Research of Consequence

Mason research impacts the world.

We surpassed $200 million in research funding for the first time in fiscal year 2020, with research occurring across all disciplines and all schools and colleges. We find ways to bring peace in conflict zones. We established a Center for Humanities Research to engage the public in dialogue over the importance of the humanities in the contemporary landscape. From examining exoplanets to learn more about the origin of the universe, to using nanotechnology to create an inexpensive test for tuberculosis, we are constantly pushing the boundaries as the largest, most diverse public research university in Virginia.

Jim Kinter and his team are investigating the predictability of Earth’s climate on various time scales to better understand climate change and its impacts.
"Peace is built locally. There can be a national piece of paper signed, but unless every town and village, every rural area, changes behaviors, that’s not peace.”
Susan Allen, associate professor at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Christopher d’Amboise’s Moving Story Window Wall has enabled the School of Dance to adapt by creating a large-scale virtual teaching system.
“Shifting to virtual teaching and learning, teachers ended up navigating the wellness of their students in unparalleled ways.”
Elizabeth Levine Brown
Emanuela Marasco’s COVID-19 research investigates a way to detect the virus in individuals by scanning their fingertips.
“We are currently exploring hate speech on social media platforms and how to detect and mitigate that.”
Hemant Purohit
Researchers Amarda Shehu, Dave Lattanzi, and Brenda Bannan lead the Center for Advancing Human Machine Partnerships, which has funding for five years and hopes to be recognized as a leader in the field.
“This type of research is normally solitary work, and yet there is so much to be gained when we engage in intellectual exchange.”
Alison Landsberg, director of the new Center for Humanities Research
Aarthi Narayanan and Remi Veneziano are using DNA nanotechnology to lay the foundation for developing vaccines that could block infection.
"News outlets were terrified to talk about climate change because they thought people were raving climate deniers...."
Ed Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication
NSF RAPID grant awardee Sai Dinakarrao and his colleagues are combatting the economic toll of the pandemic by applying innovative thinking to lockdowns and other social measures.
“Programs that reduce social risk factors may not reduce suicide and self-harm, unless they also address the root cause—mental illness.”
Faye Taxman
Professors Jonathan Schulz and Jonathan Beauchamp have examined how the Catholic Church transformed European kinship structures in the Middle Ages.
"[Black] babies are dying. That’s not a political statement. That’s what’s happening, and it’s unacceptable.”
Brad Greenwood
A research team including Professor Peter Plavchan and four of his students discovered a new planet the size of Neptune that could provide clues about the possibility of life beyond Earth.
“Programs that reduce social risk factors may not reduce suicide and self-harm, unless they also address the root cause—mental illness.”
Farrokh Alemi
Anna Pollack, a College of Health and Human Services associate professor, received a $1.6 million National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant to study links between endometriosis and endocrine-disrupting chemicals commonly found in humans.
“Effective peacebuilding is all about good and meaningful community engagement throughout all its phases."
Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Louise Shelley and Edward Huang received a major, five-year National Science Foundation grant to study the illicit online trade of narcotics and counterfeit drugs.
“How are we going to support and care for aging generations when we’re facing a huge economic downturn?”
Jack Goldstone
Dieter Pfoser researches urban science to improve the overall well-being of residents, focusing on transportation in cities, youth health and well-being, and COVID-19’s spread in communities.