Centers and institutes are established within the University to strengthen and enrich multidisciplinary programs of research, public service, or instruction conducted by the faculty and staff. They also may provide undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with added research opportunities, facilities, and assistance, as well as enhance their involvement in public service and educational activities. Centers and institutes also have a strong positive impact on the economic development of the state by providing job opportunities, supplying technical assistance and training, fostering community development, and enhancing the transfer of new technologies. By engaging in partnerships with organizations such as private or corporate sponsors, educational institutions, and federal or state agencies, centers serve as an important means to address the diverse mission of the University.
NOTE: The Centers and Institutes listed on this page are only those that have been established as UNC Charlotte Institutional Centers under the procedures set forth in University Policy #314. A Dean may wish to establish a pilot center that meets certain needs within the college but does not yet meet the standard for creating a UNC Charlotte Institutional Center. Pilot centers may be established for a two-year period and, with appropriate review, extended to five years, but must then be proposed as an institutional center or be discontinued.
Institutes
Charlotte AI Institute
Contact: Stephanie Shuckers, PhD or George Banks, PhD
Description: CLTAI2 elevates and accelerates UNC Charlotte’s nationally recognized AI research expertise in computer science, energy, health, education and leadership, manufacturing, data science, ethics, engineering, risk management and the arts, to positively shape a rapidly emerging AI future.
National Defense & Intelligence Innovation Institute
Contact: Mesbah Uddin, PhD or Jackie Selig-Gumtow
Description: Building on UNC Charlotte’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, materials science, cybersecurity, data and AI-enabled systems, directed energy, optics and photonics, operational energy, and human performance, the National Defense & Intelligence Innovation Institute (NDI3) will serve as a transdisciplinary and translational hub for mission-driven academic research and innovation supporting the broader defense enterprise across the military services, government partners, and the defense industrial base.
Urban Institute
Contact: Lori Thomas, Ph.D. 704-687-7037
Description: The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute is the University’s applied research center, working on significant public policy issues across the 14-county, 2-state region surrounding Charlotte. The Urban Institute also oversees the Charlotte Regional Data Trust, which brings together datasets from community partners as a trusted broker and serves as an applied research and community-driven resource.
EPIC
Contact: Rob Cox 704-687-7037
Description: The institute is a nonpartisan, applied research and community outreach center at UNC Charlotte. Founded in 1969, it provides services including technical assistance and training in operations and data management; public opinion surveys; and research and analysis around economic, environmental, and social issues affecting the Charlotte region.
Research Centers
Contact: Wenwu Tang
Description: The Center for Applied GIScience integrates the natural and social sciences coupled with advanced geospatial modeling techniques and high performance computing for modeling human-environment interactions to address pressing local-to-global resource and sustainability challenges.
Contact: Christine Richardson
Description: The Center for Biomedical Engineering and Science (CBES) provides infrastructure for synergizing biomedical faculty, researchers, clinicians, practitioners, and students and serves as an umbrella for facilitating the university’s connection to industry and community partners.
Contact: Yongqiang Chu
Description: The Center for Real Estate fosters interdisciplinary research and guides the quality of the university’s real estate curriculum. The Center generates and disseminates high-level academic and practitioner research through community and business engagement.
Contact: Daniel Janies & Adam Reitzel
Description: The Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environment Risks (CIPHER) catalyzes team science in infectious diseases and molecular diagnostics, collaborating with partners in medicine, industry, and government.
Contact: Tara Cavalline
Description: Bringing together engineers, construction/facility managers, social scientists, data scientists in partnership with Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, the Charlotte AIR Institute (a) proactively identifies and fosters collaboration on a focused-set of transformative research, education, and outreach initiatives with the aviation sector; and, (b) positions stakeholders to address workforce needs.
Contact: Qiang Zhu
Description: The North Carolina Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification Research Center, the BATT CAVE, is driving innovation by unraveling the intricate world of batteries and their applications that will drive the next generation of autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and intelligence systems
Contact: Glenn Boreman
Description: The Opto Center focuses on photonics research and includes a state-of-the-art photonic component and device fabrication clean room facility. The Center is core to the Carolinas Photonic Consortium at industry events and trade shows.
