As one of the largest research universities in the world, UCLA is renowned for its programs of faculty and student research; more than 5,000 funded programs are in progress at a given time. One focus of these efforts is a group of "organized research units" (ORUs) which provide an interdisciplinary approach to the search for knowledge.
ORUs are study centers and research institutes consisting of faculty and students from various departments engaged in continuing research of particular subjects. They do not offer courses of instruction or degrees, although several work in conjunction with interdepartmental instruction programs which lead to bachelor's and/or advanced degrees. ORUs provide invaluable experience for students and faculty in basic and applied research and greatly enhance UCLA's educational program and the overall academic quality of the University.
In the overview which follows, UCLA's 23 organized research units are listed within five major divisions -- health sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Within each division, representative groups and programs are included which, although not formally established as ORUs, are nevertheless doing important research in their respective areas.
The Brain Research Institute (BRI), center for neuroscience research and education at UCLA, has one of the largest investigative programs of its kind in the country, with more than 200 scientists involved in every aspect of research in the nervous system from molecular organization to human behavior. The institute provides an environment for multidisciplinary research and training in the structure and function of the central nervous system. The BRI sponsors affinity groups, conferences, symposia, and a variety of other activities designed to strengthen ties among neuroscientists campuswide. The interdisciplinary Ph.D. and B.S. programs in Neuroscience, jointly sponsored by the School of Medicine and the College of Letters and Science, are housed within the institute. Public service activities include an elementary school outreach program directed by graduate students and a joint educational program with UCLA Extension. The Office of the Director is located in 73-369 BRI (310-825-5061).
The Crump Institute for Biological Imaging is a science and technology center that brings together physical, biomathematical, chemical, biological, and clinical scientists and students to merge the principles of imaging with those of molecular and cellular biology and biochemistry. The imaging domains range from the molecular organization of viruses and cellular subunits to the biological responses of organ systems in the living human. A major focus is the development and use of imaging technologies to collect, analyze, and communicate biological data. Imaging technologies are used to build a picture (image) of the spatial and temporal variations in biological processes. Imaging technologies encompass such areas as cryoelectron microscopy and protein structure studies to assemble and study simple organisms and subcellular domains; confocal fluorescent microscopy for study of cellular and subcellular processes; in vitro and in vivo autoradiography studies of integrated organ function; and positron emission tomography (PET), X-ray computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the structure and biological functions of organ systems in animal and human subjects. The institute has research and educational programs for visiting scientists, postdoctoral scholars, and Ph.D. graduate students which include the development of novel multimedia computer-based learning technologies. There are also faculty and student exchange programs with a number of domestic and foreign universities. Dr. Michael E. Phelps is the director (310-825-6539).
The Dental Research Institute, with principal laboratories on the seventh floor of the School of Dentistry, fosters research related to oral health. Areas of investigation include biomaterials, cancer research, clinical studies, craniofacial biology, immunology/immunogenetics, molecular biology, oral neurology/pain, periodontology, and ultrastructure/cell biology. The Office of the Director is located in 73-017 Center for the Health Sciences (310-206-8045).
The Mental Retardation Research Center, located on the C level and the fourth through eighth floors of the Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, provides laboratories and clinical facilities for research and training in mental retardation and related aspects of human development. Its interdisciplinary activities range from anthropological studies to molecular aspects of inherited metabolic diseases. Administrative offices are located in 58-258 NPI&H (310-825-0313).
The Jules Stein Eye Institute is one of the best equipped centers for research and treatment of eye diseases in the world. This comprehensive facility, located in the Center for the Health Sciences (310-825-5000), is devoted to the study of vision, the care of patients with eye disease, and education in the broad field of ophthalmology. Outpatient, inpatient, and surgical facilities are provided. The Doris Stein Eye Research Center houses new research and training programs concentrating on major eye diseases worldwide.
The UCLA-DOE Laboratory of Structural Biology and Molecular Medicine, located in the Molecular Biology Institute (310-825-3754) and the Center for the Health Sciences, is funded through a contract with the Department of Energy. Research is conducted in biomolecular and cellular science, environmental biology, nuclear medicine, and structural biology and genetics. Laboratory faculty members have joint appointments in academic departments and teach at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Major facilities include a biomedical cyclotron, advanced scanning equipment, a cobalt radiation facility, a vivarium, and an advanced structural biology laboratory.
In the health sciences, research carried out in ORUs is complemented by research on neurological and neuromuscular diseases in the Lewis Neuromuscular Research Center, the Reed Neurological Research Center, and the Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital. The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of only 27 comprehensive centers in the nation, is renowned for the breadth and excellence of its cancer research. The UCLA AIDS Institute is deeply involved in all aspects of the fight against AIDS, with basic research in epidemiology, immunology, and the clinical management of AIDS patients being done in the Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education. And the School of Public Health, which recently established the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, has joined forces with the School of Medicine to form the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, another clinical research program to enhance the health of the community.
