Research News
Thursday, April 17, 2025
The American Council on Education’s (ACE) inaugural Higher Education Futures Forum, led by Oakland University Professor David Stone, was convened on Feb. 13 in Washington, D.C. for the purpose of exploring the long-term future of higher education and how it might evolve over the next 50 to 100 years.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Researchers from Oakland University have made a significant breakthrough in the field of optical materials, unveiling the exceptional capabilities of Ba₃(ZnB₅O₁₀)PO₄ (BZBP). Although this transparent crystal closely resembles ordinary window glass, it exhibits extraordinary properties that set it apart from others.
Friday, October 04, 2024
After winning the Oakland University Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in both 2023 and 2024, Shweta Kapur — a physical therapist, Ph.D. candidate, and graduate research and teaching assistant in the Department of Human Movement Science at OU — was encouraged by her mentor, Dr. Daniel Goble, to participate in the Worldwide 3MT competition organized by the International Society of Gait and Posture (ISPGR).
Thursday, September 19, 2024
In collaboration with five academic institutions in the state of Alabama, Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. has been awarded $5 million by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in support of a five-year project that will provide scholarships and academic, social, and professional development opportunities to high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need who are pursuing degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related fields.
Friday, July 12, 2024
Dr. Alycen Wiacek, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Bioengineering at Oakland University, has been awarded the prestigious Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) grant for $200,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project to develop a wireless 3D breast ultrasound imaging system for low-resource settings.
Friday, June 14, 2024
The Michigan Bumble Bee Atlas Program is asking for the public’s help to track bumble bees as part of a statewide community science project.
Oakland University professor co-leads study of aquatic-based, human-driven impacts on climate change
Thursday, May 30, 2024
A study published in the journal Science uses a global experiment and predictive modeling to illustrate how human impacts to aquatic ecosystems are contributing to the global climate crisis.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Fulbright scholar Sara Fatima’s aspiration to care for society and better the world inspired her educational path in molecular biology. When it came to choosing a university to transform that passion into reality, Oakland University’s (OU) cutting-edge research labs and expert faculty solidified OU as her number one choice.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
On May 20, Oakland University will celebrate the grand opening of the School of Engineering and Computer Science’s Research and Innovation Center (RIC), a 48,700 square foot facility located in Rochester Hills, Mich. that will house bioengineering, mechanical, electrical, industrial, and computer science labs, and serve as a hub for research conducted in partnership with industry.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Calvin Goldsmith admits there were times he really struggled with chemistry when he arrived at Oakland University as a freshman.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Each year, Oakland University recognizes outstanding student leaders who demonstrate academic excellence while making a positive impact on campus and in the community.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
In an article published in Chemistry of Materials, a prestigious journal under the American Chemical Society, Oakland University Associate Professor of Physics Yuejian Wang explored how high-pressure techniques can induce changes in certain crystalline materials, similar to the way graphite can be converted into diamond when subjected to high pressure and high temperature.
Monday, March 25, 2024
Oakland Associate Professor of Biology and genomics expert Taras K. Oleksyk, Ph.D. is creating one of the largest genome-wide studies of Type 1 Diabetes in the world, and he’s hopeful his research will provide the data for other scientists to follow.
Wednesday, March 06, 2024
Taras K. Oleksyk, associate professor in Oakland University’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been named a U.S. Fulbright Scholar for the 2024-25 academic year.
Monday, February 26, 2024
Oakland University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Meir Shillor was recently named a Specialist in the Fulbright-Nehru Program, and he will spend five weeks this summer at the Assam Don Bosco University in Assam, India.
Monday, February 19, 2024
Oakland University has joined the United States Department of State’s Diplomacy Lab, a public-private partnership between the Department of State and a network of U.S. academic institutions that harnesses research and innovation of students and faculty to solve global challenges.
Wednesday, February 07, 2024
Dr. Dawn Woods, an assistant professor in the School of Education and Human Services at Oakland University, has received a five-year, $781,196 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in support of her research project, entitled “Sparking ‘Number Talks’ to Strengthen Mathematical Identities.”
