-
4 UCF Researchers Named as Highly Cited Researchers for 2021
Four University of Central Florida researchers have been named highly cited researchers in their field for 2021 by analytics company Clarivate, based on data from Web of Science. The annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. […]
-
UCF Part of Historic Move to Build Space Ports Around Earth
NASA’s move to develop new destinations in space announced Dec. 2 is an exciting moment in history and UCF is right in the middle of it. UCF is a member of the academic coalition that is supporting Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef project to build a commercially owned and operated space station to reside in low-Earth orbit. […]
-
UCF Chemistry Professor Leads Discussion at Chemical Weapon Forensics Symposium in Helsinki, Finland
Chemistry Professor Michael Sigman, director of UCF’s National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS), will be presenting and leading a discussion at an international conference sponsored and hosted by VERIFIN, the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, this week. The symposium is a continuation of a series of meetings held worldwide over the […]
-
Self-Assembly Landing Pads for the Moon — UCF Researchers Are Working on It
Imagine hitting a button and instantly creating a landing pad just moments before descending a rocket onto the moon or an asteroid. That’s the concept behind two research projects underway at the Florida Space Institute at UCF. FSI postdoctoral researcher Douglas Fontes worked with planetary scientist Phil Metzger and Masten Space Systems, a private company, […]
-
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test Mission Launching Today Aided by Arecibo Observatory
NASA’s mission to test out a technique to deflect asteroids is headed to a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) that the Arecibo Observatory helped identify. UCF manages the U.S. National Science Foundation facility under a cooperative agreement. Despite the telescope’s collapse in 2020, the data collected from Arecibo has played an invaluable role in past and ongoing […]
-
From Foster Care Youth to Community Advocate
Growing up with a single mother who suffered from drug abuse and mental health issues, Diamond Whitley was determined to change her trajectory and pursue a path to a better future. Her motivation to go to college started at a young age. Even though her mother wasn’t always present, Whitley was surrounded by people who […]
-
UCF Names Its Microgravity Research Center in Honor of Stephen W. Hawking
The University of Central Florida today is one step closer to becoming the first American university to name a research center after the late, world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking. The UCF’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved on Thursday that UCF’s Center for Microgravity Research, would now be known as the Stephen W. Hawking Center […]
-
First-Generation UCF Student Finds Confidence to Pursue Her Dreams
Eileen Zelaya was born in Miami, but she was raised “all over the place” because her father was in the army. From a tiny town in rural Oklahoma to New York and back to bustling Miami, one thing remained consistent: Zelaya’s mother always made room for creativity. She crafted clothes, decorations, tablecloths, pillows, earrings, necklaces […]
-
UCF, Leading Research Institutions Receive HPCwire Readers’ Choice Award
Today, a broad coalition of collaborators including UCF received the HPCwire Readers’ Choice award for Best High Performance Computing (HPC) Collaboration across academia, government, and industry. UCF was recognized at the 2021 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis alongside partners Arecibo Observatory, the NSF Cyberinfrastructure the Center of Excellence Pilot (CICoE), […]
-
New NSF-Funded Survey Aims to Understand Gender Inequity in STEM Fields
University of Central Florida researchers are starting a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project to identify systemic gender inequities impacting university STEM faculty so that they can be addressed by the institution. The $300,000, two-year project will focus on UCF. The project will study STEM faculty’s perceptions of departmental culture through the frameworks of organizational justice […]
-
UCF is the Place to Be to View the Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse of the Century
Central Floridians will have a chance to see the longest partial lunar eclipse of the century early Friday morning and it promises to put on quite the show. The best viewing opportunity in Orlando — weather permitting — will be between 3 and 4:30 am. The University of Central Florida will have telescopes out on […]
-
UCF Physics Professor Named Jefferson Science Fellow
UCF Physics Professor Humberto Campins has been named a Jefferson Science Fellow and will report to Washington D.C. beginning Nov. 21 to spend a year advising the U.S. Department of State. Campins is an international expert on asteroids. He is part of NASA’s historic OSIRIS REx mission, which is headed back to Earth with a […]
-
2 UCF Professors Inducted into Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida
A psychology professor and an engineering professor from the University of Central Florida are among 15 honorees to be inducted Nov. 6 to the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL), a group that brings together the nation’s most distinguished scholars who live and work in Florida. The induction of Pegasus Professors Deborah […]
-
New Study Shows Impact of Roadkill on World’s Vulnerable Animal Populations
Vehicular collisions are a common cause of death for animals such as the endangered Florida panther and the state’s black bears, and a new international study has quantified how big of a threat roads can be to the survival of animal populations around the world. The study has identified four animal populations globally that are […]
-
Knights Do That: PTSD Treatment That Works for Veterans, First Responders
In episode 12 of Knights Do That, we speak with Deborah Beidel, executive director of UCF RESTORES. The Pegasus Professor and Trustee Chair of Clinical Psychology and Medical Education shares her experience and expertise in PTSD treatment, innovative treatments happening at UCF RESTORES, and how we can better acknowledge and support veterans. Produced by UCF, […]
