Investing in Innovation
For more than 80 years, partnership between the federal government and research universities such as Caltech has propelled U.S. leadership in science and technology, ensured economic competitiveness, contributed to national defense, launched industries, enhanced the wellbeing of the American people, and prepared the next generation of science and engineering leaders.
Federal investments in Caltech research pay back society through discovery and innovation that improve health, harness new energy sources, create jobs, and pioneer the technologies we rely on in our everyday lives—now and into the future.
Explore some of the ways federally funded research at Caltech expands frontiers of knowledge and both fuels a legacy and creates a future of U.S. leadership in innovation and curiosity-driven science.
Improving and saving lives by pioneering a deeper understanding of the body and how it works
Leading the world in seismic measurement and monitoring for over a century
Exploring efficient, affordable, and accessible sources of energy
Driving observation and exploration of the universe and beyond to broaden understanding of our origins and future
Integrating deep theoretical expertise and interdisciplinary excellence to advance computing capabilities and then leverage those tools to advance scientific discovery and address societal problems
Designing self-driving cars, self-assembling space robots, prosthetic devices, and more to navigate real-world, unpredictable environments and situations
Meet the Minds Driving Discovery
- Edward B. Lewis Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering
Marianne Bronner
My lab studies a fascinating embryonic stem cell population called the neural crest. We are also studying how these cells, unique to vertebrate embryos, have changed over the course of evolution. Defects in neural crest development can cause many debilitating birth defects, including cleft lip and/or palate and outflow tract defects of the heart. When things go wrong in neural crest development, they can also give rise to tumors. So, understanding their normal development can help detect and possibly treat developmental abnormalities and some types of cancer.
- Professor of Planetary Science
Konstantin Batygin
Humanity has only discovered two true planets beyond those known to the ancients: Uranus and Neptune. If Planet Nine exists, it will expand our census of worlds in the solar system and, with its immense orbit, hold a fossil record of the solar system’s earliest days. Understanding it would not only reshape our map of the nearby cosmos but also reveal how planets form and migrate. The Vera Rubin Observatory comes online later this year. It may confirm or refute our predictions, uncover new patterns, or even detect Planet Nine directly. Either way, we stand at the threshold of discovery.
- Professor of Planetary Science
Heather Knutson
Our goal is to find and study exoplanets, which are planets orbiting nearby stars. As astronomers, we have come up with clever ways to study their properties. This allows us to explore nearby worlds from the comfort of our home planet! One of my group’s long-term goals is to characterize more small rocky planets like the Earth. This information will help us to determine whether or not a given planet might be able to support life, and (eventually) to look for evidence of life on those planets.
- Research Professor of Geophysics
Allen Husker
We are researching people’s responses to the phone alerts sent out during the 2025 LA wildfires to improve earthquake early warning alerts. We want to find out if people ignore alerts or want more as time passes. We hope to understand decision making and how people respond during emergencies. Millions of people have already been alerted during smaller "one-off" earthquakes, but a large earthquake will have many aftershocks over many days. This research will inform how earthquake alerting happens during aftershocks.
Economic Impact
Caltech Voices
