Research

UNC Charlotte researcher Rosario Porras-Aguilar is fascinated by light, inspired by its beauty and its usefulness. Specifically, she focuses her pioneering research on how light can enable more accurate quantitative data in fields ranging from microbiology to high-tech manufacturing. To support her research, Porras-Aguilar this spring received a coveted National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award.

To most observers, the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, illustrates how extremist groups have increased in power and visibility. UNC Charlotte’s Shannon Reid, associate professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, describes the criminality and violence exhibited during the Capitol riots as a major concern.

Jason Black, chair of the Department of Communication Studies, in early 2020 received a Fulbright award in support of a cross-cultural study of the indigenous mascotting controversy in Canadian and U.S. cultures of sport. Black was based at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, when the COVID-19 pandemic cut his trip short. Yet, he's stayed on track to publish his second book on mascotting issues.

Akin Ogundiran, a Chancellor’s Professor and professor of Africana Studies, Anthropology and History,  is the 2021 recipient of the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal, UNC Charlotte’s most prestigious faculty award, in recognition of excellence in research. undiran is a renowned archaeologist and transdisciplinary scholar-teacher who has consistently used diverse research methods in the humanities, social sciences and physical sciences to study African and African Diaspora history, with an emphasis on the Yoruba civilization.

With demand growing for renewable energy and for novel energy storage options, UNC Charlotte chemist Christopher Bejger is conducting innovative research that holds promise for new solutions. To support his research, Bejger this spring received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award.

New UNC Charlotte social and behavioral sciences research on gender inequality indicates that fewer leadership prospects in the workplace apply even to women who show the most promise early on in their academic careers.

Eighteen researchers in UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) are among the top 2% percent of the world’s most cited researchers, detailed in a Stanford University study. CLAS researchers from five academic departments represent almost 45 percent of the UNC Charlotte researchers on the list.

Cell Stress Society International has inducted UNC Charlotte Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Andrew Truman as a Fellow. Truman’s cancer research uses quantitative proteomics, molecular biology, systems biology and model organisms to understand the role of molecular chaperones in cancer.