Student Research to Real-World Impact
onor support through CSUN’s annual Giving Day is helping the Autonomy Research Center for STEAHM (ARCS) prepare the next generation of innovators, while advancing research that addresses challenges on Earth and in space. A NASA-sponsored Center of Excellence, ARCS has brought together more than 1,100 students and faculty from seven CSUN colleges over the past six years to collaborate on interdisciplinary research spanning science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, the arts, humanities and mathematics. From wildfire protection and sustainable agriculture to diabetes care and space exploration, the center’s projects share one common goal: using collaborative research to solve real-world problems.
Support for ARCS has grown dramatically over the past four Giving Days. What began with a single $100 gift from one donor in 2023 grew to more than $69,000 in the past two years — a powerful reflection of the growing confidence in the center’s collaborative approach to research.
For Susan Ettinger ’80, M.S. ’84, a CSUN Alumni Association Board of Directors member and ARCS senior advisor, the center’s mission is best summarized in a single phrase: “Harness collaborative research to make an impact both in space and here on Earth.”
Funds raised during campaigns like Giving Day make that work possible by allowing students to fully participate in research alongside faculty mentors and industry partners. “It can be used to purchase research equipment and materials,” Ettinger said. “It’s also used to support the students as fellows, so they can focus their time on their research.”
Those fellowships provide critical financial support for students leading research teams while developing leadership, project management and communication skills. Ettinger believes ARCS’ collaborative model is what resonates most with donors.
“People donate to ARCS because of our convergent nature,” she said. “It’s not just students. It’s students, faculty and external experts working together to make an impact.”
As federal research funding has become more competitive, private philanthropy is playing an increasingly important role in sustaining student research opportunities. Every gift helps ensure more CSUN students and faculty can pursue research that prepares future leaders, while creating solutions for communities here on Earth and beyond.