The University of Nebraska at Omaha was recently awarded a 10-year, $36 million grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securities Science and Technology Directorate to establish national counter terrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center of Excellence on UNO’s campus.
Criminology and Criminal Justice Graduate student Clara Braun remembers when the grant was awarded to the university. She worked alongside principal investigator, Gina Ligon, who will lead the new research center.
“It was actually the day of my thesis defense that Dr.’s Ligon and Derrick decided that we were gonna go for this. So we finished up my defense, I passed, and we hit the ground running,” said Braun.
The community and state legislators have given the counter terrorism center unanimous support.
“I think UNO is special because the site visit really demonstrated that the state was behind the center,” said Braun.
The counter terrorism centers’ efforts will be led by not just the students of UNO, but students around the country.
“The collaboration across institutions from east to west coast is really more focused on the students,” Braun explained.
This means that there will be virtually endless possibilities for students when the counter terrorism center is up and running.
“There will be a lot of internships available across the nation with our partner institutions. We are implanting a counter terrorism PhD program,” elaborated Braun.
Clara Braun emphasized why UNO is the perfect place for this counterterrorism center.
“I think it’s just the willingness of our students to be mentored. You know, I don’t look at UNO as a campus where people come to just get a degree. People want to have careers, they want do big things and make waves in their fields. And our center is the way for that to really happen.”
