From November 4-8, UNC will celebrate University Research Week. I am excited to share that we anticipate this year’s celebration to be the largest yet. In the past, University Research Week has mostly been geared toward the noble goal of recruiting and engaging undergraduates to participate in research activity. This year, under the leadership of the Office of Research Communications, many offices in our organization have joined forces with the College of Arts & Sciences to ensure that this is truly a pan-campus celebration of all facets of our top-tier research.
Each day during the week, Carolina schools, departments, and centers and institutes will host events that excite and inspire. You can find out more in this month’s newsletter, but I wanted to draw your attention to a just a few.
The Hettleman Talks will be held on November 4. The winners of this year’s Hettleman Prize — one of the most distinguished awards our early-career faculty can receive at UNC — will give short, engaging TEDx-style talks on their groundbreaking and innovative research.
Representatives from NASA will also be on campus to share information on funding opportunities and to explain how UNC’s research strengths align with the work underway at the agency to return humans to the moon and, eventually, take them to Mars. NASA Astronaut and UNC alumna Zena Cardman will kick off the NASA-centered events with a public presentation on November 6. Astronaut Cardman will share her journey from conducting research as an undergraduate and graduate student here at UNC to training for future space missions.
The following day, the Office of Research Development will host NASA Day, a full day of keynotes and workshops where the heads of NASA programs and mission directorates will share collaborative research opportunities with our faculty and graduate students.
Registration information for these events and more is available on the University Research Week website. I highly encourage you to attend these events and show your support for our growing research enterprise. Research at Carolina is thriving. We are discovering cures for diseases, answering questions in every research discipline, accelerating business through technology advancements, and creating tens of thousands of jobs in our great state. I’m nothing short of thrilled that we now have a dedicated week to celebrate these accomplishments.