Main navigation | Main content
In addition to its 11 academic departments, the College of Science and Engineering oversees more than a dozen research centers and institutes that bring scholars from diverse disciplines together for research collaboration.
Jointly administered by the College of Biological Sciences and the College of Science and Engineering, BTI provides advanced research, training, and university-industry interaction in biological process technology. It also is the central University of Minnesota vehicle for coordinated research in the biological, chemical, and engineering aspects of biotechnology and is home to the President’s Initiative on Biocatalysis.
The center coordinates interdisciplinary research projects in nanotechnology to attract external support, and also organizes workshops, speaker series, short courses, and other mechanisms to build an intellectually diverse set of researchers interested in nanotechnology applications. In addition, the center collects and disseminates information about faculty engaged in nano research and works to make connections between internal groups and industry.
A multi-user, shared instrumentation facility for materials research spanning from nanotechnology to biology and medicine, CharFac’s analytical capabilities include: microscopy via electron beams, force probes and visible light; elemental and chemical imaging including depth profiling; elemental, chemical and mass spectroscopy; atomic and molecular structure analysis via X-ray, ion or electron scattering; nanomechanical and nanotribological probes; and other tools for surface and thin-film metrology.
CBI is an archives and research center dedicated to preserving information technology history as well as promoting and conducting research in the field. Primary support for CBI is provided by the University of Minnesota, through the College of Science and Engineering and the University Libraries.
A hub of digital technologies innovation and excellence at the University of Minnesota, DTC serves the industrial, educational, and public needs for Minnesota and the nation. The DTC integrates research, education, and outreach in digital design, computer graphics and visualization, telecommunications, intelligent data storage and retrieval systems, multimedia, data mining, scientific computation, and other digital technologies.
IPrime focuses on creating opportunities for industry professionals to collaborate with University of Minnesota students and researchers. This exchange provides a productive environment for addressing key areas in interfacial and materials science. IPrime is a consortium of more than 40 companies supporting fundamental collaborative research on materials. The partnership also involves 54 faculty from 10 academic departments who conduct research in eight program areas.
Jointly run by the University’s College of Science and Engineering and Medical School, IEM is a research organization that connects and amplifies research efforts between engineering and health sciences faculty members. The institute funds interdisciplinary, goal-oriented research to create new medical devices and solve clinical problems. In addition to its research efforts, the IEM promotes collaborative programs with industry and strives to serve the educational needs of the University and the corporate biomedical communities in the area of engineering in medicine.
The IMA closes the gap between theory and its applications – identifying problems and mathematical research needs, encouraging mathematicians to participate in these areas, and by demonstrating that first-rate mathematics can make a real impact in the sciences.
A part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, MDC combines research, education and training, and outreach/public engagement to accelerate interdisciplinary medical device research and development across the University. MDC runs the Medical Devices Fellows Program, which is a full immersion educational and product development program for creating medical devices.
A unit of the University’s Newton Horace Winchell School of Earth Sciences, the Minnesota Geological Survey is the University outreach center for the science and technology of earth resources in Minnesota. The survey conducts basic and applied earth science research, conveys that information to the public through publications and service activities, and promotes earth science education. Minnesota is its exclusive focus.
An interdisciplinary facility for faculty and industrial research within the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering, the NFC’s mission is to support education, research, and industrial collaboration in microelectronics; and other related research involving nanofabrication. The NFC is part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), an NSF supported partnership of 13 user facilities nationwide providing Nano Technology Research.
The CCEFP is a network of researchers, educators, students, and more than 55 industry partners working together to transform the fluid power industry—how it is researched, applied and studied. Center research is creating hydraulic and pneumatic technology that is compact, efficient, and effective. The CCEFP is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center.
MRSEC helps researchers conduct cutting-edge materials and nanotechnology research that enables important areas of future technology, ranging from biomedicine and electronics to security and renewable energy. Science and engineering faculty and students study the specific properties of various materials to improve everyday items such as adhesives, data storage devices and lighting. The research center works with more than 35 companies that contribute directly to research through intellectual, technological and financial support.
Researchers use the MAST Lab's equipment to twist, compress or stretch components of large structures such as buildings or bridges to study what happens during earthquakes and other extreme events. The lab is a member of the George E, Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES).
An NSF Science and Technology Center, NCED is a partnership of research and educational institutions, government agencies, and industry. The center’s goal is to research predictive Earth-surface science by integrating physical, biological, and social sciences to understand how landscapes and ecosystems evolve together. Researchers aim to transform Earth-surface environment management and restoration.
A premier fluid mechanics laboratory, SAFL is the world's only lab of its kind that uses a natural waterfall as its prime water source. For more than 70 years, researchers worldwide have visited its unique Mississippi River location to conduct interdisciplinary fluid mechanics research in developing science-based, sustainable, and practical solutions to problems related to the environment, renewable energy, and health.
