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Despite numerous challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, �������� students and faculty continue to conduct groundbreaking research to benefit our local and global communities. I am happy to share that, in addition to more than doubling our research expenditures over the past five years, �������� also achieved a major milestone in sponsored research funding for the first quarter of this fiscal year.

For Q1 2020-2021, which runs from July through September, �������� received $38.9 million in federal, state and private agency funding — a whopping 92 percent increase compared to this same timeframe last year. �������� faculty, researchers and scientists, and other collaborators proposed innovative projects that successfully garnered this tremendous amount of funding. Among the largest grants received during Q1 are:

• An $11 million contract from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to study ocean bioluminescence. Results from this project will help to secure our coastlines from potential threats, and will help to stimulate economic development and growth in our region by creating new high-tech jobs. (Michael Twardowski, Ph.D., principal investigator and a research professor at ��������’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute)
  
  
• A $5.3 million R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project that will enable researchers to test and evaluate an unobtrusive in-vehicle sensing system, which could provide the first step toward future widespread, low-cost early warnings of cognitive change for older drivers in the U.S. (, R.N., Ed.D., FAAN, principal investigator, a professor, and the Christine E. Lynn Eminent Scholar; and , Ph.D., co-principal investigator, an associate professor and a statistician, ��������’s )
  
  
• A $2.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to train graduate students in data science technologies and applications. These students will be better prepared for future challenges as researchers and practitioners in data science, and their knowledge can be put to good use in a variety of fields including medicine and business. (, Ph.D., principal investigator, a professor in the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and director of the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Knowledge Enablement (CAKE), ��������’s )
  
  
• A $2.2 million grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for a project titled “Harmful Algal Bloom Assessment of Lake Okeechobee” (HALO). Data gathered will help our understanding of the causes of the blooms and toxin generation, their impact on human health, and possible options for future mitigation efforts. (Jordon Beckler, Ph.D., principal investigator and an assistant research professor at ��������’s Harbor Branch and a fellow of ��������’s Institute for Sensing and Embedded Networks Systems Engineering [I-SENSE])

This exponential increase in funding reflects the tireless dedication of our outstanding researchers, whose innovations and discoveries are advancing science and technology in all disciplines. I’m tremendously proud of the growth of ��������’s Division of Research, under the direction of Vice President Daniel Flynn, Ph.D., and I look forward to hearing about its future successes.