-
UCF Office of Research Awards 3 Faculty Fellowships to Accelerate Research Enterprise
Three UCF faculty members have been awarded fellowships by the UCF Office of Research to advance the university’s research efforts over the coming year. The selected fellows — Vladimir Boginski, Nichole Lighthall and Dinender Singla — will develop and implement programs that can help improve faculty grant success and accelerate the growth of the research […]
-
UCF Ranks in Top 15 in Nation for Best Public Universities, Social Mobility by Washington Monthly
UCF is intensely focused on helping students of all backgrounds succeed. As a result of the university’s success, UCF is among the nation’s top universities overall and for social mobility — according to the Washington Monthly magazine’s 2025 rankings released this week. For the past decade, UCF has made great strides in the area of social […]
-
Celebrating 5 Years of UCF Downtown: Transforming Lives and Our Community Through Education
Five years ago today, students stepped onto the newly constructed UCF Downtown campus for the first time in downtown Orlando. Since then, UCF has awarded over 10,300 degrees to downtown students, strengthening Central Florida’s talent pipeline and contributing to the region’s economic vitality. UCF Downtown is home to students in select majors across the university’s […]
-
4 Volunteers Will Spend 45 Days in a NASA-simulated Mars Habitat — How Will They Handle Isolation, Mental Health?
NASA has its sights set on Mars, a key target for learning more about science, technology and whether life exists on the red planet. Experts around the world are developing technologies that may eventually allow humans to live and work on Mars. But making the long trek to Mars is still years — perhaps decades […]
-
UCF Planetary Scientist’s Expertise Informs New Method for Terraforming Mars
Mars remains in humanity’s crosshairs as a promising planet to colonize due to its great potential in becoming habitable someday. With this in mind, UCF Planetary Scientist Ramses Ramirez, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University analyzed Martian climate models to study the possibility of using Mars-based nanoparticles to warm […]
-
UCF Scientists Study Starship Launchpad in Preparation for Future NASA Lunar Missions
Scientists at UCF are gathering valuable data for humanity’s next venture back to the moon and even for potential lunar settlements. UCF physics doctoral candidate Brandon Dotson and Florida Space Institute planetary scientist Phil Metzger ’00MS ’05PhD analyzed rock samples from the first SpaceX Starship rocket launch in April 2023 that triggered a unique reaction […]
-
Gilman Scholars Making a Difference in World and Beyond
When UCF Knights embark on their collegiate journey, there are many places their education will take them. One of those places are overseas. With the support of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, 15 UCF students will have the opportunity to further their education internationally by studying abroad. Each recipient is awarded up to […]
-
UCF Student Uses Stories of the Past to Educate Current, Future Generations
For anthropology major and soon-to-be graduate Griffon Binkowski, the studies of humans and culture allows him to showcase the lives of those before us, providing information for future generations to learn from. Through his studies at UCF and as an educator at the Orange County Regional History Center (OCRHC), Binkowski has conducted research and educated […]
-
UCF Researchers Develop Nano-treatment to Help Save Florida Mangroves from Deadly Disease
Mangroves and palm trees are hallmarks of the Sunshine State not just for their beauty but for their immense importance to Florida’s coastlines. Mangroves are crucial because they naturally protect coastal shores from storm damage and serve as vital wildlife habitats around the world. Scientists at the University of Central Florida are working to preserve […]
-
UCF Knights to Represent at 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Paralympics
Six Knights will represent America, Denmark, Germany and Lithuania at the 2024 Summer Olympics (July 26-Aug. 11) and Paralympics (Aug. 28-Sept. 8) in Paris. These athletes exemplify the spirit and dedication of Knight Nation. Watch the events on NBC or stream via Peacock as you cheer them on. Kyle Coon ’13 Event dates: Sept. 1-2 […]
-
Trio of Graduating UCF Doctoral Students Showcase Excellence in Physics
Many of the 4,460 Knights who graduate from UCF this summer represent a growing diversity of students in both background and course of study. A small, stand-out group of these Knights are completing doctoral degrees in physics, signifying efforts to combat the larger national trend of underrepresented graduate degree-holders in the field. Currently, only 7% […]
-
UCF Biology Student Luciana Banquero Wins Statewide Aylesworth Scholarship
Luciana Banquero, a graduate student studying marine science in UCF’s Biology department in the College of Sciences, has won the notable Aylesworth Scholarship from Florida Sea Grant.
