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Office of Research and Innovation
Centers and Institutes

We Build Intellectual Bridges

NC State University’s Centers and Institutes provide platforms for the sharpest minds to collaborate, investigate and discover. With more than 40 system-recognized centers and institutes, our faculty are putting their research to work to solve some of the biggest societal challenges while advancing scholarship. Our centers and institutes research complex problems and reach across disciplinary boundaries to bring think and do solutions. 

These units enhance faculty, staff, and student opportunities and spur economic impact in North Carolina. Most of our centers and institutes work with our external partners in government and industry in addition to working with our higher education peers. By leveraging the individual strengths of our peers and partners, we create a deeper understanding of the questions that drive our research while providing novel outcomes, deeper understanding and impactful student experiences.

Unit Types

Centers

Centers work to promote research and advance education across complex problems of importance to North Carolina and the nation. They do not have jurisdiction over academic curricula, but may offer courses in cooperation with academic units.

Institutes

Institutes similarly work to promote research and advance education across complex problems of importance to North Carolina and the nation but typically have a broader scope than centers. Institutes also do not have jurisdiction over academic curricula, but may work with academic units to offer courses.

Consortia

An NC State Consortium is an association of a university unit with three or more industrial companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or the pooling of resources to achieve a common goal in research, instruction and/or public service.

Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI)

WRRI is our oldest active unit. It was established July 1964.

See their work

41
Active Centers and Institutes

1051
Faculty Members Engaged

624
Staff Members Engaged

11
Units House Academic Programs

formally recognized by the university

200
Companies Engaged in Unit Activites

9
Active Partner Consortia

Leading the Pack

Discover the innovative work conducted by NC State’s Centers and Institutes.

View the Centers and Institutes List

Committed to Excellence

Explore Centers and Institutes’ guidelines and management.

View guidelines and management

University and Industry

Read about industry partnerships that drive economic development.

View Partnerships

Centers and Institutes News

More News
image: Pamlico River, water's edge.

Reducing the Nutrient Load

Last year, researchers teamed with local experts to look at hybrid constructed wetlands as part of a solution for North Carolina’s impaired watersheds, thanks to the Community Collaborative Research Grant Program from North Carolina Sea Grant, the NC Water Resources Research Institute, and the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science. The CCRG Program is currently accepting proposals.

image: starry landscape.

Soul of the Soil

Researchers and the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe joined forces to assess soil contaminants, thanks to a Community Collaborative Research Grant from WRRI, Sea Grant, and NC State’s William R. Kenan Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science. 

image: deepwater fish.

How to Vent Deepwater Reef Fish

Researchers from NC State University and The Nature Conservancy surveyed headboat recreational anglers in North Carolina from April 2023 to January 2025 to better understand their knowledge about venting.