Research & Creative Work 2019-20

This collection of highlights from the University of babyÖ±²¥app Boulder’s research and creative work in 2019–20 includes impactful work that our babyÖ±²¥app, researchers and students are pursuing, such as: developing affordable, rapid-result COVID-19 tests; transforming how we explore our universe; and bolstering human resilience to the effects of major traumas like natural disasters. 

These fascinating stories about our research and creative work introduce you to researchers who are pushing boundaries and shaping our future, including by addressing the most pressing topics of our time: the COVID-19 pandemic and a unique inflection point in social justice and equity.

Advances like these explain why CU Boulder researchers received $614 million in competitive funding this year, including a record $457 million from federal agencies. Incredibly, our important work not only continued but accelerated in the face of true adversity.

Deploying research and innovation in the fight against COVID-19

From supporting immediate needs of local health care workers and the business community to informing national conversations about how to protect against the virus, CU Boulder babyÖ±²¥app, students and staff contributed local and national leadership in the battle against COVID-19 and its effects.

Cheaper, faster test trades uncomfortable nose swab for spit-in-a-tube simplicity in effort to detect virus before it spreads

As pandemic intensifies inequity, School of Education supports innovative approaches that consider food, housing and unemployment

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, water indiscriminately flooded the homes of Houston residents, but financial help did not pour in as equally

CU Boulder student works with community to honor Chicano activists killed in 1974

Integrating living, multiplying bacteria could increase efficiency and sustainability of building material production and use

Extreme thawing endangers ecosystems and communities, speeds release of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere

Competition tests autonomous robots—built, tested and deployed by CU Boulder students—in underground search and rescue effectiveness

Global collaboration launches hundreds of scientists on yearlong journey of discovery

Social justice and inequality

With a wide range of social justice concerns making headlines daily and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating many of them, CU Boulder researchers and perspectives informed and shaped deliberations about the most important issues of our times.

A deeper look at discovery and innovation

From revealing the hidden narratives of enslaved peoples of early America to understanding why the veins in your eyes kink in microgravity, these up-and-coming RIO Faculty Fellows give a behind-the-scenes look at the scholarship and collaborations that unlock their pioneering, world-changing work

Research funding highlights FY 19-20