News & Events

An autonomous rescue robot created by a team of CU Boulder researchers and students placed third as the top US entry and earned $500K in prize money at a Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency Subterranean Challenge competition in 2021. Two years later, the team is pushing the technology even further.

Some dark craters on the moon are never exposed to light. Ice could be hiding in these permanently shadowed regions. Paul Hayne (Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences) discusses how scientists are homing in on potential lunar ice reservoirs, which are key to setting up any sort of sustainable lunar infrastructure.

Sixteen teams of faculty, researchers and graduate student innovators competed for a combined $1.5M in startup funding grants in this year’s Lab Venture Challenge. Judges from CU Boulder’s entrepreneurial network heard pitches across two nights for innovations in biosciences, physical sciences and engineering.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, religious relics were highly prized—not just by individuals, but also by institutions. In his Distinguished Research Lecture Nov. 28, Professor Kirk Ambrose will discuss how institutions used art to authenticate religious relics, as well as condemn counterfeiting.

The new technique works as much as 36 times faster than conventional methods, cuts plastic use more than 15-fold, and substantially decreases the cost and carbon footprint of biomedical research. The invention comes as concern about antibiotic resistance grows worldwide.

CU Boulder researchers attracted a record $684M in FY2022–23 for studies that elevate quantum science in Colorado, solve mysteries about the sun, provide better data on sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers, and more. The newly released sponsored research funding numbers reflect a 4% increase over the prior year.

Unlike many universities, CU Boulder views “getting technology out the door” as part of its mission. According to the latest report from the Association of University Technology Managers, which assessed startup creation by universities in 2021, CU ranked fifth nationwide, ahead of Stanford and MIT.

The Research & Innovation Seed Grant program—designed to stimulate new areas of research, scholarship and creativity on the University of Colorado Boulder campus—is accepting proposals through Monday, Jan. 22, 2024.

At the annual presentation—the kick-off event for the 2023 Research & Innovation Week—Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Dean of the Institutes Massimo Ruzzene outlined key activities, insights and aspirations from the university’s research and innovation enterprise.

On Oct. 20, while touring JILA and various labs, Bennet celebrated an announcement by Gov. Jared Polis that the U.S. Department of Commerce had designated Colorado’s Elevate Quantum consortium a Regional Technology Hub for Quantum Information Technology (QIT).