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Research

  • Hugo Salgado posing in front of a white background.
    Digital repository preserves El Salvador’s last Indigenous language 

    Hugo Salgado, assistant professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University, is protecting one of the world’s most endangered languages by documenting not only how it is spoken, but also the cultural knowledge embedded within it. Through an open-access digital repository, Salgado is preserving Nawat, the only Indigenous language still spoken in El Salvador.

    July 28, 2026

  • Innovation in LAS and photo of the Iowa State Campanile.
    LAS research projects selected for U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission

    Iowa State researchers, including some in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, are part of a national initiative to build the most powerful integrated science discovery platform by uniting government, industry, academia and philanthropy. The projects will accelerate breakthroughs in energy, scientific discovery and national security through a new platform that combines artificial intelligence, supercomputing, quantum systems and advanced scientific instruments.

    July 22, 2026

  • Lake Laverne and the Memorial Union with the text Faculty Honors in the lower left
    Computer science professor receives NSF CAREER award

    Mengdi Huai, assistant professor of computer science, is one of five Iowa State research scholars selected for Faculty Early Career Development Program CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

    July 16, 2026

  • A blue- and gold-colored alloy that is oval shaped.
    Scientists to use superpowers of AI and innovative synthesis to develop new, stronger magnets

    A team led by Kirill Kovnir, professor of chemistry, will use artificial intelligence tools and innovative synthesis methods to develop new, super-strong magnets. The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy is supporting the work with a $2.7 million grant.

    July 13, 2026

  • A cotton ball closed and then opened.
    Cotton’s roots trace to Yucatan Peninsula, where wild gene pool runs deepest

    A research team led by Distinguished Professor Jonathan Wendel, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, confirmed cotton was domesticated from a diverse population native to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a potentially fruitful target for finding genetic traits that could strengthen the world’s most important fiber crop.

    June 18, 2026

  • A professor stands in front of a screen while talking with a group of students seated at tables.
    Writing with AI demands more thought from students, not less

    In a new study, Abram Anders, associate professor of English and the Jonathan Wickert Professor of Innovation, and co-author Emily Dux Speltz suggest the biggest hurdle in teaching students to write with AI isn’t the technology — it’s the students’ assumptions about what writing is.

    June 15, 2026

  • Professor Elizabeth Swanner, Department of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate
    Hydrogen from deep under Iowa? State universities can help build a hydrogen economy

    As companies search for geologic hydrogen deep below Iowa's farms, towns and cities, university scientists, including Professor Elizabeth Swanner, Department of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate, are starting to discuss how they could help the state develop a hydrogen economy.

    June 10, 2026

  • Graphic illustration.
    Preparing future math teachers to teach data science

    Future math teachers may be the key to bringing data science into high‑school classrooms, and curriculum designed by mathematics researchers from Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa is helping pre-service teachers build their data‑science skills by tapping into the math they already know.

    June 4, 2026