Abstract:
In 2000, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that allowed the state's public universities to develop research parks. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte created the Charlotte Research Institute, which occupies one hundred acres on campus. Since its creation, research dollars from foundations have increased and the university has become more widely recognized for its work in such areas as optics, precision metrology, and bioinformatics. UNCC's long-range goal is to become a full research university, much like UNC-Chapel Hill.