UNH Research

06/02/2026

06/02/2026

06/01/2026

Robbie the robot looks like a coat rack. Can this UNH-designed innovation help seniors maintain their independence? 🤖

Yes, say Brian and Brenda Marquis.

The Durham couple live with physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities; they’re now part of a pilot program led by computer science professor Momotaz Begum and occupational therapy professor Sajay Arthanat. The researchers’ goal: To provide one solution to aging America’s growing home care crisis.

“We’ve been kind of trapped in a problem here in New Hampshire of being able to find and recruit enough home care support,” Brenda Marquis told The Associated Press. “That was when I started looking into robotics and trying to figure out what to do.”

🎥 Read more, and watch Robbie in action with Brian and Brenda in a short video:

The decades-long quest to build home robots that are both helpful and lifelike — spurred on by fictional machines like The Jetsons’ humanoid maid Rosie —- is still mostly a pipe dream, but some developers are getting closer.

05/27/2026

05/27/2026

Federal research funding to UNH produces a lot more than knowledge. For every $100 in federal funding, UNH generates an additional $77 in economic activity!

That’s according to a recent report from the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. UNH receives research grants and contracts from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, or the National Institutes of Health.

“With investments from federal agencies, UNH research provides benefits to the state and the region that go beyond high-impact discoveries and a skilled workforce,” says Jennifer Miksis-Olds, interim vice president for research and innovation at UNH. “Federal research funding multiplies into dollars that flow to shops, restaurants, contractors, suppliers, and collaborators locally and across New Hampshire.”

More: https://bit.ly/4e5oKmG

05/18/2026

Congratulations to integrative biology Ph.D. student Kaila Frazer and bioengineering major Jack Reynolds ’26, who received prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships (GRFP) from the National Science Foundation. These fellowships include three years of financial support for students pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees in STEM fields, with an annual stipend and tuition allowance.

Frazer, from Seattle, will forecast marine heatwave occurrences in the Gulf of Maine to model their economic impacts on the region. She is studying with assistant professor of biology Easton White.

Reynolds, from Concord, will use the fellowship to pursue graduate study in neurosciences at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Jacksonville, Florida. He was mentored in professor Kyung Jae Jeong’s lab.

In addition, four UNH students received honorable mentions: graduate students Alanna Nenadich-Alvarez (Earth sciences), Margaret Krein (natural resources), Torin Scalora (natural resources), and undergraduate Jack Sullivan ’26 (chemical engineering).

UNH Engineering & Physical Sciences UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture

05/15/2026

Congratulations to the 93 scholars who received their Ph.D.s at this morning’s Graduate School commencement ceremony. After years of classes, research, teaching, AND a dissertation, these new doctors are launching their knowledge and discoveries into the world. Their disciplines span the university — English and engineering; oceanography and sociology. Physics graduated 11 Ph.D.s, the largest number, followed by eight new doctors from the Natural Resources and Earth System Sciences program.

In addition, the ceremony celebrated UNH 23 Doctor of Nursing Practice graduates, 13 Doctor of Occupational Therapy graduates, and one Doctor of Education Graduate.

Congratulations! We’’re excited to watch their next chapters.