Office of the Vice President for Research

Signature Research Thrusts

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, AND SMART SYSTEMS
In Energy, Environment, and Smart Systems, we explore renewable technologies, energy efficiency, and the understanding of global environmental change to preserve the bio-diversity of the planet.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND THE LIFE SCIENCES
In Biotechnology and the Life Sciences, we are creating new routes to drug discovery and development, and understanding the fundamental mechanisms of disease, from Alzheimer’s and diabetes to cancer.
MEDIA, ARTS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Research in Media, Arts, Science, and Technology facilitates new approaches to networking, advanced visualization, sensor design, haptics, and multiscale modeling and simulation, which are supported by the core capabilities of EMPAC.
COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Enabled by the capabilities of the CCI, Rensselaer has developed important programs in Computational Science and Engineering focused on high performance computing, big data, and data analytics, which supports research and innovation across a broad front.
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED MATERIALS
Our excellence in Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials builds from the fundamental understanding—experimental, theoretical, and computational - of the underlying atomic and molecular properties of a wide range of nanostructured materials. We now are developing robust, affordable, and sustainable methods for manufacturing new functional hybrid materials, and the hierarchical systems and products based upon them.

Road Salt Might Make Frogs More Vulnerable To Disease
May 14, 2020 -
Rick Relyea, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who has studied the impact of salt on a number of freshwater animals, said road salt flew under the radar of scientists for a long time. He said roads have been salted for the past 60 years, but the effect of the salt on ecosystems has only really been studied in the past decade.
RPI model: Capital Region coronavirus cases could peak in late May, early June
April 20, 2020 -
A Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researcher has developed a model that shows the number of coronavirus cases in the Capital Region peaking anywhere from May 9 through mid-June, depending on how many people stay home and how quickly serious cases climb.
Better Daytime Lighting Improves Sleep Quality, Reduces Depression In Alzheimer's Patients, Study Finds
December 18, 2019 -
Memory loss from Alzheimer’s can evoke fear. But for many people suffering from dementia, other symptoms like poor sleep and agitation can also have a profound impact on quality of life. And Alzheimer’s patients often live in long-term care facilities, where they spend much of their time in underlit indoor spaces, says researcher Mariana Figueiro, leaving them in a state of “biological darkness.”