Major Research Centers

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The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) contributes knowledge to create agricultural and food systems that sustain both human communities and the environment. Cutting-edge research, a world-renowned apprenticeship program, and effective public outreach place the center and UCSC at the forefront of sustainable agriculture.

The Center for Global, International and Regional Studies (CGIRS) conducts research to examine global socioeconomic processes and their impact. Through an internship program, students help regional and global nongovernmental organizations participate in the information age.

The Center for Integrated Water Research (CIWR) at UC Santa Cruz undertakes research to help provide society with safe and reliable supplies of fresh water. Through their work, the center hopes to refocus and help resolve major debates on water supply and quality in the United States and beyond, to increase the quantity and quality of research on fresh water policy, economics, and communications nation-wide, and to refine and develop concepts and methods of studying water that will help regions, states, and nations make good choices over water in our era.

With an overriding mission to promote social justice, the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community (CJTC) tackles what are perhaps the civil rights issues of the 21st century — equity, diversity, and tolerance, and the bulding of collaberative communities.

The Chicano/Latino Research Center (CLRC) is an internationally recognized site for the support of scholarship on Chicano and Latino issues. Promoting cross-border perspectives linking the Americas and the study of U.S. changing demographic and cultural panorama, the Center focuses on globalization and transculturation, processes that are redefining cultural, social, and political identities in the Americas. Under new directorship, the Center in the next three years (2005-2008) will focus on opening up the educational pipeline by insuring that UCSC undergraduates obtain research training, graduate students have the necessary support to complete their studies, junior faculty are given guidance in navigating the tenure process, and tenure facultys' needs are facilitated to obtain full professor status. These goals will be supported through the research activities initiated by CLRC.

The Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE), an innovative initiative at UC Santa Cruz, will prepare science and engineering (S&E) graduate students for their educational role as future faculty members, and a wide range of other science and engineering careers requiring teaching skills.

Home to the largest number of international economists at any American public university, the Santa Cruz Center for International Economics (SCCIE) facilitates scholarly collaboration to further knowledge and debate on global economics and policies. An annual conference draws participation from leading academicians, researchers, and financial professionals.