The University of California, Davis, is pleased to announce new awards totaling $1.2 million from the Bridge Funding Initiative supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation. This investment will provide critical resources to six high‑impact basic science projects during a period when early‑stage research often faces significant funding uncertainty. The initiative will enable faculty researchers and graduate students to maintain continuity in their work across science, engineering and medicine.
“This one-time grant program by the Keck Foundation represents an important commitment to supporting and retaining early-career faculty and graduate researchers, strengthening their ability to advance innovative scientific discovery,” said Simon Atkinson, vice chancellor for research at UC Davis. “It also underscores our shared commitment to fostering innovation and supporting the next generation of scientific leaders.”
Last year, the Office of Research issued a campus-wide call for proposals from faculty–graduate student pairs, resulting in nine submissions. An internal review committee evaluated each application in alignment with the priorities outlined in the Bridge Funding Initiative guidelines. Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Cristina Davis evaluated the review committee’s recommendations out of which six projects were nominated for funding. The selected teams will use the funding to support ongoing experiments, acquire essential research materials, and maintain personnel continuity — elements that enable early‑stage projects to thrive and progress toward future external funding and long‑term success.
“We are grateful for the Keck Foundation’s support for the exciting and important research efforts of our early career researchers — both faculty and students,” said Davis. “The breadth of these projects is astonishing — from attacking the tiniest viruses to exploring the universe.”
Learn more about the funded College of Letters and Science project below.
Polymer‑engineered electrodes unlock a new pathway for converting captured CO₂ into cement‑ready oxalate materials
Another funded project led by Jesús M. Velázquez, associate professor of chemistry, and graduate student Richard Gómez Caballero is exploring a creative new way to turn captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) into a solid material that can be used to make cement. This approach could help reduce carbon emissions by actively utilizing CO₂ as a feedstock to create a valuable building product.
Instead of using traditional methods that rely on harmful heavy metals, the research team is developing special coated electrodes that need only tiny, trace amounts of metal to work. These coatings help guide CO₂ through a chemical process that turns it into a solid called oxalate.
The team will test different types of protective films to see how they affect the reaction and how well they help convert CO₂ into a material that can be easily collected and used. By understanding how these films influence the process, the researchers hope to create a practical, scalable way to produce oxalate that can go straight into cement manufacturing.
In the long run, this work aims to show that CO₂ can be captured and transformed into a valuable ingredient for next‑generation, more sustainable cement—offering a novel solution for both the environment and the construction industry.
About the W. M. Keck Foundation
The W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, the W. M. Keck Foundation supports outstanding science, engineering and medical research. The Foundation also supports undergraduate education and maintains a program within Southern California to support arts and culture, education, health and community service projects.
This article originally appeared on the UC Davis Office of Research website.
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