Research News

  • November 18, 2019

    Two researchers wearing cleansuits work on detector equipment.

    Researchers prepare rocket for launch

    A team of RIT researchers is helping launch an experiment above the atmosphere to better understand extragalactic background light, which traces the history of galaxies back to the formation of the first stars in the universe.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • October 21, 2019

    Moumita Das in lobby of College of Science.

    RIT researcher receives NSF grant to help build a synthetic neuron and neural network

    Researchers from RIT and six other universities are teaming up to build synthetic neurons and a programmable network of such neurons in an effort to better understand the rules of life. The project is part of the National Science Foundation’s “Big Ideas” initiative— 10 bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering.

  • October 4, 2019

    Ifeoma Nwogu

    RIT faculty earns NSF CAREER award to study human behavior using machine learning

    Ifeoma Nwogu, an assistant professor of computer science, received an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award and grant for her five-year project to study human behavior by using machine learning techniques to analyze and find patterns in the many signals that individuals display during social interactions.

  • October 4, 2019

    Close-up of photon sensor.

    WROC-TV talks to student Justin Gallagher and Professor Don Figer, director of the Center for Detectors, about a sensor technology that may contribute to finding other planets.

  • October 3, 2019

    Student sits in front of microscope and computer.

    Student Spotlight: Pursuing research opportunities in Germany

    Alexandria Shumway was selected to do research abroad over the summer through the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) RISE program, or German Academic Exchange Service. Through this program, the fifth-year bioinformatics and computational biology (BS) and bioinformatics (MS) student traveled to Kiel, Germany, to complete her research at the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel.