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CIPHER is a university-wide research center with constituents from the College of Computing and Informatics, Klein College of Science, College of Engineering, College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Education. Our goals are to coalesce expertise in computer science, bioinformatics, software and information systems, biological sciences, math, geography, public health, data science, education, and communications.

Featured News

$5 million NSF grant to expand STEM pathways to UNC Charlotte for community college students

UNC Charlotte has received $2 million as part of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to expand a successful regional partnership that strengthens STEM pathways for academically talented, low‑income students.

The new award builds on the earlier SPARC 4 initiative and launches SPARC 6, a five‑institution collaboration designed to improve retention, transfer and graduation rates in biology, computer science and data science. The new $5 million grant will offer scholarships to students at UNC Charlotte and four North Carolina community colleges. The latest grant brings the multiyear total to more than $9.5 million in funding to support students seeking degrees in STEM fields. Read More…

UNC Charlotte researchers use AI to map out world’s largest cultivated bacteria-killing virus

Through cutting-edge methods and advanced artificial intelligence analysis, UNC Charlotte researchers leading a multidisciplinary team across four universities have successfully resolved the entire genome of “phage G,” the largest bacterial virus (aka bacteriophages or phages) ever cultivated in a physical lab environment.

Published Sept. 30 in leading journal Nature’s NPJ Viruses, the study was led by UNC Charlotte master’s students Andra Buchan and Stephanie Wiedman along with UNC Charlotte Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics and Genomics Richard Allen White III.

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GEESE ON CAMPUS AND A VIRUS IN THE WILD: A DEEP DIVE INTO MY EXPERIENCE WITH RESEARCH ON BIRD FLU

On any given spring day at UNC Charlotte, one can expect to see around ten to twelve geese on average. In fact, these geese have been so central to the campus landscape that the student body has adopted a goose, known to many as Prospector Goose, as an unofficial mascot.

What may be less well-known about geese like our fellow feathered Niners, however, is the fact that many are susceptible to the H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). Read the full story…

UNC Charlotte marks 1 year as an R1 Institution

Feb. 13 marked the first anniversary of UNC Charlotte becoming a Research 1 (R1) institution, which has brought many changes to the University’s research and technology operations. Read more…

Shivani Patel was selected for Wake Forest’s Cardiovascular Sciences Summer Research Program

The Cardiovascular Sciences Summer Research Program is an opportunity for undergraduate students to gain research experience during the summer months. The program includes research training in the cardiovascular sciences with mentoring by medical school faculty.

Check out the CIPHER Podcast

“de-CIPHERing Infectious Disease”

explores the cutting-edge interdisciplinary research happening at UNC Charlotte’s CIPHER Research Center. Each episode features an in-depth interview with one of CIPHER’s researchers, allowing them to discuss their background, current projects, and the exciting team science approach they take to tackle complex issues at the intersection of health, environment, data science, genomics, infectious disease, and more.