A Message from the Vice President

My name is Chris Nomura, and as the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, I am pleased to present you with this year’s University of Idaho Research Report.

I arrived on October 1, 2020, and since that time have been amazed by the research and creative outputs of the faculty, staff and students at U of I. 2020 has proved to be a year unlike any other in recent memory. The worldwide pandemic brought on by the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus brought many tragedies and challenges that have affected all aspects of our lives. Despite these unprecedented challenges, the incredible faculty, staff and students at U of I have consistently demonstrated their resilience and their ability to positively impact our institution, community, state and nation through research.

The U of I research community met the uncertainty and challenges of the pandemic head on with their expertise and research tools, pivoting to establish a COVID-19 testing lab to help keep both our university and community safe. This is just one of the many examples of how our research expertise generates real-world impacts.

Despite all the challenges of the last year, our faculty have maintained their level of research expenditures and new awards near the historic levels achieved in 2019-20.

To further enhance our research impacts at U of I, we recently launched the P3-R1 Grant Matching Program through which we are investing $3 million per year in institutional funds to support efforts to increase research productivity and expand the number of doctoral degrees awarded by the university. Funded through a unique public-private partnership centered on the energy infrastructure of the university, the P3-R1 Grant matching program will invest approximately $1 million in support of pre-doctoral fellowships and $2 million in support for postdoctoral scholar fellowships for principal investigators. We anticipate that this investment will enable our faculty to rapidly expand their programs and the positive impacts of their work.

Through this year’s research report, I am pleased to provide a snapshot into the myriad of research and creative activities produced by our faculty, staff and students. Our researchers are at the top of their fields, and they are doing work that benefits Idaho and the world.

Sincerely,