With record success, UConn Research hopes for profound impact

UConn investigators won $367 million in grants in fiscal year 2024, up $45 million from 2023 and a key step toward the university’s strategic plan goal of exceeding the $500 million mark.

In addition, spending in 2024 – a key metric for assessing research productivity at colleges and universities across the country – reached $342 million, setting a UConn record.

The increases in research awards and spending are tangible evidence of the depth and breadth of UConn’s expertise, its capacity for innovation, its research excellence, and its commitment to our communities. Indeed, UConn faculty members are dedicated to tackling some of the greatest challenges of our time, and research funding makes their work possible.

“We are developing a deeper understanding of issues such as grid stability, responsible energy consumption and production, health across the life course, cybersecurity, human rights, sustainability and much more,” says Pamir Alpay, Vice President of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “And we have the ability to make a profound difference for generations to come.”

In a highly competitive funding environment, UConn stands out for the quality of its faculty and the excellence of its research infrastructure, which benefits from significant investments by the State of Connecticut, including the new Science 1 research and education facility. These assets have enabled UConn to build interdisciplinary collaborations and forge strong partnerships with business and industry, both of which are critical to sustaining research over the long term.

“Our research success is no accident,” says Alpay. “We have purposefully focused our growth on leveraging existing strengths in areas such as the environment, materials and manufacturing, education, human rights, and health and life sciences, and expanding our capabilities through investments in faculty, infrastructure, and core centers and institutes. The result is a stronger national profile and the ability to recruit and retain outstanding faculty members and students who, in turn, help build UConn’s research enterprise.”

“Our research initiatives have enhanced all aspects of the university, including student education, sustainability, community service, innovation and entrepreneurship, and the quality of health care in our hospitals and clinics across the state,” says UConn President Radenka Maric. “Through our research programs, UConn directly contributes to the environmental, economic and social vitality of the state and to the well-being and quality of life of Connecticut’s citizens.”

One example of how research funding is driving programs that address real-world problems is the recent $10 million grant received from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to open the New England Region Environmental Justice–Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ-TCTAC). As one of 17 regional centers selected in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, the New England EJ-TCTAC will build capacity in underserved and rural/remote communities to address environmental and energy justice issues and serve as a focal point for resources and technical assistance. The program will provide technical assistance services, education, outreach, and community engagement in the areas of environmental quality and health, energy justice, climate adaptation, and civic justice.

UConn’s public mission is a key to its success. “As a public university, our job is to advance knowledge in service of the public good,” says Alpay. “Research teams on our campuses work with individuals and communities to understand and address the challenges they face. Community connections shape our research programs and provide answers where they are needed. Our work to build community resilience in response to climate change, our efforts in public policy, and our engagement with industry to support economic development are great examples.”

Among UConn’s most prominent efforts to connect research, innovation, and public service is QuantumCT, a collaboration led by UConn and Yale in partnership with state government, business, and community leaders that aims to make Connecticut an engine for economic development that advances my innovations in quantum technologies and provides opportunities to communities. UConn and Yale received a 2023 Regional Innovation Engine Development Award from the National Science Foundation to begin building the QuantumCT innovation engine.

“Pioneering research is one of the key characteristics that separates great universities from good universities,” says Maric, a well-known researcher in clean energy engineering. “The continued upward trajectory of UConn Research funding shows how much respect our faculty enjoys around the world.”

The increase in awards comes at a time when the university’s research strength is being recognized in other ways, from awards for early career researchers to the election of older scientists as members of prestigious societies. In addition, several UConn and UConn Health faculty members are regularly included in Web of Science’s annual list of most highly cited researchers, including five in 2023. The list recognizes researchers whose publications were among the top 1% cited in their field and publication year, demonstrating significant research influence among their peers.

Research is also key to the quality of education we can offer our students. Because UConn faculty are leaders in their fields, they prepare their students for the new challenges of the world. Thanks in part to their research excellence, UConn has attracted the highest number of applications for first-year admission in its history, including 148 valedictorian or second-best students.

“While I am pleased with the success of UConn Research, we are not resting on our laurels,” says President Maric. “We have set a goal of $500 million in research funding and intend to meet – and exceed – that goal.”