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
A recent beaver sighting on the campus of Oakland University has researchers optimistic about what the animal’s return to the OU Biological Preserve could mean for the ecosystem.
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Oakland University Assistant Professor of Chemistry Zhe Wang is helping combat the opioid crisis and protect law enforcement officers with his project, “Development of a Low-Cost, Portable, Rapid Opioid Detection Tool for Enhanced Field Decision-Making,” which just received a $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice.
Thursday, December 07, 2023
The Oakland University chapter of Sigma Xi took home an impressive nine awards in various categories at the second annual International Forum on Research Excellence (IFoRE), which took place Nov. 9-12 in Long Beach, Calif.
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Oakland University researchers garnered three CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation in 2023, the fourth-most among Michigan’s public universities. The recipients are Ngong Kodiah Beyeh, Jun Chen and Wing-Yue Geoffrey Louie and their work has potential to revolutionize many fields, from materials science to transportation to healthcare and education.
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Each year, nearly 40,000 infants (10% of total live births) are born prematurely (before 37 weeks of gestation) in the United States, and that number is growing. Premature infants have a high risk of developing lifelong low vision. Their eyes can also develop myopia, a common vision condition in which near objects appear clear, but objects farther away look blurry.
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
OU graduate student Lizz Parkinson, with the support of her Department of Biological Sciences faculty adviser, Professor Scott Tiegs, has published an article regarding her light pollution research in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
Thursday, October 05, 2023
The Summer Undergraduate Program in Eye Research (SUPER) at Oakland University held its 21st annual student research symposium in the Oakland Center this summer.
Friday, September 22, 2023
Dr. Ngong Kodiah Beyeh, assistant professor of organic chemistry at Oakland University, has received a five-year, $700,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. The award will support research and education on halogen bonding, a process that could transform the field of materials science.
Monday, July 31, 2023
A group of students from Guatemala recently visited Oakland University to learn more about freshwater ecology and sustainability in Michigan as part of a collaborative program with OU’s Office of International Education and the Department of Biological Sciences.
Thursday, July 27, 2023
In the wake of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the global scientific community rallied to support Ukraine’s scientists, offering paid positions, education programs, funding programs and other assistance.
Thursday, June 01, 2023
Oakland University’s Eye Research Institute (ERI) recently welcomed eight students — the most since 2013 — into its Summer Undergraduate Program in Eye Research.
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Ann Marie Dennis wore many hats during her 20-year career in law enforcement.
Monday, April 24, 2023
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, affecting more than 32 million U.S. adults. The condition, caused by the breakdown of joint cartilage between bones, can result in pain, stiffness, swelling and even disability.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Good balance is a critical aspect of everyday life. From performing simple day-to-day activities like walking and climbing stairs to more complex, athletic activities, balance is required in order to prevent falls and injuries.Seeing the need for more accessible and affordable methods of balance measuring and training, Dr. Daniel Goble, Oakland University director and associate professor of exercise science, created the Balance Tracking System, or BTrackS for short.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Assistant Professors Jun Chen (left) and Wing-Yue Geoffrey Louie received CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation to support research and academic programs in the School of Engineering and Computer Science.Jun Chen and Wing-Yue Geoffrey Louie, assistant professors in Oakland University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, have received CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation to support their respective research projects and expand academic and research opportunities for students.
Thursday, March 09, 2023
Three Oakland University researchers are part of a team that developed a new method to screen FDA-approved drugs to determine if they could be repurposed or improved to help patients with Spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5), a rare genetic disease of the nervous system.
OU offering new bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity to meet critical state, national and global needs
Monday, March 06, 2023
Responding to critical industry needs in Michigan, the U.S. and around the world, Oakland University's Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) will launch a new Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity (pending final approvals), building on the university’s reputation as a center for cybersecurity education, research and support.
