Research Strength
Research is one of the most important missions of the faculty. Research goals are to excel in the generation of knowledge in basic sciences leading to new discovery, international publications, and most importantly to transfer of research findings to public used in industrial, agricultural and environmental issues.
The emphasis of research in principally based on problems of local relevance, concentrating on transferring knowledge to solve the community’s problems. Research projects are diverse, encompassing the areas of food and industrial microbiology, sensor, analytical method development, environmental pollution, climate change and sustainable develop, food and agricultural product, alternative energy, computational science, computer and information technology, mathematics and applications, astronomy and cosmology, theoretical physics, statistics, computational chemistry and biology.
4 Centers of Excellence
1. Applied Taxonomic Research Center (ATRC)
ATRC carries out research in basic and applied taxonomy, and also provides services to the public through its expertise in taxonomy of local plants, animals and fungi. Major research themes include taxonomy, ecology and commercial application of zooplankton, particularly the fairy shrimps; taxonomic and systematic study of local plants and medicinal plants; study of pollen causing allergy in human; DNA fingerprinting and chromosome studies for agricultural purposes; and utilization of plankton, aquatic insects and algae as bioindicators for environmental assessment.
2. Center for Geo-informatics for the Development of Northeast Thailand (GECNET)
The center’s main objective is to employ geographical information system technology and remote sensing as a tool for providing information useful for area-based planning for the development of the northeast region of Thailand including, evaluation for drought-, flood-, soil erosion risk area; spatial diversity for terrestrial ecosystems; land suitability evaluation for agricultural crops; agricultural land use planning; evaluation for bird flu risk area and more.
3. Protein and Proteomics Research Centre for Commercial and Industrial Purposes (ProCCI)
ProCCI thrives to discover novel proteins, enzymes, and related metabolites that are potentially useful for commercial and industrial purposes. The core strength of our researchers in protein chemistry, molecular biology, enzyme technology, and antimicrobial mechanism enables us to deliver new strategy in reducing cost in industry, adding values for commercialized products, and so forth. The strong connection with business sector where the research question originates allows us to expand the research horizon resulting in useful research outcomes and also high quality graduate students ready for working in both academia and industry.
4. Materials Chemistry Research Center (MCRC)
MCRC research is focusing on three areas: (1) molecular functional materials,
(2) polymers and organic-inorganic hybrid materials and (3) modified inorganic materials aiming at developing new and novel functional materials for applications including; adsorption and separation, catalysis, chemical and biological sensors, analytical applications in food and environment, biological activities, and materials for magnetics, dielectric and magnetoelectric. The developing of research methodology and new synthesizing methods along with the insight in investigations on these functional properties are crucial to acquire the well-designed materials with notably innovative applications. Apart from developing the new materials, one of the MCRC goals is to build strong research networks among group of senior investigators, young researchers and graduate students associated with MCRC. Beyond the center, MCRC is as well establishing the national and international collaborations to strengthen and promote the research-based knowledge in Materials Chemistry.