National Consortium Offers New Opportunities for SLU Researchers, Students

Saint Louis University has joined the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of more than 160 colleges and universities that works to provide innovative solutions to advance priorities in science, education, security, and health. SLU's application to join ORAU as a sponsoring institution, led by the School of Science and Engineering, was accepted at ORAU's annual meeting in March, along with three other universities.

The consortium is connected to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that is home to several of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Acceptance into the consortium provides SLU researchers with additional resources and opportunities for collaboration.

To join ORAU, a university must be among the nation’s top research universities, as measured by inclusion in the top Carnegie categories or by inclusion in the top 200 institutions ranked by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) R&D expenditure table. SLU met both requirements in 2024. In February, it was announced that SLU earned the highly revered “R1” designation in the 2025 Research Activity Designations from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

ORAU supports and advances scientific research in collaboration with more than 160 member institutions. The organization’s expertise includes providing scientific and technical staffing support, supporting scientific and technical peer reviews and conducting evaluations to inform research investments and programs.

Universities in ORAU also must offer doctoral degrees in multiple STEM disciplines, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for a minimum of five years before joining the consortium. Of SLU’s 49 doctoral programs, 15 are in STEM fields.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies to advance national priorities in science, education, workforce development, public health, and worker health and safety since its founding in 1946.

In 1992, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) was established to conduct activities on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies and operated under a management and operating contract by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). ORAU launched a STEM Accelerator in 2023 to address challenges in STEM education, training, research, and innovation. This diverse network of two- and four-year academic institutions, industry, non-profit, professional organizations, labor unions and government have partnered with the aim of addressing the toughest challenges in STEM education, training, research, and innovation.