Monday, February 20, 2023
Many vaccine trials use age de-escalation with the goal of safeguarding the interests of younger, more vulnerable populations. After a vaccine’s safety and efficacy are established in adult populations, progressively younger cohorts are enrolled and studied. Although age de-escalation approaches are widely used, including in the recent development of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, ethicists have not comprehensively addressed the benefits and risks of such approaches.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Oakland University undergraduate student Yasmeen Hassan has received a $2,500 grant from the Sigma Xi Society to support her research on the underpinnings of human vision. The electrical and computer engineering major is investigating how the human eye senses motion.
Monday, January 30, 2023
Cardiometabolic diseases are a group of common but often preventable conditions, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Detecting cardiometabolic disease risk in younger populations is important because children with higher cardiometabolic risk are more likely to develop those conditions, and other health complications, when they become adults. Oakland University researchers have published a study using grip strength to help assess cardiometabolic disease risk among adolescents and young adults in the U.S.
Wednesday, January 04, 2023
A long journey for Oakland University’s Department of Bioengineering has resulted in prestigious, formal accreditation from ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) — the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technologies.
Monday, December 05, 2022
A team of Oakland University researchers has published the first complete mitochondrial genome of Diadema antillarum, commonly known as the long-spined sea urchin. The invertebrate marine herbivore inhabits the shallow waters of the Western Atlantic and Caribbean and serves a crucial ecological function: grazing on algae along the region’s coral reefs, preventing overgrowth that can threaten the reefs and the biodiversity they support. About a quarter of the ocean’s fish depend on coral reefs for habitat, which makes recurring die-offs of the long-spined sea urchin particularly troubling. The species has experienced die-off events during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as in the current year, with mortality rates reaching 90-95%.
Thursday, December 01, 2022
Oakland University students received a total of six awards — the most of any other university in attendance — at the inaugural International Forum on Research Excellence (IFoRE), which took place November 3-6 in Alexandria, Va.
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Members of the Society of Women Engineers Oakland University student chapter recently attended the organization’s national conference where they presented research, gleaned inspiration from women leaders and learned about diverse career paths for aspiring engineers.
Tuesday, November 08, 2022
The Research Office at Oakland University presented awards to several OU faculty members in recognition of their outstanding research and initiative during the Research, Innovation and Engagement Town Hall, which was held on Thursday, November 3. The awards were presented virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Elizabeth Parkinson, a doctoral student in Oakland University’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. The fellowship supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees with a focus on NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Up to this week, there have been six previously recognized species of geckolettes (or dwarf geckos, genus Sphaerodactylus), endemic to Puerto Rico. However, this number has just been updated.
Tuesday, August 02, 2022
The Summer Undergraduate Program in Eye Research (SUPER) at Oakland University held its 20th annual student research symposium on Friday, July 29.The highly selective 12-week program allows students to perform research on the causes and potential cures for eyes diseases — such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, and very rare inherited retinal diseases in infants — with guidance from faculty members in the university’s Eye Research Institute (ERI).
Thursday, July 21, 2022
As NASA prepares to return to the moon in 2025, Dr. Luis Villa-Diaz and a team of researchers at Oakland University have been studying the effects of microgravity — the closest that we can get on Earth to zero gravity, like that found on the International Space Station — on human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). These cells have the ability to remain undifferentiated by self-renewal mechanisms or to differentiate into virtually any cell type in the human body.
Wednesday, June 01, 2022
Oakland University has been selected by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) to participate in a Master’s Career Path Exit Survey project, which is designed to expand our understanding of how master’s education across all fields prepares the STEM workforce.
Friday, May 27, 2022
Oakland University has named Chiaoning Su as director of its Barry M. Klein Center for Culture and Globalization.
Monday, May 02, 2022
Oakland University’s Healthology Symposium — “where science, practice and social interests meet” — will return next month to celebrate impactful research and collaborative approaches for addressing upstream social determinants of health, in achieving better downstream care.
