Accelerating Research
Move bold ideas into the world
Some of Oregon’s biggest breakthroughs began with ideas that challenged conventional thinking: Waffle soles that revolutionized running. Zebrafish that transformed biomedical research. Ancient coprolites that upended the entire timeline of human history in the Americas.
What will Oregon discover next—and whose lives will it change?
Increase early-stage research support
Every breakthrough begins as a question. Early-stage support helps researchers bridge the fragile gap between a promising idea and a discovery that can change lives.
Seed funding and expert guidance give Oregon researchers the freedom and flexibility to move quickly when promising ideas emerge. That early investment could reveal molecular fingerprints that help detect cancer earlier. Or lead to biomaterials that help shattered bones heal faster. Or turn a single laboratory discovery into a research model used by scientists around the world.
The earliest stages of discovery are often the hardest to fund. Before results are certain and traditional funding becomes available, promising ideas need champions willing to invest in possibility. Support at this critical stage gives more discoveries the chance to reach the clinic, the community, and the world.
Help answer the question that could spark Oregon’s next breakthrough.
Philanthropic support enables us to pursue new, riskier research directions that have a better chance to break truly new ground. Getting preliminary data goes a long way toward establishing a sustainable, federally funded research program.”
Jameson O’Reilly
research assistant professor and Oregon Ions principal investigator
Build interdisciplinary collaboration
The world’s most pressing questions can’t be solved in disciplinary silos. They demand scientists, engineers, educators, designers, artists, and policy experts who approach the same question from different perspectives and build on one another’s best ideas.
Oregon is creating environments where that kind of exchange and collaboration happens by design. At the Knight Campus, bioengineers, biologists, and data scientists work in flexible shared spaces that foster discovery. Faculty from the School of Law and Department of Computer Science are joining forces to explore the legal, policy, and technological challenges surrounding data center development. Across the university, researchers pair scientific advances with expertise in the arts, humanities, education, and public policy, bringing together diverse perspectives to solve real-world challenges.
When people with different expertise are able to work side by side, discovery moves faster and becomes more efficient and purposeful. Investments in shared spaces, research infrastructure, and collaborative programs help Oregon tackle complex questions and spark innovative solutions. Together, we’re creating meaningful impact across disciplines, allowing bold ideas to go further.
Collaboration is easy at Oregon because people are very willing to provide resources and expertise. There are really no barriers to someone trying to help you or you trying to help someone else.”
Lary Simpson Professor Marian Hettiaratchi
Scale applied impact
Oregon measures the value of discovery in lives changed. Applied research turns knowledge into new technologies and solutions that reach clinics, classrooms, coastlines, forests, and communities. It’s how promising ideas become measurable progress.
We don’t wait when the need is urgent. We set the pace and move ideas forward with purpose. Case in point: how we’re responding to a national crisis in meeting children’s mental health needs. By working across schools and institutes and tackling the issue through research, training, and public policy work, Oregon has created the first undergraduate pathway into the youth mental health workforce.
And what we prove here can become a replicable model anywhere.
With support to test, refine, and scale what works, more Oregon ideas can become solutions that improve lives. That’s how bold ideas are transformed into lasting impact.
The University of Oregon is pioneering a whole new model for higher education, where we’re integrating our research, our teaching, and our service in a way that leverages the existing resources of a university but puts them into the practice and implementation of advancing a critical social need.”
Marc Schlossberg
professor of city & regional planning; co-director, Sustainable Cities Institute
Where great ideas get their start
A bioengineering professor’s idea for an implantable knee sensor became a local startup with help from Oregon’s innovation ecosystem. The results: new jobs, new investment, and a promising medical technology advanced.
Where ideas become breakthroughs
At the Knight Campus, bioengineering associate professor Marian Hettiaratchi and her students are breaking down barriers between labs to turn bold ideas into new approaches to healing.
An Oregon-built model goes national
The Ballmer Institute’s innovative approach to training youth behavioral health professionals inspired a new Oregon license and is already becoming a blueprint for programs across the country.
Priority funds
Support discoveries that change lives. These featured funds help launch promising research and move Oregon ideas into the world.
Fuel the next breakthrough
Our impact is unstoppable when Oregon’s boldest ideas meet the support to move them forward.
