Research News

CBC News talks to Matthew Hoffman, associate professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences, and Christy Tyler, associate professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, about microplastics.

RIT had its second best year ever in sponsored research funding and a record year for research expenditures in fiscal year 2019. RIT received 366 new awards totaling $74 million in funding, and expenditures grew to $58 million.

NASA is awarding a team of researchers from RIT and Dartmouth College a grant to develop a detector capable of sensing and counting single photons that could be crucial to future NASA astrophysics missions. The extremely sensitive detector would allow scientists to see the faintest observable objects in space, such as Earth-like planets around other stars.

Researchers have helped develop a new technique for quantifying entanglement that has major implications for developing the next generation of technology in computing, simulation, secure communication and other fields. The researchers outlined their new method for measuring entanglement in a recent Nature Communications article.

Scientists have mapped the DNA of bacteria found within a chronic disease affecting grapevines, a feat they hope will ultimately help protect the multibillion-dollar grape industry that produces juice, jelly, wine and other important products.

RIT is helping more students from nontraditional pathways get hands-on experience in scientific research early in their academic careers through a unique summer program focused on mentorship.

The 28th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, held on Aug. 1, is structured as a professional research conference. Research themes included everything from fundamental microbiology to the fine arts.

The National Science Foundation awarded RIT a grant to conceptualize a new institute that would be at the forefront of quantum science and technology. RIT received $150,000 in funding from the NSF’s Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes program to create a plan for an institute that would expand quantum science and technology capabilities through quantum photonic integrated circuits.

RIT’s genomics research capabilities have evolved significantly over the past year. The university has invested heavily in revamping and equipping its Genomics Research Lab Cluster. The overhauled genomics facilities will boost capabilities for researchers in multiple disciplines, including bioinformatics, biotechnology and environmental science.

Thirty years after the Center for Imaging Science building was dedicated, it is now home to more than 150 students studying imaging science at the undergraduate and graduate level.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will award two RIT faculty members a grant to map roadside infestations of five key invasive plant species in the Finger Lakes and Adirondack Park over the next two years.

Sky & Telescope reports that a recent study by RIT suggests the dwarf galaxy Antlia 2 had a long-ago run-in with our galaxy, rippling and warping its disk. But not everyone agrees with that scenario.