Research
Research at LMU tackles important questions, large and small. Across the arts, sciences and humanities, faculty and students explore challenges that stand to make the world a better place. Student research provides an opportunity for high-impact, active learning through one-on-one interaction with faculty mentors, and grows students as critical thinkers, problem solvers, and intellectual independents.
Research Centers & Institutes
LMU is home to 17 interdisciplinary research centers and institutes, where students and faculty wrestle with some of the most pressing social, economic, and spiritual issues of our time.
StudyLA
StudyLA advocates for a better, more equitable Los Angeles through research, student mentorship, and engagement with its residents and leaders.
PARC
The Psychology Applied Research Center conducts community-based participatory evaluation and action research and uses a multidisciplinary lens to accomplish its goals.
CURes
The Center for Urban Resilience is committed to improving the quality of life in our urban communities, especially those that have been historically underserved.
Faculty and Student Research
LMU is a National University/High Research Activity (R2), which reflects our commitment to high-level research. Our faculty value the opportunity to conduct research and scholarship with undergraduate and graduate students to provide mentorship and guidance while furthering their expertise. Students have ample opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research and take part in unique academic experiences in Los Angeles and throughout the world.
- Number of full-time faculty: 615
- Number of endowed chairs: 25
- Faculty awards include 31 Fulbright Scholars, one Nobel Prize winner, one Pulitzer Prize winner, and two Princeton Fellowships
Faculty Directory
Research News
Research, For the People
The Psychology Applied Research Center empowers underserved communities to address inequity and improve services ranging from mental health to drug prevention and childhood obesity. Founded by Professor Cheryl Grills, Ph.D., and supported by more than $9.5 million in grants since 2009, PARC has made a profound impact — in the communities it serves and the students who join its mission.
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Exploring the Effects of Physical Exercise on Stress and Aging
Assistant Professor of Health and Human Sciences Caio Sousa’s research is focused on how humans react physiologically to stress and the subsequent effects on aging. He is looking at both sociodemographic and socioeconomic data and wants to uncover how all of this may contribute to creating health disparities among different groups in the U.S. and around the world.
Studio Arts Professor Faculty Takes Interdisciplinary Approach to Combat Microplastic Pollution
As part of a HAW.International grant, Professor Jane Brucker paired art and science students together to form synergetic learning teams, resulting in visual projects that communicated current research on microplastic pollution in water and the effects of microplastics on the human body.
LMU Researcher Creating a Renewable Future
Physical Chemist Jonathan Ryan Hunt’s study of so-called photobase molecules - molecules that, when hit with the right wavelength of light, can control the pH of solutions - has significant implications for green hydrogen production and other environmentally friendly forms of energy.
Research and Creative Work
Students conduct research projects that are supported by our world-class faculty experts and other university resources. These opportunities translate discoveries into knowledge, technologies and programs that make the world a better place.
The Office of Research and Creative Arts is committed to inclusive excellence and strives to increase engagement from the entire student body, including first generation college students and students from underrepresented groups.
Learn how students are supported in faculty-mentored research and creative works.