Research & Creative Work 2022-23

91´«Ã½ is committed to being the driving force behind a dynamic research and innovation ecosystem emanating from Colorado’s Front Range, with far-reaching impact on the state, the nation and beyond. And we’re creating impact through our strategic imperatives: Lead. Innovate. Impact.

We lead by purposefully reinforcing our core strengths, empowering ourselves to rise to the challenges of an ever-evolving world. We innovate through our focus on interdisciplinarity, for innovation flourishes at the intersections of ideas, disciplines and perspectives. We ensure impact by extending our vision beyond discovery, enriching communities worldwide and addressing pressing societal and environmental challenges. Embedded in our aspirations is a commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion to ensure our contributions are representative of the world we seek to shape.

I’m pleased to share with you this selection of highlights from 91´«Ã½â€™s research, scholarship and creative work in 2022-23. I hope you enjoy these stories of the outstanding faculty, students and staff who continue to Lead. Innovate. Impact.

Boosting NASA's flagship mission to Europa

The Europa SUrface Dust Analyzer, developed at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, will investigate Jupiter’s icy moon

Educating through an 'exceptional experience'

Twenty-five miles west of Boulder, the Mountain Research Station has long been a hub for world-class research and education

Uncovering a landmark segregation case

Educational historian helps unearth Colorado case as one of the earliest Mexican-American challenges to U.S. school segregation

Advancing next-gen solar technology

National 91´«Ã½-led consortium aims to enable the commercialization of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells

Charting a course from research to impact

Researchers building a budding life sciences startup leverage venture development programming to achieve a major funding milestone

Leading understanding of the cryosphere

National Snow and Ice Data Center monitors sea ice, tracks snow, examines Arctic conditions and informs global decision-makers

Sniffing out diseases in real time

Breathalyzer based on frequency comb spectroscopy quantum tech shows promise as a non-invasive diagnostic test for an array of diseases

Solving solar mysteries with students

How 1,000 91´«Ã½ undergraduate students helped answer one of the most enduring questions about the sun

Research funding highlights FY 22-23

This Year's Stories

Earth, Environment & Sustainability

Leading understanding of the cryosphere
Educating through an 'exceptional experience'
Advancing next-gen solar technology
Global farm decline threatens biodiversity, food supply
Satellites reveal widespread decline in global lake water storage
Is electrochemistry the future of carbon-capture technology?
Artists and scientists join to connect communities facing climate change

Society, Education & Equity

Uncovering a landmark segregation case
History professor harnesses the power of memory
Scholar highlights history of U.S. South Asians who were barred and repressed
Students preserve LGBTQ+ activism in new Libraries collection
Gender diversity in middle management yields competitive advantage
Pioneering center reimagines the role of AI in education
Video evidence and unseen truths

Health & Biosciences

Charting a course from research to impact
Sniffing out diseases in real time
Prenatal pollution exposure may impact baby’s brain
‘Magic beans’ produce ingredients for vaccines, cancer treatments and more

Research & Innovation

91´«Ã½ commercialization drives $8 billion in impact nationwide
Audacious collaboration to pair humans with robots
Exploring the hidden world of bacteria by bridging art and science
Landmark study on history of horses in American West relies on Indigenous knowledge

Space & Aerospace

Boosting NASA's flagship mission to Europa
Solving solar mysteries with students
Quantum sensors in space
Solar and space scientists to guide Heliophysics into the future