Students collaborate with faculty, perform independent research in labs and in the field, compete for grant funding, publish papers, present at conferences, compete in regional and national academic challenges, work on community-engaged research projects, and more.
Roger Williams University is committed to an environment in which research and creativity are integrally related to quality teaching at all levels. The University provides significant resources and administrative support to create active research projects.
RWU Faculty, staff, and students are deeply engaged with research at the cutting edge of biology and marine science and technology as well as legal and policy issues around marine affairs. Many of these activities are externally sponsored through research grants from government agencies and departments, private foundations, and corporations. The science and policy have impact on local, regional, and national interests in sustainability, economics, and society.
As a cross-cutting research area, sustainability and environmental research is conducted throughout the University in its schools, centers, and Extension School. Faculty and students work on problems across a range of disciplines including architecture, engineering, construction management, business, law, politics, and culture. These efforts continue to grow to meet the important needs of our ecology and environment in the 21st century.
Opportunities for innovation and technology research are becoming increasingly available at RWU. There is an entrepreneurial spirit throughout the University to solve problems using innovative solutions to technical problems, social needs, or educational challenges. Projects include open educational resources, cybersecurity programs, maker spaces, and virtual learning.
At RWU, research in the area of law and justice studies ranges from civil liberties, constitutional law, national security, international trade, indigenous people’s law, interviewing and interrogation, smart policing initiatives, and reducing gun violence through integrated evidence sharing. Undergraduate and graduate students work with Faculty investigators on these projects, several funded externally including the Department of Justice and state and local police agencies.
Faculty, students, and staff across disciplines at RWU are engaged in public humanities and arts projects that make underrepresented stories and groups in our region, our country, and around the globe. These investigations have inclusive narratives that include the spoken, the written, the visual, the theatrical, and the embodied. Projects have ranged from “Hidden Truths: Stories of Race and Place Lecture Series” to “Providence Truth and Reconciliation Process” to “Rhode Island Slave History Medallion Project Research.”
Seven-year partnership with Bristol-Warren schools has introduced nearly 1,500 fourth graders to engineering design while giving Roger Williams University Education and Engineering majors real-world teaching, mentoring, and problem-solving experience.
The 13th annual Student Academic Showcase and Honors brought together hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, connecting academic inquiry with issues shaping communities and careers.
BRISTOL, R.I. – Global Heritage Hall transformed into a hub of curiosity and discovery this March as Roger Williams University’s second annual Brain Fair invited attendees to explore the science of
RWU researchers and students partner with state and industry leaders to expand hatchery production, strengthen disease monitoring, and accelerate restoration of Rhode Island’s iconic quahog populations in Narragansett Bay.
A longtime leader in affordable housing and community development, Brenda Clement is recognized for decades of shaping housing policy and opportunity across Rhode Island.