WSU research office reports growth in awards, eyes nuclear, AI and materials for federal funding

Kim Christen, vice president for research at Washington State University, told regents on March 6 that WSU’s research enterprise has shown increased proposal activity and award dollars in the most recent fiscal year and identified priority areas for strategic growth.

Christen said year‑over‑year increases in tenure‑track hires, proposal submissions and unique principal investigators helped produce a roughly 7% rise in total award dollars between FY23 and FY24, with FY25 continuing the upward trend. She credited faculty and research support staff for that turnaround and said the university has begun to map its research “strengths” using three indicators: sustained funding, critical mass of faculty, and societal impact.

Christen highlighted three opportunity areas aligned with federal priorities: nuclear sciences, artificial intelligence/machine learning/robotics, and advanced materials. On nuclear science she cited WSU’s research reactor on the Pullman campus, ties to DOE national laboratories (including Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and the Institute for Northwest Energy Futures on the Tri‑Cities campus. She told regents that WSU received an earmark for $7,500,000 in FY24 to construct a hot‑cell annex to the Pullman nuclear science center to expand isotope development capabilities.

On AI, Christen described ongoing work that ranges from machine learning models for streamflow and water‑quality prediction to wearable health devices and the university’s Ag AI Institute, now in its fifth year and expanding into agricultural cybersecurity. In materials research she pointed to strengths such as the Institute for Shock Physics and projects on cross‑laminated timber treatments and 3‑D printed biofluid sensors.

Christen said USDA and HHS historically make up a large share of WSU’s federal funding and that the university lags some peers in NSF and DOE funding; she described targeted efforts over the past six months to align proposals with agency strategic plans. She also described WSU’s role in hydrogen research: participation in a multi‑partner DOE regional hydrogen hub and an upcoming NSF engineering research center application led by Jacob Leachman that leverages a university cryogenic hydrogen laboratory.

Regents asked about undergraduate and graduate student involvement in research and about workforce development tied to nuclear and hydrogen work; Christen said WSU is pursuing expanded certificate and curricular options across campuses to meet labor needs. She also described a close, longstanding partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: joint faculty appointments, shared graduate programs and collaborative institutes.