Big questions don’t scare us.
They drive us.
At the University of Oklahoma, research isn’t just something we do. It’s how we serve our state, advance knowledge, and build a better future for all 77 counties and beyond.
At the University of Oklahoma, research isn’t just something we do. It’s how we serve our state, advance knowledge, and build a better future for all 77 counties and beyond.
Because discovery should do more than expand knowledge.
It should change lives.
Oklahoma's Leading Research Institution
Funding
$517M
Research Expenditures
Expected in FY25
Ranking
Top 100
NIH Funding
Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research
Distinction
No. 1
Severe Storm & Radar Research
Nationally
Innovation
Top 100
U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents
National Academy of Inventors
Oklahoma faces some of the most persistent health challenges in the country. As the state’s only academic health system, it is our solemn duty to push the boundaries of what’s possible in medicine to meet those challenges. We are striving to provide the research-driven, highly specialized care that only an academic health system can give to all of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma has a long-standing and deeply embedded aerospace and defense ecosystem, anchored by major federal installations, world-class sustainment and logistics capabilities, and a growing network of industry partners. This concentration creates a rare environment where innovation, workforce development, and operational readiness intersect, allowing research advances to move rapidly from concept to application.
Oklahoma sits at the center of some of the most complex and severe weather patterns on the planet, and there’s no better place to study the weather. OU is home to the National Weather Center and a dense concentration of atmospheric science expertise, making it the perfect place to lead innovation in forecasting, risk reduction and community resilience.
As a major producer of oil and natural gas and a net energy exporter, Oklahoma serves as a real-world laboratory for advancing subsurface energy systems, carbon management, grid resilience, and next-generation energy technologies. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Oklahoma produces far more energy than it consumes, positioning the state to lead innovation critical to national energy security and reliability.
Human Study Links Reduced Inflammation to Later Myopia Onset
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine researcher Jody Summers, Ph.D., has long hypothesized that inflammation plays a role in the development of myopia, or nearsightedness, in which close-up vision is clear but distance vision is blurry. Her laboratory experiments have been convincing, and now she has preliminary human data to support the theory.
NIH Awards OU College of Medicine $10.7 Million to Advance Sensory Biology Research
The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $10.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create the Oklahoma Center for Biomedical Research Excellence in Sensory Biology. The center will serve as a hub for research into how cells sense and respond to their environment and the diseases that can occur when that process malfunctions.
Six Years of Drought Reshape Soil Microbiomes in Tallgrass Prairie, Study Finds
A new study tracking soil microbial communities across six years of experimental drought in a tallgrass prairie finds that prolonged water stress diminishes biodiversity, pushing communities toward less predictable, harder-to-reverse configurations.
Discovery moves fast.
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The One is the University of Oklahoma’s weekly newsletter, sharing the stories that define OU. From groundbreaking research and innovation to campus achievements and community impact, The One highlights the people, ideas, and discoveries that remind us there’s only one Oklahoma.
