Real-world experiences

Real-world research and EXPERIENCE

There are 300 top-tier research institutions in the United States, and we are one of them. Our cutting-edge research opportunities have put us among 6% of U.S. universities with the highest two Carnegie research classifications.

The 2021-22 fiscal year saw us reach a new milestone, earning $26.3 million in grants and contracts, many of which include funding for graduate assistantships and student technicians, providing handson learning with leading experts.

Some of our sources of important contracts and grants include:

» National Institutes of Health » U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services » U.S. Department of Education » U.S. Department of Energy » EightCAP, Inc. » U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service » Field Neurosciences Institute

You can receive research grants, too.

Emmanuel Crespo received the National Institutes of Health Blueprint Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience (D-SPAN) Award for his research on how neocortical sensory processing can be altered by aberrant neural activity early in life. The grant supports the completion of his doctoral dissertation and four-year postdoctoral phase before starting his career as a tenure track faculty member with his own laboratory.

Sara Hansen, Ph.D. student in earth and ecosystem science, together with biology faculty member Anna Monfils and graphic artist Rhea Ewing were awarded a Botanical Society of America and American Society of Plant Taxonomists Advocacy Leadership Grant. They will be creating open-access modules that embrace individual identities and engage students in the process of botanical science and discovery.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

You’ll make close connections with your faculty mentors and a wide variety of research opportunities, including: Academic research Every student either writes a thesis/dissertation, produces a portfolio or completes a comprehensive exam, or completes a Plan B research paper. Associated research You can gain experience working with associated university entities, such as the Center for Applied Research and Rural Studies and the CMU Research Corp.

HANDS-ON RESEARCH IN THEIR FIELDS

Alexandra Thelan, a doctoral psychology student, is analyzing factors that prevent survivors of military sexual trauma from receiving professional help. David Varner, a graduate student in the mathematics department, completed research on how to improve the pedagogy of mathematical proofs. Young-Kook Moon, an industrial/ organizational psychology doctoral student, researches employee motivations behind their desire to stay or leave their jobs.

RESEARCH-BASED FACILITIES

Dow Science Complex

features modern research facilities and labs for specialized scientific and health-related fields such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction.

The Biosciences Building

features advanced research equipment and houses 40 research-active faculty, classrooms and laboratories including an isotope lab, vivarium for aquatic life, herbarium, and Imaging Center for Scanning and Transmission electron microscopes.

The Engineering and Technology Building

houses advanced networked laboratories for CAD/CAM, automation, material processing, material testing and manufacturing systems.

The Biological Station on

Beaver Island provides facilities and programs for researching the island’s incomparable freshwater ecosystems, natural habitat and inland lakes. CMU is the only university in Michigan and one of only two in the Midwest that operates a Great Lakes island research station.

The Child Development

and Learning Lab provides space for university students to observe, participate with, study and research children under the supervision of trained early childhood development teachers.

Health Professions

Simulation Center includes two control rooms and fourteen patient rooms equipped with state-of-theart simulators including high-fidelity manikins used by medical, physician assistant and nursing students to develop clinical and best practice skills. Voigtman Financial Lab is one of Grawn Hall’s business labs where you can analyze market data on Bloomberg Terminals, the same technology used by financial analysts on Wall Street.

Creative and performance spaces

Whether in music, broadcasting, film, fashion or the written word, our classrooms, studios and performance spaces are filled with innovative graduate students pushing their arts into new forms and media.