Sponsored Research

Sponsored Research The University has become a world center for research in such vital areas as polymer science, artificial intelligence, microwave engineering, and most recently, the life sciences. Scientific breakthroughs and technological advances have included a Nobel prize-winning demonstration of gravitational waves and pulsars, development of super-strong polymers, improved preservation techniques for military field rations, better radar detection of hurricanes and tornadoes from air and space, and design of computer search engines for government and commerce. The first synthesis of a vaccine for chlamydia was developed on campus, leading to two patents for an oral vaccine and one for a diagnostic test.

Campus researchers are pioneering efforts in so-called ‘green chemistry’ by designing materials less toxic to the environment, such as biologically degradable polymers. The University also hosts the world’s foremost lab for research on iron-reducing bacteria and their role in environmental clean-up.

Neuroendocrinology, a new interdisciplinary science studying the interactions of the nervous system with the hormone-producing endocrine glands, is represented in the Center for Neuroendocrine Studies. Bringing together researchers from the departments of biology, psychology, and veterinary and animal sciences, the center has quickly become one of the most productive in the nation. Another promising new area is bioinformatics, combining the fields of computational molecular biology, biological databases, and genome bioinformatics.

Already the third largest producer of Ph.D.s in Massachusetts (after Harvard and M.I.T), the University is also now one of the top three producers of Ph.D.s in the biological and agricultural sciences, particularly for pioneering research in the cloning of transgenic cattle for eventual large-scale production of biopharmaceuticals.

On the international level, the University in a joint venture with the Mexican government is building a large millimeter wave telescope on a mountain peak 150 miles east of Mexico City. When operational, it will be the world’s largest, most sensitive radio telescope, enabling researchers to better study the origins of galaxies, stars, planets, and life itself.

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