Research centers and facilities

World-class facilities to meet your research needs

In addition to its 12 academic departments, the College of Science and Engineering oversees dozens of research centers and institutes that bring scholars from diverse disciplines together for research collaboration. These include:

Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio)

ATP-Bio aims to achieve major bioengineering breakthroughs by developing and deploying the technology to “stop biological time” through temperature control – that is, to “biopreserve” or “cryopreserve” numerous biological systems. ATP-Bio includes 30 senior personnel from seven institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ATP-Bio website.

BioTechnology Institute (BTI)

BTI provides advanced research, training, and university-industry interaction in biological process technology. Visit the BTI website.

Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP)

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. Visit the CCEFP website.

Center for Medical Device Cybersecurity (CMDC)

The CMDC will foster university-industry-government collaborations to ensure that medical devices are both safe and secure from the growing number of cybersecurity threats. Visit the CMDC website

Center for Spintronic Materials, Interfaces, and Novel Architectures (C-SPIN)

C-SPIN is a world-leading center that brings together top researchers from across the nation to develop technologies for spin-based computing and memory systems. Visit the C-SPIN website.

Center for Sustainable Polymers (CSP)

The center focus on the science and technology of new sustainable plastics through research, education, and public outreach initiatives. Visit the CSP website.

Characterization Facility (CharFac)

The Characterization Facility is a multi-user, shared instrumentation facility for materials research spanning from nanotechnology to biology and medicine. Visit the CharFac website.

Charles Babbage Institute (CBI)

CBI is an archives and research center dedicated to preserving information technology history as well as promoting and conducting research in the field. Visit the CBI website.

CSE Shop

The University of Minnesota CSE Shop designs, fabricates, welds, and repairs prototype and scientific research equipment. Visit the CSE Shop web page.

Earl E Bakken Medical Devices Center (Bakken MDC)

A part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, the Bakken MDC combines research, education and training, and outreach/public engagement to accelerate interdisciplinary medical device research and development across the University. Visit the Bakken MDC website.

Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering (IPrime)

IPrime focuses on creating opportunities for industry professionals to collaborate with University of Minnesota students and researchers. Visit the IPrime website.

Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center (ICDC)

ICDC, an U.S. Department of Energy Frontier Research Center, is devoted to computationally-guided discovery of a new class of energy-science-relevant catalytic materials and the underlying structure-function relationships that will guide further catalyst discovery. Visit the ICDC website.

Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM)

The IEM is an interdisciplinary research organization that strengthens collaborative efforts between engineering and biomedicine at the University of Minnesota, and fosters collaborations with the medical device industry. Visit the IEM website.

Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)

The IMA connects scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to address scientific and technological challenges in a collaborative, engaging environment to develop transformative new mathematics and its applications, while training the next generation of researchers and educators. Visit the IMA website.

Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing Lab (MAST)

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). Visit the MAST Lab website.

Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS)

A research arm of the Newton Horace Winchell School of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota, the MGS investigates Minnesota's geology and provides basic geological information for the public. Visit the MGS website.

Minnesota Nano Center (MNC)

The MNC is a state-of-the-art facility for interdisciplinary research in nanoscience and applied nanotechnology, offering tools to help researchers develop new micro- and nanoscale devices, such as integrated circuits, advanced sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and microfluidic systems. Visit the MNC website.

Minnesota Robotics Institute (MnRI)

The MnRI, located in the 20,000-square-foot Gemini-Huntley Robotics Research Laboratory, brings together interdisciplinary researchers—faculty, students, and industry professionals—to solve advance robotics research and education. Visit the MnRI website.

Nanoporous Materials Genome Center (NMGC)

The NMGC discovers and explores microporous and mesoporous materials. Towards that end, the NMGC develops state-of-the-art predictive modeling tools and employs them to increase the pace of materials discovery. Visit the NMGC website.  

NSF Materials Research and Science Engineering Center (MRSEC)

MRSEC enables important areas of future technology, ranging from biomedicine, separations, and plastic electronics to security, renewable energy, and information technology. Visit the MRSEC website.  

St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL)

SAFL is a premier fluid mechanics laboratory that uses the Mississippi River location to conduct interdisciplinary fluid mechanics research to develop science-based, sustainable, and practical solutions to environmental, renewable energy, and health problems. Visit the SAFL website.