The Nebraska Applied Research Institute was based at the Scott Technology Center and was supposed to move down the street to the First Data building.
An Omaha-based research institute tied to the University of Nebraska system will close at the end of the month because it couldn’t achieve self-sufficiency, NU said this week.
The 15 employees at the Nebraska Applied Research Institute will lose their jobs with the dismantling of the institute, NU spokeswoman Melissa Lee said.
NU created the institute in 2016 to connect university expertise in cybersecurity and data science with the private sector’s needs. After getting its start, the institute was expected to find contracts and grants to sustain itself, Lee said.
“We provided a runway for them, and the runway has ended,” Lee said. She called the termination of the institute “a difficult reality of the fiscal challenges the university is facing.”
NU is working to shore up a $43 million shortfall, brought on in part by the coronavirus and stagnant enrollment at some of the system’s institutions.
Daniel Podany, the institute’s chief technology officer, said in a written statement that he understands that financial constraints prevent NU from continuing to subsidize the institute.
Current research services will end, Podany said. If anyone needs cybersecurity assistance, he said, “NARI will help make introductions or recommendations over the coming months.”
Lee said that the university put $6 million into the institute but that the institute never found the financial support expected of it. The institute was based at the Scott Technology Center at 6825 Pine St. An attendant in the building Wednesday said the staff moved out a couple of months ago.
The program was eventually supposed to move into the First Data building at 6902 Pine St. Both the First Data building and the Scott Technology Center are near the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s south campus, also known as the Scott Campus.
Many consider cybersecurity a hot subject for students and researchers. The research institute was promoted as an effort to address problems faced by businesses and government entities. The institute was expected to maximize academic research being conducted largely at UNO and apply it to real-life needs.
Among other things, cybersecurity strives to prevent malicious parties from hacking into companies’ computer systems.
Lee said that the university extended its support of the research institute by a year but that the institute failed to develop an effective financial plan. She said the decision to close came from the office of NU President Ted Carter, who took over as the system’s leader at the start of the year.
Carter has a keen interest in cybersecurity, Lee said, and programs in that area are found throughout the NU system. She said that when Carter was superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, he helped form the nation’s first accredited cyber operations major.
The institute was officially a nonprofit “affiliate” of NU, set up similarly to the university’s National Strategic Research Institute. That institute delivers research and technology to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies and has earned many millions of dollars in contracts.
World-Herald librarian Michelle Gullett contributed to this report.
Our best Omaha staff photos of 2020
A couple share a kiss as fireworks erupt over downtown on New Year's Eve in Omaha.
Clouds roll in just before sunset as a pedestrian walks on Farnam Street near S. 17th Street in Omaha, Nebraska, Tuesday, January 7, 2020.
Two bald eagles share a perch under the moonlight at Chalco Hills Recreation Area in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday, January 9, 2020.
A buffalo statue catches snowflakes on its tongue Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, in downtown Omaha.
Trudy, a dachshund puppy, motivates gym goers during a lunch workout on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, at The Bodysmith.
Dense fog envelops the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge on Monday, January 13, 2020.
Preston Love Jr. organizes an annual trip of 40 high school students on a history Black Votes Matter Tour to Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, and Atlanta. Love, Jr., poses for a portrait in front of a LOVE mural near the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cornerstone Memorial at the intersection of N. 24th Street and Lake Street in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, January 10, 2020.
Irene Harris of Gretna sweeps underneath a flower and tree display prior to the 35th Annual Cathedral Flower Festival at the Saint Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday, January 24, 2020. The show with a theme of "For Everything a Season" celebrates all occasions and honors florists.
Former Vice President Joe Biden one of the candidates for the next President of the United States speaks at The Grass Wagon in Council Bluffs on Wednesday.
Officials help passengers off a plane at Eppley Airfield onto waiting vehicles from Nebraska Medicine Center on Monday in Omaha. Several passengers from a cruise ship where a COVID outbreak took place, were brought to Nebraska for treatment.
Millard South's Maddie Krull, center, hypes up her teammates before they take on Lincoln Southwest during a Class A state tournament game on Thursday.
Hunter Sallis poses for a photo Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in downtown Omaha. Sallis is one of the top ranked high school basketball players in the country and holds offers from several elite college basketball programs.
A patient in an isolation pod with the coronavirus is taken from an ambulance to the Nebraska Medicine Biocontainment unit on Friday, March 06, 2020.
Hasting's Makenna Asher hugs Bailey Kissinger after winning their Class C2 State championship game on Saturday.
A Tabitha employee waves to a group of volunteers outside as they cheer supporting messages during a shift change on Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Tabitha Health Care Services in Lincoln.
A healthcare professional walks from their tent before conducting drive-thru testing at Bryan LifePointe Campus on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Katherine Bergstrom plays with Charlie the cat near a safety table in A Novel Idea Bookstore on Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Lincoln, Nebraska. All customers who enter the store must visit the safety table to use hand sanitizer or wear gloves.
