Researchers at the Nevada Center for Astrophysics are using AI to measure the expansion of the universe, and they’re unlocking clues to how some distant planets form. They’re also inching closer to identifying what drives mysterious deep-space fast radio bursts. NASA’s ‘ultimate’ catalog of planets is also expanding thanks to UNLV astrophysicists who used data from NASA’s famed Kepler space telescope to help discover a seven planet system. 

What happens when scholars join forces to study solutions to societal issues like addictions, the fast-emerging use of AI, and racial equity and social justice? We’ll make progress faster and on a bigger scale, thanks to the UNLV Interdisciplinary Research Development Areas initiative. With the big-picture in mind, UNLV has begun hiring groups of faculty who can come at topics from different disciplines to collaborate with existing faculty and community leaders toward one common goal: improving the quality of life for all.

A UNLV research team led by Zhange Feng and Hanqing Pan, both assistant professors with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, recently secured a $2.1 million Department of Energy award to create an academic curriculum and training system. The funding will help UNLV to develop the next generation of leaders to address soil and groundwater remediation throughout the Southwest.

Professor Jeffrey Cummings’ highly regarded 2024 annual report on the state of clinical trials was featured in a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Cummings is co-director for two Alzheimer’s observatories — one for drug development and another for biomarkers — within UNLV’s Department of Brain Health. These are the only observatories of their kind in the world and they collect and disseminate data that keeps policy makers, healthcare systems, and patients in the know and offers hope in the continued push toward a cure.

The William F. Harrah College of Hospitality is partnering with the UNLV International Gaming Institute, the University of Florida, AXES (axes.ai), and Black Fire Innovation to research robots in the hospitality industry. As automation and robots become more prevalent in the hospitality industry, the research will measure the physiological reaction of customers who interact with robots, with the goal of helping industry leaders make more informed decisions in their technology investments. 

The UNLV Cyber Clinic received a notable mention during a congressional hearing and in an Office of the National Cyber Director report. In addition to the federally supported Cyber Clinic, the university’s Cybersecurity Center program has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and is a recipient of the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program led by the National Science Foundation.

Southern Nevada is an emerging epicenter for the cannabis industry with roughly $1 billion in legal annual sales. UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute addresses the research and scholarship to better understand the complex issues surrounding legalization as well as the disparate impacts of past practices and the importance of social equity and justice going forward.

The College of Liberal Arts received a three-year, $800,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to form the Neon Pacific Initiative (NPI). The NPI aims to expand, enhance, and elevate the placemaking and public-facing scholarship activities happening in UNLV’s Asian and Asian American Studies Program. In collaboration with UNLV's Asian & Asian American Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts, the NPI created the Neon Pacific Summer Symposium Series, a roundtable for leading scholars, graduate students, undergraduates, and community members.