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New UCF, Moroccan University Partnership to Develop Exchange Programs
The international partnership will promote faculty exchanges, joint classes, research and other activities. By Gene Kruckemyer UCF and Al Akhawayn University in Morocco signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday creating an international partnership to promote faculty exchanges, joint classes, research and other activities. The agreement was signed by UCF President Dale Whittaker and AUI […]
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MyPoliticalScience Day Kicks off Second Event for Political Science Students
The Political Science department hosted its second myPoliticalScience Day in the Student Union on September 28. The event informed students about academic, extra-curricular, and career opportunities for students enrolled in Political Science and International & Global Studies, which are both housed in the Political Science department. The Political Science department held its first MyPoliticalScience Day […]
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UCF Selling Experimental Martian Dirt — $20 a Kilogram, Plus Shipping
The University of Central Florida is selling Martian dirt, $20 a kilogram plus shipping. This is not fake news. A team of UCF astrophysicists has developed a scientifically based, standardized method for creating Martian and asteroid soil known as simulants. The team published its findings this month in the journal Icarus. “The simulant is useful […]
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UCF RESTORES Clinic Receives Grant to Develop New VR Software to Treat PTSD
By Robert Wells A new $3 million grant from the Department of Defense will help the University of Central Florida’s RESTORES clinic develop its own virtual reality software to treat first responders, veterans, active duty personnel and civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders. The clinic currently uses third-party software. However, the […]
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UCF Student Studies Algal Blooms Impact on Sea Turtles in Indian River Lagoon
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Long before the algal blooms on Florida’s Gulf Coast sparked surprise and outrage, University of Central Florida doctoral student Chris Long was studying the effects of similar episodes on threatened green sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon. Algae blooms regularly hit the Indian River Lagoon and were especially intense from 2011 […]
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UCF Lecturer’s Service-Learning Research is Cover of Academic Journal
By Rachel Stamford A UCF chemistry lecturer’s pioneering service-learning research on sucralose in the Orlando Easterly Wetlands has put her on the cover of a premier academic journal. Dr. Emily Heider was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Central Florida developing sensors to detect mercury in water before she was hired in 2015 […]
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The 2018-19 Distinguished Speaker Series is Here!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back for its fifth edition. Starting in September, six speakers will present on new technology and research in their respective fields. The 2018-2019 series will be held monthly (excluding November and December) at the Tuscawilla Country Club from September 2018 to April 2019 at […]
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International Study Suggests Ancient Globalization
Using energy consumption as a measure, a team of international scientists has found that ancient civilizations engaged in globalization more than previously believed, suggesting that an integrated global economy is nothing new and may have benefited societies for ages. This archaeological research is the first of its kind, because instead of focusing on specific regions […]
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UCF’s International Chemistry Exchange Program Changing Lives
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Carlos Salazar is wrapping up a month-long educational experience in one of UCF’s chemistry labs this week – and he says it has changed his life. “I had only read about computational chemistry and chemistry modeling back home” in Peru, Salazar says. “We don’t really have access to that, but now I’m […]
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UCF RESTORES PTSD Clinic Renamed
By Rachel Williams The PTSD clinic of UCF RESTORES has been renamed in honor of alumus Jim Rosengren ‘81 and his wife Julia, who donated $1 million to the clinic. In a ceremony Friday, the Rosengrens and Deborah Beidel, the clinic’s director and a Pegasus professor of psychology, unveiled the new name: Rosengren Trauma Clinic […]
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Digging Up Rosewood
Anthropology visiting lecturer Edward Gonzalez-Tennant, Ph.D., spent the last decade of his life researching what happened almost a century ago in Rosewood, Florida. The recent release of his book, The Rosewood Massacre: An Archaeology and History of Intersectional Violence, and the last remaining house from Rosewood that was just put on the market, have brought the town […]
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Researchers Receive $1.25 Million Grant to Map Marine Ecosystems With Drones
By Rachel Wimmer You may soon be able to spot UCF drones collecting data all along the Pacific coast — from Baja California to Alaska. Timothy Hawthorne, assistant professor of GIS in the Department of Sociology, and his collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution, Cornell University and the University of California-Davis recently received a $1.25 million grant […]
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Pluto a Planet? New Research from UCF Suggests Yes
By Robert H. Wells The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid, according to new research from the University of Central Florida. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it to “clear” its orbit, or in other words, be the […]
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One Alumna’s Journey from UCF to HuffPost
By Jenna Marina Lee The day Lindsay Holmes ’12 moved into a tiny, way-uptown, three-bedroom apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, she still couldn’t believe she was there on a one-way ticket. “It sort of reminded me of what I felt like when I started at UCF. It almost felt like extended vacation […]
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Kurdish Political Studies Program Welcomes Resident Senior Fellow Haidar Khezri, Ph.D.