-
UCF Students Shine at Prestigious NAHJ Conference in Los Angeles
Nine students in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media receive conference support from scholarships. By Katie Coronado Thousands of college students and journalism professionals from the U.S. and around the world gathered this past week to network and learn the latest in the news business at the 2024 National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) […]
-
UCF Launches Inaugural Mentorship, Scholarship Initiative for Students in AI
Faculty in UCF’s College of Sciences and College of Engineering and Computer Science are preparing incoming students to keep pace with the emerging multidisciplinary field of artificial intelligence. A team of five faculty, led by UCF’s Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV), recently received a U.S. National Science Foundation grant totaling nearly $2.5 million […]
-
5 Questions with UCF Alum Richard Bilbao: New Editor-in-Chief of Orlando Business Journal
After starting at the Orlando Business Journal (OBJ) as a reporter in 2008, Richard Bilbao ’07’s has been appointed editor-in-chief for the publication. In his sixteen years at OBJ, the UCF journalism alum has also worked as a digital producer and as an associate managing editor. As an experienced journalist, Bilbao has also won awards […]
-
UCF Biologist Continues Unraveling Mystery of Magnetic Bacteria
The remarkable ability of migratory animals to navigate and recall routes may be attributed to a sensitivity to not just Earth’s magnetic fields, but perhaps an interaction with magnetic bacteria living inside them. The relationship between these magnetic bacteria and the animals they reside in is not yet fully understood, but UCF Department of Biology […]
-
UCF Awards Promotion and Tenure to 104 Faculty
UCF faculty members across the university achieved significant career milestones in earning promotions and tenure for the 2023-24 cycle. The 104 approved faculty — 63 for promotion, 40 for promotion and tenure and one for tenure — underwent a rigorous performance evaluation by peers, college and university leaders that took nearly an academic year. The […]
-
Remembering Frank Kujawa, UCF’s Longest-Serving Faculty Member
July 1969 was a monumental time for Frank and Ann Kujawa. On the fifth of the month, they were married and about to travel from their home in Baltimore to Orlando for Frank’s final interview with UCF. Eleven days later, they sat atop the school’s engineering building to watch the Apollo 11 launch. That summer […]
-
UCF Student Honored with Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
Biology student Robin Marquez was selected from 1,353 nominees nationally for the highly competitive Goldwater Scholarship. This year, only 438 total scholars were selected. The U.S. Congress established the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986 to honor the lifetime work of Sen. Barry Goldwater, who served as a soldier for almost six […]
-
UCF’s First Mission to the Moon Passes Two Critical Milestones
In the spring of 2024, NASA’s Lunar-VISE, or Lunar Vulkan Imaging Spectroscopy Explorer, mission passed through two critical milestones on its continued successful path to the Moon in 2027. Lunar-VISE is a NASA Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program-selected mission. In late January and early February, the Lunar-VISE team […]
-
13 Knights Recognized Among OBJ’s 40 Under 40 for 2024
Recently, Orlando Business Journal celebrated its 2024 40 Under 40 honorees, which include 13 Knights Meet the alumni, students and staff who are making an impact in their industries and across The City Beautiful. Zac AlfsonSenior director of marketing and communications, Central Florida Community ArtsDegree: Former stage management and integrative general studies student Jenny Austin […]
-
Two Promising UCF Researchers Earn 2024 NSF CAREER Awards
UCF assistant professors Li Fang and Fan Yao have been named 2024 U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development program (CAREER) award winners. The recipients were awarded funding through five years for their submitted projects. Fang, who is an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of Physics within the College of Sciences, is using […]
-
11 Knights Earn NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Recognitions for 2024
Five Knights have earned the most prestigious STEM research fellowship in the United States. Another six have earned honorable mentions for the award. Five UCF alums have received U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF), which supports outstanding graduate students in STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited […]
-
UCF Student’s Primitive Asteroids Work Provides Context for Further Research, Future NASA Missions
The primitive asteroids that UCF physics doctoral student Brittany Harvison studies carry with them traces of their origins and billions of years of our solar system’s history. Harvison recently pored through a library of infrared telescope data to analyze the spectral composition of 25 members of the Erigone family of primitive asteroids and help fill […]
-
UCF Alums Provide Scholarship Support to Nontraditional Students in STEM
When we think of a person’s legacy, we tend to think of something left behind — a posthumous work or achievement, a bequest to a loved one. For John ’91MBA and Cynthia Chamberlin ’95 ’98MBA, they didn’t want to think about their legacy in the past tense; they wanted to build one they could see in their […]
-
Grant awarded to UCF will help recruit promising STEM students
A newly awarded grant will unlock some new opportunities for ten promising science and engineering students at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Talat Rahman and Dr. Mihai Vaida were recently awarded an NSF REU Site grant entitled “Research in materials for energy applications”. The $427,000, three-year grant will provide ten undergraduate students opportunities to […]
-
UCF Student Graduates After Studying Online from Ukraine, Providing Aid
Mia Willard began her UCF education from Kyiv before war broke out. In the midst of explosions and near misses, she continued an amazing undergraduate journey that took her deeper into danger. It’s logical to ask this question to a UCF student on the verge of graduation: How do you plan to celebrate? Posing the question […]
-
UCF Scholar’s Study Could Help Strengthen Disaster Preparedness and Response in U.S. Territories
Dr. Sara Belligoni, a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Central Florida (UCF), and UCF Alumna, may do more than advance her education and career. She may also help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters such as tropical storms and hurricanes. Her recent study, “Held in the Grip: Political Status, Governing Institutions, […]
-
From UCF to the Big Screen: Alum’s Award-winning Film Sparks Social Change
The streets of a small neighborhood nestled in the heart of Greater Miami echo with the sounds of Haitian Kreyòl. Vibrant buildings adorned in pastel blues, pinks and greens, alongside lively street art and bustling markets unmistakably mark the area is Little Haiti. Monica Sorelle ’12 lived nearby, as her mother had settled in Little […]
-
DOD Scholarship Brings New Energy to Student’s Nuclear Research at UCF
Harnessing nuclear energy has always come with environmental concerns. A doctoral student at the University of Central Florida hopes to tackle that challenge, and a prestigious scholarship from the Department of Defense is going to help. Joseph Lee has been awarded the DOD’s SMART scholarship. The STEM scholarship will fund Lee’s research, which looks at the […]