UConn's quiet innovations making big waves
Collage by John Lucas.
UConn researchers are wrapping up another year worth celebrating. Some research news stories traveled far, attracting national attention and highlighting state and federal investment in UConn research excellence. But others stayed closer to home. 2025 saw breakthroughs in understanding the science of music, supporting pandemic recovery, nurturing Connecticut's social workers, and more.
Here are ten stories worth revisiting from UConn research in 2025, spanning programs, schools, and colleges and showcasing the diversity and creativity of University researchers.
Advocating for Disability Inclusion in Graduate Study: While 19.4% of undergraduate students identify with disabilities, only 12% of graduate students do. A multi-institutional team is embarking on a mission to understand the barriers to graduate study that exist for disabled students, and to identify proactive strategies to increase disability representation. Erin Scanlon, assistant professor-in-residence in the physics department, is leading the UConn portionof this joint, NSF-funded $1.3 million project (with the University of Wisconsin and University of Illinois) investigating the challenges disabled graduate students face in the field of physics.