Emily Struebing, a physician assistant, adjusts her face shield before meeting with patients at an appointment-only COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in Omaha on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
Leah Hanson, 9, and others visit their grandmother from outside the Douglas County Health Center in Omaha on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. With COVID restrictions in place, it was the only way the family could see each other.
An image of Jesus is reflected in a puddle during an Easter drive up service at King of Kings Church on Saturday, April 11, 2020, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Emma Hutchinson and her father, Ralph Hutchinson, stand for a photo in his Omaha home on Thursday, May 7, 2020. They were the first and second confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Nebraska. She spent weeks in the hospital and was put on a ventilator as she recovered.
Police and protesters clash during a rally near 72nd and Dodge in Omaha on Friday, May 29, 2020.
Kyra Parker flashes the peace sign while walking backwards in a cloud of tear gas during a protest at 72nd and Dodge Streets on Friday, May 29, 2020.
The Omaha police mounted patrol are silhouetted in tear gas as they approach protesters at 72nd and Dodge Streets on Friday, May 29, 2020.
Law enforcement officers stand on 13th Street Sunday night while trying to disperse a crowd after the 8PM curfew.
A protestor walks ahead of advancing law enforcement after the 8PM curfew in downtown Omaha on Sunday.
Marchers walk east down Dodge Street towards Memorial park during a rally on Sunday, June 07, 2020.
A woman holds a "History has its eyes on you" sign while marching up the hill at Memorial Park for a solidarity rally on Sunday in Omaha.
Terrell McKinney, Leo Louis II and J Shannon hold their fists in the air with the crowd during a solidarity rally on Sunday at Memorial Park in Omaha.
Protesters gather outside Cupcake Omaha in Omaha on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. They were calling on U.S. Senate candidate Chris Janicek, who owns the bakery, to step down from the race after a series of sexually inappropriate text messages he sent to members of his staff.
J.J. Greve of Omaha, does a flip as friend Ilan Perez watches on his family’s trampoline in Elkhorn on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. The Perez family has an above ground pool, skate ramp and trampoline in their yard. With coronavirus and social distancing measures in places, families are trying to find new ways to have summer fun at home.
More than a hundred people gather for a vigil to remember James Scurlock where he was shot. Tuesday marked one month since the shooting and killing of Scurlock, a 22-year-old black man, by Jake Gardner, a white bar owner, during a protest in downtown Omaha.
Aiden Tupper picks ripe tomatoes with his siblings Janey, Blythe and Ronan at their home on Friday, July 17, 2020.
Trey Kobza can't quite catch up to this double in left during the Nebraska Prospects baseball camp at Werner Park on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
Junub Char attempts a shot while friends defend at the Bryant Center in North Omaha on Monday, July 20, 2020.
More than a hundred people attend a demonstration by Omaha-metro educators demanding a mask mandate before returning to classrooms at Memorial Park in Omaha front yard on Monday, August 3, 2020.
Union Omaha's Elma N'For, left, celebrates a goal by Sebastián Contreras in the first half to tie the match against Forward Madison FC.
Leaves start to change color on trees as a jogger runs down the south side of the Dodge Street Pedestrian bridge, as viewed from Memorial Park on Wednesday, October 21, 2020.
Elkhorn South's Katie Galligan (6) competes in the Elkhorn South vs. Papillion-La Vista South Metro Conference championship match at Papillion-La Vista South High School on Thursday, October 22, 2020.
The Elkhorn student section storms the field as Omaha Skutt Catholic players walk off the field after a game on Friday.
Millard North quarterback Jimmy Quaintance, left celebrates a touchdown with Charlie Quaintance, center, and Barrett Luce in the first quarter against Norfolk at Buell Stadium on Friday, October 23, 2020. Jimmy threw the pass to his brother Charlie.
President-elect Joe Biden supporter Isaiah Ross holds a Biden for President flag to celebrate Biden's election on the corner of 72nd and Dodge Streets in Omaha on Saturday, November 7, 2020.
Nebraska's Cam Taylor-Britt and Penn State's Jahan Dotson both go up for the ball in the end zone during their game on Saturday in Lincoln.
Iowa's Zach VanValkenburg catches a fumble from Nebraska's Adrian Martinez after he was hit by Iowa's Chauncey Golston.
The Dec. 8 explosion at 4810 S. 51st St. killed homeowner Theresa Toledo, 73, her daughter Angela Toledo, 45, and Angela's son Alexander Toledo, 28.
Omaha Fire Department investigators said Thursday that a natural gas leak at the home was ignited, causing an explosion. But fire officials have not yet determined why there was a gas release into the home.
Rick Ruggles
Rick covers higher education for The World-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @RickRuggles. Phone: 402-444-1123.
