Research
Research
Our cross-disciplinary research programs with world-class scientists promote new ways of thinking and doing in a rapidly changing world.
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Research News
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November 8, 2019
![Simulation of an accretion disk surrounding a supermassive black hole.]()
New study suggests ‘Pac-Man-like’ mergers could explain massive, spinning black holes
Scientists have reported detecting gravitational waves from 10 black hole mergers to date, but they are still trying to explain the origins of those mergers. The largest merger detected so far seems to have defied previous models because it has a higher spin and mass than the range thought possible. A group of researchers, including RIT Assistant Professor Richard O’Shaughnessy, has created simulations that could explain how the merger happened.
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November 5, 2019
![Professor writes equation on dry-erase board.]()
RIT researchers working to build the basis of life
WROC-TV talks to Moumita Das, associate professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, about her work with neurons and an NSF-funded project to build synthetic neurons.
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October 31, 2019
![Equipment involving a needle and spinning disk.]()
Research at RIT aims to build neurons from scratch
WXXI talks to Moumita Das, associate professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, about her work with neurons and an NSF-funded project to build synthetic neurons.
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October 29, 2019
![photo of chemistry research student Liam Reilly]()
Student to Student: Sustainable polymers
Liam Reilly became motivated to participate in research on sustainable polymers when he learned of the damaging effects of plastic production on our environment. His research is centered on one specific relationship we have with nature, our production and disposal of our most commonly produced material: Plastic.
World-Class Research
The Center for Advancing STEM Teaching, Learning & Evaluation (CASTLE) is a network of faculty, projects and programs engaged in scholarship surrounding STEM education.
The mission of the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation (CCRG) is to advance knowledge and discovery at the frontiers of relativistic astrophysics, gravitational physics, and cosmology, while pursuing new exciting research directions, in connection with new experiments and observations.
The Center for Detectors designs, develops, and implements photon devices to enable scientific discoveries. CfD educates and trains students through research and development in detectors, instrumentation, observational astrophysics, nanostructures, silicon photonics, quantum optics and information, and wide-bandgap materials. Staff and student researchers investigate high impact engineering and development problems through external financial support from federal agencies, private foundations, national laboratories, and industry.
Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing (DIRS) focuses on the development of tools to extract information about the earth from satellite, manned and unmanned (drone) aircraft imaging systems. Our students and staff researchers work hand-in-hand to utilize their expertise in physics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering to solve end-to-end applied remote sensing problems in agriculture, natural resource management, and matters of National intelligence and defense.
The Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation is home to a new interdisciplinary signature research program on the "Frontiers in Gravitational Wave Astrophysics”. The program aims at pushing new frontiers in gravitational wave observations, bringing together leading experts in the new field of multi-messenger astrophysics.
The mission of the Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics is to foster the utilization and advancement of cutting-edge techniques in multiwavelength astrophysics by RIT faculty, research staff, and students, so as to improve human understanding of the origin and fate of the universe and its constituents.
The Program of Color Science and Munsell Color Science Laboratory work closely with researchers in the fundamental scientific disciplines of biology (human and animal vision), chemistry (colorants and formulation), physics (optical spectroscopy and illumination sources), mathematics (modeling of systems and observers), and psychology (understanding color perception).
The NanoImaging Laboratory use the tools of imaging science to characterize materials at the micro- and nano-scale, using electron microscopy. The tools include imaging, electron diffraction, and x-ray microanalysis to determine the elemental composition of materials.
Affiliated Research Initiatives
Recent Grant Awards
| Initial Award | Title | PI |
| 6/17/2019 | Diffractive Lightsails | Swartzlander, Grover |
| 5/30/2019 | Fully Relativistic Studies of Black Hole Binaries with Applications to Gravitational Wave Observations | Lousto, Carlos |
| 5/24/2019 | Development of a new, filament-base, low-energy, single-pulse cardiac defibrillation technique | Otani, Niels |
| 5/8/2019 | GWBC19: Integrating dynamical systems and machine learning to study paleoclimate data | Malik, Nishant |
| 5/8/2019 | GWBC19: Arctic Sea Ice Image Reconstruction and Localization | Lu, Guoyu |
Our state-of-the-art facilities for math and science education are designed to promote engagement between faculty and students.