Research

At the University of Idaho, scholarly and creative activity aspires to generate knowledge that strengthens the scientific, economic, cultural, social, and legal foundations of an open, diverse, and democratic society. Our goal is to achieve excellence in scholarship and creative activity through an institutional culture that values and promotes strong academic areas and interdisciplinary collaboration among them.

Research is a primary function of the University of Idaho at both the graduate and the undergraduate levels. All professorial rank faculty are expected to conduct research as an end in itself and as a means to provide students with the most up-to-date information in their fields. For their part, students are expected to solve real-world problems, enabling them to make meaningful contributions to society.

Here are just a two examples:

• Designed to Cell: Grant Provides University of Idaho with One-of-a-Kind Microscope for Nano-sized Research — The University of Idaho recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program for $527,050 to acquire an “all-in-one” microscope and spectroscopy system for physical and chemical analysis of materials with very high spatial resolutions. The new microscope will provide cutting edge interdisciplinary science and engineering at the nanoscale.
  

• University of Idaho Researchers Share in $1.5 Million DOE Grant for Bioremediation — Three researchers in the University of Idaho Environmental Biotechnology Institute will receive $410,000 to assist in a collaborative bioremediation project at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls. Professors of microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry, Ron Crawford and Andrzej Paszczynski, along with postdoctoral fellow, Janice Strap, are part of a team that will work to better understand how naturally occurring processes result in the breakdown of the toxic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE).
  

Serving our Local, National and International Communities
The University of Idaho features a strong balance of basic and applied research. As a Carnegie Research II institution, one of fewer than 130 in the nation, the university conducts theoretical research as its contribution to the advance of knowledge. As a Morrill Act land grant institution, the university fulfills its responsibility to the local, national, and international communities by conducting applied research to improve the way people work and live, and to improve the economic returns of research.

University Library — More Than Just Books
The university library is the major depository of U.S. and Idaho documents, U.S. patents, and the Defense Mapping Agency, and is a designated Earth Science Information Center. Its collections emphasize the land grant disciplines of agriculture, engineering, forestry, and mining, and it has strong collections in the humanities and social sciences. The library currently holds more than 2 million items, receives 12,750 serial titles, and adds over 100,000 items annually. The library is a member of regional and national consortia with computer links that allow access to the nation's library resources through the three major national library networks, and can obtain books and articles from libraries worldwide. The University of Idaho library building has recently undergone a $12.4 million addition and renovation, increasing study and research space.