Contact: Ed Morse
Description: The Center for Precision Metrology is an interdisciplinary association of researchers and students allied with industrial partners working in precision manufacturing. The Center has 13 industrial members that support an industry-driven and aligned research agenda.
Contact: Gordon Hull
Description: The Center for Professional and Applied Ethics brings together faculty, students and the public with interests in applied ethics.
Contact: Wenwen Dou
Description: The Viz Center develops and promotes the science of visual analytics and to advance interactive visualization as an integrative discipline that is indispensable for attacking key real world applications.
Ignite Centers
Contact: Carlos Cruz
Description: CHArt focuses on preservation and interpretation of the built environment through hands-on engagement with communities, their legacies, and places building connecting with museums, archeological sites. CHArt fosters connections between people, places, and pasts with the humanities, design and the visual and performing arts.
Contact: George Banks & Janaki Gooty
Description: Using advanced scientific evidence, CLS supports university stakeholders accomplish their research, teaching and service missions related to training future leaders and guides businesses solve vexing challenges, serving the Charlotte community as well as national stakeholders.
Contact: Taufiquar Khan
Description: TAIM2 focuses on identifying and managing underlying risk and uncertainty to customers and our society and understand the natural uncertainty and biases in models, focusing on the banking sector and integrating data science with statistics guiding sound adoption practices for industry and governmental entities.
Contact: Juan Vivero-Escoto
Description: CITRANS brings together experts in the areas of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics, optics and materials whose research merges at the nanoscale science. The research in CITRANS deals with three main focused areas; biomedicine, energy and materials. Research in these fields involves the development of nanoscale-based solutions for major health, energy and environmental issues impacting our society.
Contact: Pu Wang
Description: AI4HEALTH aims to revolutionize healthcare by developing and implementing Human Digital Twin (HDT) solutions for computational health. The center brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts in artificial intelligence, data science, healthcare, and life sciences to create a collaborative ecosystem that fosters innovation, knowledge sharing, and the development of cutting-edge AI technologies for healthcare applications leveraging AI technologies to create accurate and up-to-date HDTs for individuals. These digital twins will enable personalized, data-driven, and precise healthcare decisions, improving patient outcomes and reducing costs.
Contact: Richard Lambert
Description: CEME provides program and performance evaluation, and educational research and measurement services, to various community partners and provides social science research methodology support to researchers within the College of Education and collaborators across campus.
Contact: Stephanie Potochnick
Description: The Center for Migration and Diaspora Studies brings together scholars across campus who study migration from multiple disciplinary perspectives. The Center works with local, national, and international organizations and is committed to policy-relevant engaged scholarship.
Contact: David Pugalee
Description: CSTEM enhances our nation’s scientific and technological capabilities through a deep commitment to STEM education preparation for students for STEM careers by providing opportunities to develop foundational STEM knowledge and skills. STEM Education builds an advanced understanding of how people learn with modern technologies in order to create individualized learning experiences, to inspire inquiry and life-long learning, and to foster creativity.
Contact: Apryl A. Alexander
Description: The VPC collaborates with academic, public, and governmental partners to research and implement empirically-informed prevention and intervention programs, serving as a resource for transformative research, training, and technical assistance for communities, policymakers, and the public.
Contact: Angela Preston
Description: The Mebane Early Literacy Center at UNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s most comprehensive early literacy research, practice, and engagement center. Grounded in the science of reading, MELC advances literacy through applied teacher preparation, innovative research, and meaningful collaboration with schools and community organizations.
Contact: Meera Sridhar
Description: The CESAR Project is a collaborative initiative between UNC Charlotte, NC State, and NC A&T focused on developing a secure, carbon-neutral power grid. By leveraging the combined expertise of these institutions, the project drives innovation in energy and cybersecurity to ensure a resilient and sustainable power infrastructure.
Center for Advanced Power Engineering Research (CAPER)
Contact: Rob Cox
Description: CAPER is a Southeast-based consortium of universities and industry partners dedicated to advancing grid modernization and power engineering education. The center collaborates on research and technology demonstrations to ensure a resilient, reliable grid capable of integrating renewable energy and overcoming modern infrastructure challenges.