Research activities are conducted through University research programs and individual faculty members working within their own departments. Several of the UND research programs are involved in public service activities which provide an opportunity for faculty and students to conduct research projects directly benefiting the public.

Financial support for research activities is provided either from University sources, such as the University Senate Scholarly Activities Committee, the Faculty Research Seed Money Program and Research Development and Compliance (RD&C), or through funds provided from external agencies such as Federal or State government, private foundations, and industry. In fiscal year 2006, $94.3 million of external support was received for sponsored program activities. Sponsored program expenditures were $80.4 million.

Major UND research programs include:

Anthropology Research: Anthropology Research is affiilated with the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Dakota. The program provides a variety of archeological and cultural resources management services to federal, state, and private organizations. Its primary research involves archeological investigation of the prehistoric cultures and peoples who occupied the Northern Great Plains, chiefly in the Dakotas. The program has a number of full-time faculty and staff who provide in-house specialities and who consult with other organizations that provide additional research capabilities. Student training and involvement in lab and field research projects are also provided.

Center of Excellence in Neurosciences: The goal of the Center of Excellence in Neurosciences is to help talented investigators develop expertise in multidisciplinary approaches toward the understanding of brain function in health and disease, including Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis which have high incidences in the State of North Dakota.

Center for Rural Health: The Center for Rural Health works to connect resources and knowledge to strengthen the health of people in rural communities. For 25 years, the Center for Rural Health has worked with the public and private sectors, expanding a circle of partners to develop creative solutions to critical health issues.

Located at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, the Center for Rural Health uses a multidisciplinary approach to create solutions to complex challenges. To do this, the Center for Rural Health works closely with communities, health care organizations, health care providers, policy-makers, researchers, tribal nations and other rural health stakeholders.

The Center for Rural Health serves the people of the state, region and nation by using research and knowledge to inform policy-makers and assist communities. As a resource, its staff advocates for rural concerns, analyzes health policy, assists with community and economic development relating to health systems, develops community-based alternatives, enhances networks, identifies and researches rural health issues, targets underserved communities and populations, and strengthens local health care capabilities.

Because of the extensive and quality-driven work of the Center for Rural Health, it has been named a University of North Dakota Center of Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity.

More information is available at: http://medicine.nodak.edu/crh.

Energy and Environmental Research Center: The EERC is a research, development, demonstration, and commercialization facility recognized as one of the world’s leading developers of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies as well as environmental technologies to protect and clean our air, water, and soil.

The EERC is a high-tech, nonprofit branch of the University of North Dakota, which operates like a business. The EERC currently employs more than 270 people and is aggressively expanding its staff. The Center was founded in 1951 as the Robertson Lignite Research Laboratory, a federal facility under the U.S. Bureau of Mines. It became a federal energy technology center under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1977 and was defederalized in 1983. Today, the EERC leverages and enhances government research dollars by developing working partnerships with industry, government, and the research community. Since 1983, the EERC has had more than 800 clients in all 50 states and 47 countries. In FY2004, 90 percent of its contracts were funded by non-federal entities.

The EERC conducts research, development, demonstration, and commercialization activities involving all fossil, renewable, and alternative fuels; advanced power and energy systems; environmental chemistry; environmental control technologies; hydrogen production, distribution, and fuel cell technology; waste utilization, management, and site remediation; and water management. In addition, to its nine centers of excellence which include the Center for Air Toxic Metals® (CATM®), the Center for Biomass Utilization® (CBU®), the Coal Ash Research Center, the Coal Utilization Technologies Center, the Emission Control Technologies Center, the National Alternative Fuels Laboratory® (NAFL®), the Supercritical and Subcritical Extraction Technologies Center, the Water Management Center, and the Wind Energy Resources Center, the EERC has been designated as the National Center for Hydrogen Technology.

North Dakota Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (INBRE): North Dakota INBRE’s purpose is to build biomedical research capacity within the state. Networking and human resource development are the watchwords for this collaborative effort between the two North Dakota research universities, four baccalaureate institutions in the North Dakota University System and five tribal community colleges. The Center is a research oriented program involving basic science and clinical departments. All faculty are involved in research and the graduate students are in training to become independent investigators. A major feature of the Center is the extensive collaborative interactions among its faculty. Faculty and students have numerous collaborative interactions that enable them and their colleagues to pursue common research goals, often at the interface between traditional areas of research.

Regional Weather Information Center: The Regional Weather Information Center (RWIC) is a weather education and research center focusing on issues of climate, transportation, agriculture, fine-scale weather phenomena, and geospatial technology. As a research, outreach, and information center, RWIC provides support to students, faculty and staff in the Atmospheric Science program, the University of North Dakota (UND), the State of North Dakota, and the Upper Midwest. RWIC provides students pursuing degrees in atmospheric sciences opportunities to participate in both operational and research aspects of contemporary meteorology. The programs and data resources of RWIC allow students to broaden their knowledge base within their areas of interest as they complete their undergraduate and graduate education. A major component of RWIC is experiential learning in a wide range of research and operational meteorology endeavors. This permits students to improve their skills while continuing their on-campus courses. Students with an interest in remote sensing have access to geostationary and polar orbiting satellite information and to national radar data. Students with an interest in analyzing current and predicting future atmospheric conditions can utilize the latest atmospheric analysis systems and models. These include a locally executed analysis system and mesoscale model to compare and analyze data in creating forecasts. As part of its endeavors, RWIC uses data from numerous observational platforms. Thus, students with an interest in data collection and analyzing observations have opportunities to enhance their skills at RWIC.

Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium: UMAC develops products and services for agriculture, for natural resource management, for cultural resource preservation, and for K-12 education, using satellite imagery and other spatial technologies. UMAC also provides information and educational outreach services to the general public with respect to regional impacts of environmental and climatic change by operating as the Northern Great Plains Center for People and the Environment, committed to leading a transition to sustainability. As a consortium, UMAC is led by the University of North Dakota, and includes participants from academia, industry, and government located throughout North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.