Researching

researching

UNC Charlotte scores well in assessments of sustainability research thanks to the dedication of our faculty, staff, and students. The Times Higher Education International Impact Rankings assess university research output addressing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. For 2024, UNC Charlotte ranked highly in research for: good health and well-being, responsible consumption and production, and clean water and sanitation. AASHE STARS assessments identified active sustainability researchers in 81% of academic departments.

Specific examples of how the university supports research on sustainability include:

Finding Collaborators

Search Tool

PIVOT is a subscription service provided by the Center for Research Excellence that lists faculty and staff with research responsibilities. The searchable database includes faculty expert profiles and links to scholarship.  Another searchable resource is UNC Charlotte Scholars (AKA Niner Experts). 

Join a Campus Network

Networking Across Disciplines (NEXUS) fosters interdisciplinary research collaborations by providing opportunities for faculty to learn about the research others are doing and find areas of mutual interest. They offer summer workshops with new themes each year to facilitate the initial stages of project development and provide faculty with the space to connect. NEXUS themes are selected from the Division of Research list of 17 “Areas of Focus and Distinction”, which includes Migration and Diaspora Studies; Sustainable Cities; Transformational Energy; Climate Change and Resilience; Socioeconomic Mobility; and Urban Health. 

Institutes & Centers

University institutes and centers that have a focus on sustainability issues include:

  • Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC)
  • North Carolina Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification Research Center (BATT CAVE)
  • Urban Institute
  • Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER)
  • Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS)
  • Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Solutions and Education (CAMMSE)
  • Integrated Design Research Lab (IDRL)
  • City.Building.Lab
  • Charlotte Action Research Project (CHARP)
  • Center for Environmental Monitoring and Informatics Technologies for Public Health (CEMIT)
  • Center for Energy Security and Reliability (CESAR)
  • Center for Innovation, Translational Research and Applications of Nanostructured Systems (CITRANS)