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College of Sciences

UCF Hosts Spring 2023 Commencement May 5-6

UCF will award more than 9,000 degrees during six commencement ceremonies at Addition Financial Arena May 5-6, sending a talent pipeline of highly skilled graduates into careers that are vital for our region and our state. Of the degrees UCF expects to award, 7,548 are bachelor’s, 1,291 are master’s, 171 are doctoral and 12 are education specialist…

UCF Leads Development of First Large-scale System for Extended Reality Research

University of Central Florida researcher is leading a nearly $5 million U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project to develop the first, large-scale system for extended reality human subjects research. Called the Virtual Experience Research Accelerator, or VERA, the system will enable researchers to carry out large studies in extended reality (XR) environments, including virtual reality (VR),…

UCF Graduate Programs Climb in U.S. News Rankings, Highlighting Research Excellence and Community Impact

UCF, a top-tier public research university renowned for driving innovation and delivering broad-based prosperity, continues to distinguish itself in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings. In these influential 2023-24 rankings, nine College of Engineering & Computer Science graduate programs rank in the top 75 in the nation in their respective fields. A total of…

55 Years at UCF: A Visionary’s Inspiring Legacy

Looking back on 55 years of teaching at UCF, Professor Emeritus Robert Bledsoe has one secret to success: prioritizing the needs of students. That is the lasting legacy of one of UCF’s original founders, who literally helped name the streets that ring UCF’s main campus. UCF celebrates its 60th anniversary this year — and Bledsoe has…

Orlando Magic Youth Foundation Awards UCF $50,000 to Support Local Young Readers

The Orlando Magic Youth Foundation is gifting $50,000 to support UCF’s iREAD program, an intervention program for students who do not show reading proficiency. The funds will help bolster reading skills in schoolchildren who participate in iREAD (intensive Reading Enrichment for Academic Development). The iREAD program, within UCF’s Communication Disorders Clinic, is a four-week course that addresses…

Limbitless Solutions Selected for 2023 Unity for Humanity Grant

Limbitless Solutions — a nonprofit and direct support organization at UCF dedicated to increasing accessibility and empowering children and adults in the limb difference community — and two affiliated UCF faculty members have received $85,000 in philanthropic grant funding for their bionic arm training video game, Quantum’s Pursuit.  The project was selected as one of eight winners…

The Sloan Foundation Awards $250K to Support Hispanic STEM Graduate Students

Thanks to a new partnership, UCF and its two partner schools in the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Public Research Universities (the Consortium) ― Florida International University (FIU) and the University of South Florida (USF) ― will unleash the potential of Hispanic/Latina/o/x graduate students who seek to become leaders in the STEM workforce. The Alfred P.…

Celebrating UCF’s Incredible Employees on Founders’ Day 2023

UCF’s annual Employee Honors Celebration thanked and congratulated more than 350 employees for choosing the university as their professional home and advancing UCF’s impact as the University for the Future. UCF honored employees for reaching 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service; recognized recent retirees; and presented the Florida TaxWatch Productivity Awards for…

UCF Student Honors Celebration Spotlights Top Achievers

UCF’s stellar students being honored on Wednesday for Founders’ Day have unleashed their potential and excelled in colleges and disciplines across the university. Among the undergraduate and graduate students are groundbreaking national and global scholarship winners, researchers, athletes, teaching assistants, residence assistants and leaders in campus organizations such as Student Government, LEAD Scholars and the…

Awardees Announced for 2023 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration

UCF will showcase more than 200 faculty members for academic excellence and service Wednesday at the Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom. The celebration runs 3-5 p.m. and includes a reception after the formal program. Highlighted are recipients of the Pegasus Professor Award, UCF’s highest faculty honor; recipients of the…

UCF Reach for the Stars 2023 Honorees Are Unleashing the Potential of People, Ideas

This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees are united by their passion to help people and positively change the world. By promoting positive healthcare and helping improve how we respond to survivors of violence to enriching the human experience through space exploration, advanced computing and cultural understanding, the honorees are helping unleash the potential of…

UCF’s Robinson Observatory Gets a Futuristic Facelift

Recent updates to one of UCF’s most groundbreaking research and education facilities brings the Robinson Observatory into the 21st century, including robotics for remote viewing and a state-of-the-art weather protection system. The refurbishment returns the observatory to full functionality after six years. Supply shortages and the large scope of the project contributed to a year-long process of…

UCF Team Awarded $2.3M Grant for Innovative Intervention to Prevent Falls

Falls — and the fear of falling — are the leading cause of injury, disability and hospitalization among racially diverse, low-income older adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To help address this critical issue and reduce disparities, a team of University of Central Florida researchers is partnering with the City…

7 Unique Funds to Support on UCF Day of Giving

We’ll bounce, stomp and celebrate UCF Day of Giving on April 13 this year. With this celebration of all things Black & Gold, we wanted to highlight a few unique funds for those who are looking for the right area to support. Girls EXCELing in Math and Science (GEMS)  The GEMS program is dedicated to…

Meet UCF’s 4 Pegasus Professors for 2023

Four UCF professors have been named this year’s Pegasus Professors, UCF’s highest faculty designation. Pegasus Professors are selected by the president and provost and are recognized for excellence in the teaching, research and service. This year’s honorees include innovative researchers who have not only made a difference at UCF, but nationally and internationally. Stephen Fiore’s…

UCF Joins $25M National Consortium on Nuclear Forensics

UCF is one of 16 universities in the U.S. that have formed a consortium on nuclear forensics. The association is supported by a $25 million cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The goal of the consortium is to engage in research that supports the NNSA’s nuclear security and nonproliferation…

Research in 60 Seconds: How Fungus Turns Ants Into Zombies

Whether it’s solving the world’s biggest problems or investigating the potential of novel discoveries, researchers at UCF are on the edge scientific breakthroughs that aim to make an impact. Through the Research in 60 Seconds series, student and faculty researchers condense their complex studies into bite-sized summaries so you can know how and why Knights plan…

UCF Uses 6-Foot ‘Test Tubes’ to Study Red Tide

potential treatment for Florida’s devastating red tides took another step toward widespread deployment after successful testing in Sarasota Bay. Additional detailed data analysis is required to confirm results, but UCF Assistant Professor of Biology Kristy Lewis is encouraged by the large-scale test of a red tide mitigation technology called clay flocculation that was performed in partnership with…

Reducing the Choice Between a Textbook and Your Next Meal

With textbooks and other required course materials proven to be costly, UCF faculty, staff and students have come up with creative, yet practical, solutions through the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER), which include free teaching, learning and research materials. “There has always been a need for open educational resources in higher education,” says Nicole Lapeyrouse,…