The Molecular Biology Institute provides research and training resources in molecular biology for faculty from the College of Letters and Science and the School of Medicine, and includes the Parvin Cancer Research Laboratories and the UCLA-DOE Laboratory of Structural Biology and Molecular Medicine. Administrative offices are located in 168 MBI (310-825-1018).
The Center for the Study of Women, located in 276 Kinsey Hall (310-825-0590), is the only unit of its kind in the UC system which focuses on women and gender and draws on the energies of more than 200 faculty from 11 professional schools and 28 departments. The center's major purpose is to encourage and facilitate faculty research on women and gender. To this end, the center develops and monitors grant proposals, provides UCLA faculty with seed-money through the minigrant competition, offers an affiliation for research and visiting scholars, and organizes public conferences and various lecture series, including the Feminist Research Seminar, Feminist Theory Series, Gender Studies of Science, Technology and Medicine Series, Lunch Series, and Gender and Politics Program. In addition, the center sponsors various working groups, produces an annual calendar of events and a quarterly newsletter, and hosts various programs for graduate students interested in women and gender, as well as an annual graduate student research conference.
The Fernald Child Study Center is a life sciences interdisciplinary research unit created to study and treat a variety of childhood behavioral problems and learning disorders. And the Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life melds the diverse research of more than 100 UCLA faculty members in the study of the emergence and evolution of life on Earth.
The Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) is a multicampus research unit (MRU) of the University of California; the branch at UCLA is engaged in research in climate dynamics, geophysics, geochemistry, space physics, biochemistry, and biology. Research topics include the nature of the Earth, moon, and other planetary bodies, global environmental change, the origin of terrestrial life, the dynamical properties of the sun and solar wind, and the evolution of stellar interiors. Facilities include analytical laboratories in geochemistry, meteoritics, glaciology, petrology, geochronology, archaeology, and the origins of life, laboratories for experiments in fluid dynamics and high-pressure physics, developmental laboratories for instrumentation in space physics and seismology, and computational laboratories for large-scale numerical modeling relevant to the above topics. The UCLA branch office is located in 3839 Slichter Hall (310-825-1664).
The Institute of Plasma and Fusion Research, located in 44-139 Engineering IV (310-825-5090), is dedicated to research into plasma physics, fusion energy, and the application of plasmas in other disciplines. Students, professional research staff, and faculty study basic laboratory plasmas, plasma-fusion confinement experiments, fusion engineering and nuclear technology, computer simulations and the theory of plasmas, space plasma physics and experimental simulation of space plasma phenomena, advanced plasma diagnostic development, laser-plasma interactions, and the use of plasma in applications ranging from particle accelerators to the processing of materials and surfaces used in microelectronics or coatings.
The White Mountain Research Station is a multicampus research unit (MRU) dedicated to high-altitude research. Four separate laboratory sites near Bishop, California, ranging up to 14,250 feet above sea level, include the highest permanent teaching and research facilities in North America. Research includes studies in archaeology and the biological, medical, and physical sciences. The administrative office is located in 6713 Geology (310-825-2093, fax 310-825-1861).
Among other interdisciplinary activities in the physical sciences and engineering at UCLA, the Center for Clean Technology in the School of Engineering and Applied Science fosters research on the interaction between technology and the environment, focusing on pollution prevention and control. On other frontiers, an Artificial Intelligence Laboratory designed exclusively for research in this burgeoning field operates under the wing of the Computer Science Department, and a Manufacturing and Automation Research Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, is operated jointly by UCLA's engineering school and the University of Southern California (USC).
The Office of International Studies and Overseas Programs (ISOP) supports and coordinates international and foreign area studies at UCLA. ISOP and its centers also support several interdepartmental degree programs (IDPs) focusing on particular regions of the world. Among the area studies centers and programs that operate under its aegis are four major interdisciplinary research centers that rank among the best in the nation. Some of the world's leading specialists on area studies are affiliated with these centers.
ISOP's dean's office also supports an interdepartmental degree program in development studies. This undergraduate degree program focuses on the critical issues and problems common to Third World countries. Other ISOP programs focus on language teaching and academic exchange. In addition, ISOP houses offices of the UC Education Abroad Program, the Southern California Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program, and the Southern California Consortium on International Studies (SOCCIS).
The Institute of American Cultures is responsible for strengthening and coordinating interdisciplinary research and instruction in ethnic studies with special attention to UCLA's four ethnic studies research centers. The institute conducts no research itself but makes funds available for research and fellowships and promotes the activities of the four centers whose goals are to study and illuminate the histories of African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Chicanas/Chicanos, and others, and to apply the University's capabilities to the analysis and solution of specific social issues. These centers promote faculty research, encourage the development of new courses and degree programs, assist departments in recruiting scholars, build library and other resources, and publish literature to disseminate the results of their work.