-
For the Love of Space – Student Group Hosts Multiple Space Related Events
It’s no secret UCF loves space. From a space-themed football game to its “reach for the stars” motto, space is a part of the university’s fiber. The university was founded in part to support the space industry on the Space Coast. Since then, faculty and students have participated in more than 600 NASA research projects […]
-
21 Faculty Members Inducted into UCF Scroll and Quill Society
The 21 new inductees of UCF’s Scroll and Quill Society represent a broad spectrum of academic expertise, such as fiction writing, artificial intelligence, police-community relations, nursing and terrorist recruiting tactics on social media. The Scroll and Quill Society celebrates faculty members who for at least a decade have made scholarly contributions of impact to advance […]
-
17 Teams Awarded Almost $5 Million in Jump Start Awards
Seventeen faculty and staff projects will receive about $5 million in Jump Start funds to advance UCF’s impact under President Alexander N. Cartwright’s 2021-22 Strategic Investment Program. “I am delighted that we were able to fund so many strong proposals and only wish that we had the resources to support more of them,” says Michael […]
-
2021 Another Record Year – Five Consecutive Years of Rising Research Funding
Despite a pandemic that slowed the economy; delayed or derailed some federal and private agencies’ spending plans; and frustrated supply chains, UCF generated $212.9 million in research awards — up more than $8 million from 2020. The total doesn’t include any CARES nor Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, which the federal government provided in response […]
-
3 Faculty Honored for Advancing Research, Creative Works
Three faculty members who maintained high levels of research excellence and creative works during the past year of the pandemic earned the 2021-22 UCF Women of Distinction Awards from Faculty Excellence. The winners each receive a $1,000 professional development stipend from the Office of the President and are invited to a celebration in their honor […]
-
UCF’s Expertise Gets Invite to Ivy League Network of Large Laser Energy Facilities
UCF is joining LaserNetUS, a consortium of the nation’s best large laser facilities started by the Department of Energy as a part of a broader strategy to boost the nation’s standing in intense laser science. The invitation-only 11 member- network boasts big players in the laser research world, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National […]
-
UCF Part of NASA Mission Launching Saturday to Explore Trojan Asteroids
UCF Physics Professor Dan Britt is counting down to Saturday morning when NASA’s Lucy mission is set to blast off from the Space Coast. Britt, a physicist and geologist, is part of the science team that will analyze the data Lucy collects from the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter. This area of the solar system is […]
-
UCF Student Selected as Orlando’s Second Poet Laureate
For Shawn Welcome ’17, serving as Orlando’s second Poet Laureate is the culmination of years of supporting poetic expression and storytelling in the city. From studying at UCF to working with a variety of area organizations, including the Orlando Boys & Girls Club and Hope CommUnity Center, he has deep roots in the Orlando community. […]
-
UCF Grad Student Leaves No Stone Unturned to Advance Space Exploration
This Knight leaves no stone unturned, not even on the moon. Autumn Shackelford is a physics doctoral student studying planetary bodies without atmospheres. Specifically, she is looking at the surface composition of the moon and Mercury. Being the first in her family to pursue the sciences, the Tennessee native was deeply influenced by science museums […]
-
UCF’s Brightest Shine During Luminary Awards
The UCF community celebrated the accomplishments of 15 exceptional faculty members at its annual Luminary Awards Night. UCF leadership lauded faculty members for being leaders in their fields and conducting work that has had a significant impact on the world. COVID-19 disrupted plans for the recognition ceremony in 2020 so UCF honored the 2020 and […]
-
New Resource Makes It Easier to Find Research Collaborators Across Colleges
The Office of the Provost and the Office of Research have partnered to provide those conducting research and creative works at UCF a new resource — the Scholar Expertise Portal. The portal allows faculty and students to see what kind of research and creative works their fellow colleagues are working on. You can search by […]
-
Free Lab Coat Cleaning Service Available to UCF Researchers
Beginning Wednesday, Oct. 6, faculty, students and staff who work in a research lab at UCF can say goodbye to washing their own lab coats. Those working in a lab and who have completed all their safety training will be able to walk up to one of seven kiosks, swipe their UCF ID, select a […]
-
UCF Has More Than a Dozen Research Projects Aimed at Returning the U.S. to the Moon
When the U.S. returns humans to the Moon in the coming years, there’s a good chance that University of Central Florida research will have played a role in the return, whether from landing there safely, harvesting its resources, or training the next generation of space scientists. The university, known for its extensive space research, currently has […]
-
Neptune Celebrates 175th Birthday, Still a Mystery Worth Solving
Students and community members got a nice view of the planet Neptune and its biggest moon Triton during one of September’s Knights Under the Stars events hosted at UCF’s Robinson Observatory. It was an early look at the planet, which today celebrates its 175th birthday. “I did a Neptune project all the way back in […]
-
New Dean Named for UCF’s College of Sciences
Maggy Tomova will become the next dean of UCF’s College of Sciences on Oct. 18. She joins UCF from the University of Iowa, where she currently serves as the associate dean for the Natural, Mathematical, and Social Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her appointment by Michael D. Johnson, interim provost and […]