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Taking on the world’s most challenging problems

Research at Carolina improves lives and generates tremendous cultural, social and economic worth.

Carolina has been on the forefront of scholarly research for more than 200 years, and today we conduct over $1 billion of sponsored research activity every year.

Our faculty, staff and trainees are the heart of Carolina’s creative research and teaching programs. Hundreds of our faculty belong to National Academies and prestigious learned societies, including two Nobel laureates. They lead top programs in arts, humanities, social sciences, public health, genetics and genome sciences, autism and neuroscience, pharmacy, and population science, among others. And we retain their expertise by providing state-of-the-art research facilities and exceptional students.

More than half of all undergraduates conduct research across 49 disciplines while they are here. Whether they remain in academia, transfer those skills to industry or help draft policy in the future, we’re equipping the next generation to be thoughtful and inquisitive leaders.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s professional schools and the College of Arts & Sciences conduct research aligned with six overarching themes to solve the world’s most challenging problems: computational and data sciences; precision health and society; the environment; cancer; the brain; and opportunity, well-being and culture.

These areas span scholarly work from the arts and humanities to social and natural sciences to biological and biomedical sciences, as well as direct clinical applications.

Our research mission, which is a component of Carolina’s Blueprint for Next strategic framework, promotes interdisciplinary teams working together to solve today’s problems and to develop the next generation of technology and ideas.

Interdisciplinary teams are fostering fluid, cross-disciplinary research to establish campus networks that nurture research innovation and risk-taking and to promote a pervasive culture that drives discovery and curiosity.

Right now, a team of researchers is developing an innovative, affordable membrane-based water purification tool that can safely remove a broad range of water contaminants while also generating and storing energy. Another is taking a novel approach to assess the underlying causes of obesity with the goal of unlocking new, targeted ways to treat the disease.

Carolina is moving rapidly toward a fully-realized culture of not just collaboration, but convergence. By assembling talented researchers and students with diverse perspectives, we are solving the world’s most pressing problems. We are facilitating the basic curiosity, passion and creativity that’s inherent in our faculty, staff and students with the goal of unleashing their innovative potential.

This strong collective commitment sets us apart and is an accelerator for results not previously possible.

As a result of this activity, Carolina is a major driver of the state’s economy. Our research and our business startups have a $2.6 billion annual impact in North Carolina.

Research at Carolina improves lives and generates tremendous cultural, social and economic worth. The work we do is central to the University’s mission to serve our state and the world.