CUNY Researchers Blaze a Trail in Science and Beyond
Pioneering Research at CUNY
Biochemist Mandë Holford is blazing a trail in the sciences, working to identify the therapeutic potential of venom from snails, squid, and other marine creatures to treat diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases. Her colleague, Jin Young Seo, has developed interventions to address cultural factors that dissuade Korean American women in New York from getting breast cancer screenings. Their colleague, physics professor German Kolmakov, is collaborating with a former student to develop quantum computer technology to enhance cybersecurity.
Advancing Scientific Discovery in the Public Interest
These researchers are part of a long tradition of researchers at the City University of New York, dating back over a century. Advancing scientific discovery in the public interest is central to CUNY’s core mission and deeply embedded in its legacy. To cite just one example, in each of the three pandemics of the past 100 years – polio, HIV-AIDS, and Covid-19 – a CUNY-educated researcher either developed the first vaccine or contributed a key breakthrough in treatment.
CUNY’s Research Excellence Recognized
This year, 10 CUNY colleges were designated as leading U.S. research institutions under the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education. The influential classification system groups colleges and universities by how much they spend on research and how many research doctoral degrees they award each year. The CUNY Graduate Center, along with its Advanced Science Research Center and affiliated campuses, confers more than 350 doctoral degrees a year and has annual research expenditures averaging $57 million in the top-tier Research 1 stature, one of only 187 R1s nationwide.
Growing Research Activity and Funding
Hunter College joined City College as a Research 2 institution in the new classifications for the first time, marking the first time two CUNY colleges have achieved that status. In addition, seven CUNY senior colleges were designated as Research Colleges and Universities, a third category added this year for institutions that have significant research activity. CUNY research teams garnered $672 million in external funding last year, a university record for the second year in a row and a marker of CUNY’s role as a critical part of New York State’s research infrastructure.
Conclusion
CUNY’s triumph comes amidst a climate of alarming uncertainty in federal funding for university-based research. We remain fully committed to our faculty researchers, their students, and the work they do every day to advance discovery and knowledge.
FAQs
Q: What is CUNY’s core mission?
A: Advancing scientific discovery in the public interest is central to CUNY’s core mission and deeply embedded in its legacy.
Q: What are the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education?
A: The Carnegie Classifications group colleges and universities by how much they spend on research and how many research doctoral degrees they award each year.
Q: How much external funding did CUNY research teams garner last year?
A: CUNY research teams garnered $672 million in external funding last year, a university record for the second year in a row.
