The University of Maryland’s growing investment in research that takes on society’s biggest issues helped it move up a spot to No. 18 among all U.S. institutions in the National Science Foundation’s latest Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey, the most widely recognized national ranking for universities engaged in sponsored research.

University of Maryland Vice President for Research Dr. Gregory F. Ball, a leading researcher in the field of avian neuroscience, and his research team earned a prominent spotlight by gracing the cover of a top-tier scientific journal. The Journal of Comparative Physiology featured the team’s research with an image of the red-cheeked cordon bleu (RCCB) on its September 2024 cover. 

Researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD)  Maryland Institute for Digital Accessibility (MIDA) presented at the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS), which was held October 28-30, 2024 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

In order to facilitate large-scale deployment of renewable energy on the U.S. power grid, batteries are essential to ensure consistent power supply. In the meantime, there are costs for both generators and batteries to be connected to the U.S. power grid, known as interconnection costs, which are high in places lacking grid infrastructure and hard to connect to the power grid. 

A University of Maryland Grand Challenges Grant is supporting research by Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Cecilia Huertas Cerdeira aimed at developing on-board energy harvesting for Earth observation unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

One of the current challenges our nation faces is the disparities present in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, wherein underrepresented minority students and women are significantly less likely to graduate with STEM majors. Due to under-privileged backgrounds, hardships caused by generations of discrimination, and ongoing racial segregation patterns in schools, the pathways to STEM education are far fewer and more difficult for many of the nation's children. 

Assistant Professor of Animal and Avian Sciences Andrew Schiffmacher (College of Agriculture and Natural Resources) is leading a Grand Challenges Grant supported project that seeks to improve understanding of how negative external influences irreversibly alter fetal mammary development and subsequent mammary function.

The University of Maryland’s Urban Equity Collaborative (UEC) recently celebrated the completion of its first year of work. Supported by a Grand Challenges Grant and co-led by Dr. Willow Lung-Amam (School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation),  Dr. Nancy Raquel Mirabal (College of Arts and Humanities), and Dr.

A University of Maryland research initiative supported by a Grand Challenges Grant and led by Assistant Professor of Entomology Karin Burghardt is advancing environmental justice and helping cities to become more climate change-resilient through urban tree growth and development.