Centers & Institutes

Centers and Institutes at UCI provide a mechanism and organizational structure for collective—and often convergent—research activities that are fundamentally different from those that typically occur within individual schools or departments. UCI Centers & Institutes fall into the following categories:

Organized Research Units (ORUs)

Recognized by the UC Office of the President, Organized Research Units (ORUs) promote multidisciplinary research and investigation across departments and divisions, providing a supportive infrastructure for endeavors that span diverse areas of academic interest.

Special Research Programs (SRPs)

The Special Research Programs designation provides a structure for collaborative research activities that do not fit the definition and purpose of ORUs, Campus Centers or School Centers.

Campus Centers

Campus Centers are organized research programs that involve faculty members from multiple departments and schools, but are not constituted as Organized Research Units.

School Centers

School Centers foster research endeavors that involve faculty members that are predominantly from a single School.  They are established by Deans for a defined period of time.

Other Centers & Institutes

Other Centers & Institutes are interdisciplinary units with varying structures that typically are designated as Centers by a sponsoring agency.