From the Vice President for Research
Research at Florida Atlantic University is on the rise. Every day, in labs, in the field and in classrooms across our six campuses our research faculty are moving closer to new discoveries, novel technologies and innovative solutions.
Over the last several years, the number of research grant applications have gone up, resulting in more awards. Of course, that leads to more research. Soon, Florida Atlantic will cross the $100 million mark in research expenditures — a major milestone for a research institution. Our plan is not to stop there, of course, on our journey to becoming the country’s fastest-improving public research university.
We’ll continue to invest in, and grow, the research programs focused on our areas of strengths: neuroscience; biomedical research; environmental and ocean science and engineering; and sensor technology, to name a few.
World-class faculty are leading several university-wide institutes that are attracting top-tier scientists and engineers. The Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute is making ground-breaking discoveries in the study of brain development, mental health, autism, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The Institute for Sensing and Embedded Network Systems Engineering is at the forefront of autonomous machine-to-machine communications, quantum cryptography, smart cities, the Internet of Things and more.
The 200 or so ocean scientists, staff and students at Florida Atlantic Harbor Branch drive innovation in marine science and engineering; coral reef conservation; marine mammals and fisheries studies; and marine drug discovery. Our biomedical researchers are investigating devasting diseases that touch many of our lives, conducting clinical trials and harnessing the potency of genomics, informatics and clinical data to drive precision health.
The power of our innovation comes when Florida Atlantic discoveries are translated into new drugs, products, policy and technology that improve our daily lives. That’s where the university’s entrepreneurial programs such as Florida Atlantic Tech Runway, Florida Atlantic Wave, the Small Business Development Center at Florida Atlantic drive the economic vitality of our region. They help students, faculty and/or community members take a kernel of an idea and turn it into a thriving business.
All of our combined efforts at the university have put FAU’s research enterprise on a clear trajectory — on the rise.