|
Office
of Research
Research
at Campuses/Labs
Undergraduate
Research
Multicampus
Research Units
Technology
Transfer
UC-Industry
Partnerships
California
Institutes
for Science and Innovation
Arts,
Humanities,
Social Sciences
Agriculture
and Natural Resources
Biotechnology
and Genomics
Nanotechnology
AIDS,
Cancer, Tobacco Research
California
Policy Research Center
Research
Home
|
|
UC Research: Solving Problems
The University of California’s research
efforts have helped solve some of toughest problems facing the state,
the nation and the world – everything from improving the water
we drink and the air we breathe to life-saving advances in medicine
and amazing technologies that help connect people, places and things
around the globe.
The public rightly expects UC to make a difference
through its wealth of knowledge, its resources for analysis and
research, and its capacity for innovation. This is the hallmark
of the University of California.
Feeding the World
UC's tradition of problem-solving research dates back to its earliest
days. With its beginnings as a land-grant institution, the University
focused a considerable amount of study on California’s oldest
industry, agriculture. When researchers discovered in the late 1800s
how to remove salts from the soils of California’s Central
Valley, they took their research directly to the fields, turning
what was once barren alkaline land into the most productive agricultural
region in the world.
Since the 1940s, UC scientists have continued
to develop dozens of varieties of fruits and vegetables. For much
of the 20th century, UC researchers helped make California wines
among the best in the world by pioneering new grape varieties and
new winemaking techniques. UC discoveries in crop management, pest
control and agricultural machinery have helped farmers everywhere
to literally feed the world.
Branching out from agriculture, UC has continued
to improve the quality of our lives with its ongoing research in
a growing number of other areas.
Technological Marvels
In today’s knowledge-based global economy, computers and the
Internet have become almost as vital as food. UC scientists designed
a faster, cheaper approach to computer design that has been adopted
by virtually every U.S. computer manufacturer. UC contributed directly
to the creation of the Internet, and UC laboratories pioneered laser
and fiber optic research that forms the central nervous system of
the telecommunications market.
Today, UC research is taking California’s
pioneering information technology advancements, especially in wireless
broadband telecommunications, into new markets and uses –
many of which will change the way we think about and use computers
in our everyday lives.
UC also contributed to the gene-splicing techniques
that launched the $27-billion biotechnology industry, where even
now a third of the country’s biotech firms are located with
35 miles of a UC campus.
Improving Health and Safety
In the 1920-30s, UC scientists discovered vitamin E, which protects
our DNA, and vitamin K, which is necessary for blood clotting. A
half-century later, UC doctors were among the first groups to isolate
the AIDS virus and the first to warn that AIDS could be transmitted
through blood.
At medicine’s frontiers today, cutting-edge
cancer research at UC’s medical centers has led to promising
treatment breakthroughs. Bringing research disciplines together,
UC researchers are working to create a computer so sophisticated
that it will be able to simulate the billions of cellular functions
of the human heart, enabling future doctors to more precisely diagnose
and treat heart disease.
UC research is at work in our buildings and on
the road. It has made our homes healthier – from grounded
wall sockets and energy-efficient light bulbs to tests that help
prevent lead-based paint from poisoning our children. UC scientists
developed the metal sleeves to help retrofit highway bridge columns
– especially welcome in earthquake-conscious California.
As beneficial as these achievements have been,
UC research today is looking to the future for new ways to shape
our world and improve our lives.
Discovery Starts Here
Find out more about what UC research has done lately:
President’s
Report – a bimonthly newsletter on the latest
research discoveries and achievements
from UC campuses,
national laboratories and medical
centers.
Federally Funded Research
Highlights – Research at UC’s
campus and national labs receives
substantial support from
a number of federal agencies. Check
out these quarterly
newsletters for discoveries made possible
by this federal
funding.
UC
NewsWire – Daily press releases on research findings and
other breaking news from the UC system.
Science
Today – UC’s national radio program highlights the
latest scientific breakthroughs and
discoveries at UC
campuses and national laboratories.
Topics focus primarily
on health, nutrition, the environment
and social and physical
sciences.
Health News – Research and
treatment news from UC’s medical
centers and health facilities.
Agriculture
and Natural Resources News
Multimedia Center –
The sights and sounds of UC research,
teaching and public service programs.
AIDS,
Cancer and Tobacco-Related Disease Research
|
|
|
National Science Foundation research funding to UC grew to a record
$365 million in fiscal year 2003 and funds projects of particular
importance to California. The 10-campus UC system consistently
earns two to three times more NSF research support than any other
university system. Read about the latest NSF-funded research at
UC.
UC researchers are making big news in nanotechnology -- the science
of the very small. There are spaces in the world too small to be
seen with even the most powerful optical microscopes -- learn more
about UC explorations in this nanoscale world.
The UC San Francisco Medical Center is one
of five UC academic teaching hospitals that educate California’s
next generation of medical personnel and serve a disproportionate
number of the state’s poor. The unique blend of cutting-edge
clinical research, treatment and advocacy at UCSF’s
Comprehensive Cancer Center, make it one of the foremost research
and treatment programs in the world.
|
|