The 2025–2026 UNCG Internal Funding Competition has awarded research support to faculty advancing innovative and impactful work across disciplines.
Professor Shan Suthaharan has been awarded a $25,000 interdisciplinary grant for a project exploring community recovery and resilience in Western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. Collaborating with faculty across departments, the team will leverage cutting-edge artificial intelligence and geospatial analytics to uncover patterns in how communities recover from disasters. By identifying why some regions rebound more quickly than others, this work aims to inform future disaster preparedness and strengthen long-term resilience.
Professor Qianqian Tong was awarded $5,000 as Principal Investigator for a project focused on privacy-preserving generative AI systems. As large language models become increasingly integrated into education, research, and industry, her project addresses a growing concern: how to use these powerful tools without exposing sensitive information. By incorporating differential privacy techniques, her work seeks to enable safer and more secure interactions with AI systems.
Congratulations to Professor Shan Suthaharan and Professor Qianqian Tong on this recognition of their impactful research.
