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Our research seeks answers to the big questions facing humanity in our time – in medicine, energy,  the environment, and other issues. These experimental or theoretical investigations seek scientific understanding both for its own sake and/or for its potential to benefit the whole human community and the planet. We understand our calling to research in the context of the University’s commitment to education – providing the needed skills for such study to a new generation of scientists – and service. While at the same time our research efforts seek to enhance the quality of life and relieve suffering for people around the world.
Some of our researchers are addressing the most fundamental questions of nature - from constituents of matter and the basic forces of nature to the origin of the universe and the creation of the elements. Others work at the level of the gene or molecular level from understanding the chemical processes of life and disease to developing new compounds and therapies to fight diseases such as malaria and cancer. These efforts are accomplished by students within faculty’s independent laboratories or as a part of interdisciplinary research centers such as the Nuclear Structure Laboratory, the Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases or the Eck Institute for Global Health. Still others seek solutions to environmental threats such as climate change, invasive species and pollution, gathering critical data at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center, a National Ecological Observatory Network core site. Through the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Biocomplexity we bring together clinicians with pure and applied researchers from mathematics, science and engineering to explore topics such as disease prediction and modeling and to share advances in biomedical research. One of the University’s Strategic Research Initiatives, Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics, is a collaborative effort to develop micro-sensing devices capable of supporting personalized health care and environmental monitoring. The AD&T Initiative includes a diverse group of researchers from across the Colleges of Engineering and Science.
Our research is conducted in collaborative teams of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Graduate and undergraduate students are integral contributors, with most writing journal articles and giving presentations at national and international scientific meetings. We continue a rich tradition of research that includes the invention of synthetic rubber, germ-free research, the fight against disease-carrying mosquitoes, and transgene studies. We are involved in multi-disciplinary, multi-investigator collaborations across universities through institutes such as the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery, and the Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Collectively, we strive for scientific discovery that increases our understanding and enhances the quality of life in our world. |
