebraska Center on Children, Families and the Law have announced their fall webinar series exploring key topics in early childhood development.
Featuring insights from Nebraska experts, attendees will gain practical knowledge on recognizing early signs of developmental concerns, understanding the impact of trauma, and supporting healthy growth and development.
Sept. 22, 12-1 p.m.
Child Development: Recognizing Delays
Oct. 14, 12-1 p.m.
Untangling Trauma: Navigating Diagnostic Complexity to Differentiate PTSD, Autism and ADHD in Young Children
Oct. 20, 12-1 p.m.
Roots of Resilience: Parent-Child Synchrony
Learn more.
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Miss some events you would like to check out?
Visit the NAECR website to find recordings and summaries of past events, such as NAECR Knowledge, NAECR Networking, Early Childhood Summits and more.
| | Is there an upcoming conference you want to publicize? A new publication you would like to share? Let us know! | | |
NAECR News archives available
Access past issues of NAECR News.
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NAECR News will be shared twice a month to inform the early childhood research community across the NU system.
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you and you would like to be added to the mailing list, please email us using the button above.
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