OFFICE OF RESEARCH

By  //  March 12, 2013

NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

The Office of the Vice President for Research supports all faculty and student endeavors to explore innovative solutions to the nation’s most challenging issues.

As a national research university, over the past decade, Florida Tech has made major additions and improvements to facilities that enhance the research components of nearly all aspects of undergraduate and graduate education. Along with these facility improvements, 34 research institutes and centers, and major labs have been established to focus on particular areas of study and in many cases encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. These research institutes, centers and major laboratories represent significant university research capability that supplements the various research university departments and program-related activities and facilities.

Research Sponsored Projects

The current value of Research Sponsored Projects is over $94 million. The number of Florida Tech faculty who serve as principal investigators has also doubled in the last three years to 90—four of which have received prestigious NSF Career Awards. University faculty expended $16.5 million to buy equipment, support students, pay salaries and to cover general expenses. In addition to over a dozen research centers, five new interdisciplinary research institutes were initiated that are the focal point for Florida Tech undergraduate and graduate research. These new research university institutes include: Human Centered Design Institute, Institute for Energy Systems, Institute for Marine Research, Institute for Materials Science & Nanotechnology and Institute for Research on Global Climate Change.

The Applied Research Laboratory (ARL)

Particularly noteworthy is the multidisciplinary Applied Research Laboratory facility located less than two miles from the Melbourne campus. The ARL houses research in ocean engineering, advanced materials, polymer flammability, lasers and electro-optics, psychology, neural network-based autonomous sensing systems and high magnetic-field physics.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities

As a member institute in the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of 98 colleges and universities and contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy, Florida Tech gives students and faculty access to federal research facilities throughout the country and is informed about opportunities for fellowship, scholarship and research appointments.

The Southern Association for Research In Astronomy

Florida Tech leads the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA), a consortium of ten universities that operates one-meter-class automated telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile. SARA supports faculty and student research in a wide variety of areas such as planetary science, stellar astronomy and active galaxies. SARA also hosts a unique multi-institution Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program funded by the National Science Foundation.