In fall 2018, Haidar Khezri, Ph.D., joined the Kurdish Political Studies Program (KPSP) as visiting faculty and senior fellow from Indiana University (IU), Bloomington. Dr. Khezri, born in Iranian Kurdistan, holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Damascus University in Syria, and a M.A. in comparative literature from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran. He […]
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OSIRIS-REx on Final Approach to Bennu
There’s no better tool to teach students about physics than to see it at work in the real world. That’s why UCF professor Humberto Campins decided to teach this semester despite the heavy research load he knows will be coming. “I thought about taking time off to complete my work for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission,” Campins […]
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Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation honors Larry Bradley ’94 for his contributions to space exploration Larry Bradley once discovered the most distant galaxy in the universe (at the time). Now he will be recognized by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation at the Innovators Gala in Washington D.C. on Aug. 25. Bradley has been selected as the recipient of […]
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UCF Coastal Working to Find Solutions for our Coastal Communities
By Rachel Stamford Recently, Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency due to red tide, a toxic algae bloom, that is devastating the southwestern coast of Florida. The UCF National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, also known as UCF Coastal, will serve as a mechanism to find solutions to this problem and many […]
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Screening Frogs for Infectious Disease
An undergraduate researcher has developed a method to screen frogs for an infectious disease that has been linked to mass die-offs of frogs around the world. Thanks to her method, scientists will be able to track the disease and try to figure out why it is triggering the deaths. Emily Karwacki, who recently earned her […]
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Arecibo With an Expanded View
The National Science Foundation has awarded a team of scientists $5.8 million to design and mount a supersensitive antenna at the focal point of the Arecibo Observatory’s 1,000-foot-diameter dish, which is managed by the University of Central Florida. The antenna, called a phased-array feed, will increase the telescopes’ observation capabilities 500 percent. The team, led […]
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The Future of Cryptocurrency
A UCF graduate, a group of students, and a first-of-its kind master’s program could help change the way we look at money. The very beginnings of the most widely known digital currency, Bitcoin, are veiled in mystery. Conceptualized and launched as an immediate response to the worldwide financial crisis in 2008, Bitcoin was the brainchild […]
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UCF Professor Discovers First-of-its-Kind Material for the Quantum Age
A UCF physicist has discovered a new material that has the potential to become a building block in the new era of quantum materials, those that are composed of microscopically condensed matter and expected to change our development of technology. Researchers are entering the Quantum Age, and instead of using silicon to advance technology they […]
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College of Sciences Sets New Research Funding Record
The University of Central Florida received a record $183 million in research funding for 2018. It’s a 23 percent increase from last year and a 37 percent increase from 2015. Among the many projects that helped propel UCF’s research funding to its highest ever are the management of one of the world’s most powerful fully operational […]
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Using Math to Predict Disease
A UCF student is in Knoxville, Tennessee, combining math and biology to research mosquito-borne disease. Hanna Reed, a mathematics major, accepted the National Institute for Mathematical and Biology Synthesis’ highly competitive Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates. Reed heads to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to work on a biology project. Reed has experience with […]
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Untraditional Path to Traditional Medicine
Alumna Uma Ramoutar is making history. She’s one of just 50 students selected for the first class of the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). Initially a biology major with a psychology minor, Ramoutar chose a different path to medical school in search of a broader education. “Though […]
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UCF Physics Professor: Yes, The Rock’s ‘Skyscraper’ Jump is Possible
In the soon-to-be-released film Skyscraper, a war veteran with a prosthetic leg sprints across the arm of a construction crane, launching himself in a seemingly insane jump toward the broken, open window of an adjacent building. The building is ablaze, and his family is trapped in a 240-floor building, above the fire line. Dwayne “The Rock” […]
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Alumnus Takes Legal Action for Minority Community
For alumnus Rishi Bagga, attending UCF was a last minute choice after visiting the campus with his older sister. However, majoring in political science was the obvious choice. “My first interest in politics came through my dad,” he said. “But the real kicker came when I joined my high school debate team; I loved hanging […]
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UCF Joins International Consortium Aimed at Helping Coastal Communities
The University of Central Florida recently became a member of the Blue Community Consortium, which aims to help develop sustainable and economically successful coastal communities worldwide. UCF’s National Center for Integrated Coastal Research – known as UCF Coastal – joined the consortium this month as part of its ongoing efforts to help develop sustainable, resilient and economically successful […]
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Physicist Selected for $750,000 Early Career Energy Grant
UCF physics Assistant Professor Michael Chini is one of 84 scientists across the nation selected today for a Department of Energy grant through the Office of Science Early Career Research Program. Chini, who has been an assistant professor at UCF since 2015 and earned his doctorate here in 2012, will receive $150,000 each year for the […]
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Biology Student Wins DURA Award
Biology student Adam Searles received a Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Award (DURA) award for his research on his project Determining Physical and Ecological Factors Affecting Abundances of Juvenile Indicator Species in the Indian River Lagoon. The $200 scholarship funded by SGA is awarded to undergraduate students who have conducted outstanding academic research at UCF. “It shows […]