New England Board of Higher Education » university research

Lowell Team Wants to Spin Peels, Algae into “Surfactants”

John O. Harney — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:11:37 +0000

A team of students from the University of Massachusetts Lowell will receive up to $90,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop nontoxic, biodegradable "surfactants" from fruit peels and algae and potentially bring the invention to market.

Surfactants are cleaning agents used in soaps, inks and other products to help them apply more easily to surfaces. Many surfactants are non-biodegradable or degrade into toxic products. The UMass Lowell students developed a process to convert polysaccharides from fruit peels or algae into safer surfactants

The grant is one of seven awarded nationally under the EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) program.

Trends & Indicators: Continually Updated Stats on New England’s Education and Economy

Daren Follweiler — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:11:11 +0000

For more than half a century, NEBHE has been publishing tables and charts exploring "Trends & Indicators" in New England’s demography, high school performance and graduation, college enrollment, college graduation rates and degree production, higher education financing and university research.

Our printed compendium richly juxtaposed 60-plus figures on state, regional, national and global higher education trends, and became a looked-to source of data and analysis. Along the way, Trends & Indicators also created a visual shorthand view of New England’s cultural and economic vitality.

Now, our new online format allows us to bring you these stats on a more timely basis. ...

Click below to view the full charts and figures for each of our research categories:

Demography — Updated May 2012
High School Success — Updated April 2012
College Readiness — Updated August 2012
Higher Education Enrollment — Updated December 2011
Higher Education Enrollment: International Enrollment — Updated July 2012
College Success — Updated November 2012
Financing Higher Education — Updated February 2012
University Research — Updated March 2011

The data are drawn from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the College Board, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and NEBHE’s own Annual Survey of New England Colleges and Universities.

Check back periodically as we continue to update new trend data.

Trends & Indicators 2010: University Research

Daren Follweiler — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:06:22 +0000

New England universities performed more than $3.7 billion worth of research and development in 2008, but the region’s share has dropped to 7.3% of the U.S. total, down from more than 10% in the 1980s. Had the region’s share stayed at 10%, an additional $1.5 billion would have been spent in New England university labs in 2008 alone.
New England university research labs have been world-famous for ideas that breed companies and whole industries in fields from biotechnology to photonics.
New England universities capture a disproportionate share of research dollars in fields such as environmental sciences. But the region is overly reliant on federal research funds and underfunded by the New England states.

Fig. 60: Research and Development Expenditures at New England's Universities and Colleges and New England's Share of U.S. R&D Expenditures, 2001 to 2008