Last month, we celebrated 30 years of undergraduate research at Pacific University. During the annual Undergraduate Research Conference, students gave a sneak peek at research they’d done on the way to completing their senior projects, and alumni returned to campus to reconnect and reminisce with the faculty members who supported their own research experiences as students.
Research
Discovery is a cornerstone of our mission at Pacific University.
At Pacific, investment in research is investment in discovery across the curriculum. It affords us the opportunity to recruit top-notch expert faculty, as well as offer undergraduate and graduate students alike meaningful opportunities to advance their knowledge and contribute to the global community.
Since 2019, Pacific University has been the No. 1 private research university in the Pacific Northwest and among the Top 10 in the West, maintaining a $25 million-plus active grant portfolio.
Supported by the Office of Scholarship & Sponsored Projects, Pacific University faculty — and students — conduct and publish research ranging from the natural sciences to the arts and humanities and from cancer treatment to behavioral health and aging.
Headlines
Maggie Wigness '10 studies the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning as a senior computer scientist at the U.S. Army's DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory.
Faculty member Kara Lanning '07 and student Brodie Buchert '25 are conducting research to identify water-based pathogens and their effective on native plants in reclaimed natural areas in Pacific's backyard.