UCF Research Highlights from 2018

Research isn’t just a number, a statistic, a figure or a dollar amount. It’s a story that begins with an idea, a need and then branches into a narrative of everyone it touches.

The beginnings of some of these stories unfold in the new 2018 annual research report published today by the University of Central Florida’s Office of Research.

“Each year we report how many projects and how much money have been generated through our researchers’ efforts,” says Elizabeth Klonoff, UCF’s vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies. “We closed the fiscal year with $183 million in research funding, but a dollar figure doesn’t really tell the whole story. Research and scholarship are not just about money. They’re about the impact they are having on our students, our community, our nation and the world.”

Some of the stories have been published as news releases, and some are making their debut in the new report. However, each one tells the story of researchers who are driven to make life better for us all.

Integral to making these achievements happen is funding.

UCF’s research funding jumped nearly 23 percent in the last year from $148.8 million in 2017 to a record $183 million in 2018. Key funding sources included the Department of Defense, NASA, National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.

Research at UCF is conducted across the campus including in the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Business, College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Health Professions and Sciences, College of Community Innovation and Education, College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Optics and Photonics, College of Sciences and Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

The Office of Research is home to several specialized hubs, including the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Florida Space Institute, Florida Solar Energy Center, NanoScience Technology Center, Center for Research in Computer Vision, and BRIDG (Bridging the Innovation to Development Gap), a versatile, boutique microelectronics-fabrication facility. UCF also helps manage the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the world’s largest and most powerful single-dish radio telescope.

The Office of Research also houses nine interdisciplinary research clusters that synergize researchers’ work to make breakthroughs. The clusters are Cyber Security and Privacy; Disability, Aging and Technology; Energy Conversion and Propulsion; Genomics and Bioinformatics; Learning Sciences; Prosthetic Interfaces; Renewable Energy Systems; Sustainable Coastal Systems; and Violence Against Women.