The Institute of Archaeology, located in A210 Fowler Building (310-206-8934), is dedicated to studying and understanding the past through laboratory studies of artifacts, analysis of field data, creation of archives to store this information, and the education of students and interested community members via publications and lectures. The institute, the only one of its kind in the U.S., coordinates various academic and practical facilities for more than 40 researchers and many graduate students and volunteers in 10 associated academic departments. It regularly sponsors workshops and special courses. Research facilities include the Information Center (regional office of the California Archaeological Inventory), Ceramics Laboratory, Computer Imaging of Archaeological Data, Obsidian Hydration and Lithics Analysis Laboratory, Paleoethnobotany Laboratory, Rock Art Archive, and Zooarchaeology Laboratory. The Publications Unit publishes the findings of scholars from UCLA and other archaeology centers, while the Public Lecture Program provides a forum for the public presentation of recent archaeological discoveries and advances.
The Institute of Industrial Relations (1001 Gayley Avenue, Second Floor, 310-825-1964) has an interdisciplinary research program directed toward the study of all aspects of the employment relationship, including labor markets, labor law, labor/management relations, equal employment opportunity, occupational safety and health, and related issues. Through the Center for Labor Research and Education, the institute also offers social policy and employment relations programs to the general public, unions, and management.
The Institute for Social Science Research promotes interdisciplinary research on a broad spectrum of contemporary sociological, psychological, political, and economic problems and community issues. Research components include the Center for American Politics and Public Policy, Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, Interdisciplinary Program in Social Statistics, Survey Research Center, Social Science Data Archive, Organizational Research Program, and Center for Social Theory and Comparative History. Training in survey research methodology is available to students through participation in the annual Southern California Social Survey. The institute publishes the ISSR Working Papers in the Social Sciences; it is located in 303 GSEIS Building (310-825-0711).
Other interdisciplinary activities in the social sciences include the nationally respected Business Forecasting Project in UCLA's John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management and the Center for the Study of Evaluation in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies which is at the forefront of efforts to improve the quality of schooling in America. In addition, the Center on the Teaching and Learning of History in Elementary and Secondary Schools brings K-12 teachers and social studies professors from throughout the country together in an effort to improve history teaching. The Center for the Study of Urban Poverty initiates new research on issues related to urban poverty and sponsors seminars in the field. The Center for the Study of the Environment and Society researches and addresses such issues as air pollution, water quality, and the public response to environmental concerns. And the Center for Communication Policy is a national leader in communications public policy issues such as technological innovations in telecommunications and the social and political impact of these changes.
The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies supports the research activities of some 20 academic departments dealing with the development of civilization between A.D. 300 and 1650. Major programs include funding research assistants, appointing visiting professors, organizing conferences and colloquia, and supporting departments in inviting lecturers. The center sponsors the publication of two journals, Viator, with emphasis on intercultural and interdisciplinary studies, and Comitatus, with articles by graduate students and recent Ph.D. graduates. For more information, send inquiries to the center at UCLA, Box 951485, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1485, or call (310)b825-1880, fax (310) 825-0655, or email cmrs@humnet.ucla.edu.
The Center for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Clark Memorial Library are united under the administrative direction of the center and the College of Letters and Science. The center, located in 395 Dodd Hall (310-206-8552), organizes scholarly programs and workshops, seeks to enlarge the Clark Library holdings in the early modern period to enhance local research opportunities, has a publications program that makes the results of its conferences and workshops known to the community, provides long- and short-term fellowships to students and scholars doing research in early modern studies, offers graduate research assistantships and master classes, and organizes public programs and classical music concerts. The Clark Library, located approximately 10 miles from UCLA at 2520 Cimarron Street (213-731-8529), is a rare book library specializing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British works. It has a renowned collection centering on Oscar Wilde and his era and significant holdings of modern fine printing and Western Americana. Bequeathed to UCLA in 1934 by William Andrews Clark, Jr., a prominent Los Angeles book collector and philanthropist, the extensive collection is housed in an elegant building in the West Adams district.
In other research activities, the Center for Bilingual Research and Second Language Education is working to produce a society that is proficient in at least two languages. In the Linguistics Phonetics Laboratory, one of the best-known laboratories of its kind in the nation, researchers are finding new ways to analyze speech functions and make voiceprints for use in law enforcement. In the Hammer Center for Leonardo Studies and Research scholars have access to major resources for the study of the works of Leonardo da Vinci. The Center for the Study of Regional Dress has opened within UCLA's Fowler Museum of Cultural History to advance the study of past and present cloth and clothing traditions through research, exhibitions, and teaching. And the Center for Jewish Studies sponsors lectures, conferences, and visiting scholars and coordinates Jewish studies activities on campus.