The Department of Computer Science is home to more than 30 research-active faculty members. In FY 2020, annual research expenditures surpassed $3M while the new awards valued over $5M. Computer Science faculty serve as editors, chairs and technical committee members in over 90 leading journals and conferences every year. Five current faculty members received NSF/DOE CAREER awards. The areas of research emphasis span a broad spectrum of theory, systems and applications including computational theory and algorithm, computer system and networks, parallel and high performance computing, distributed and cloud computing, computer vision, graphics and interactions, security and privacy, artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning, human language processing, embedded/real-time system, robotics and IoT, database and data analysis, programming languages and software engineer, computer science education, computer ethics and cognitio
Research Areas
Theory, Algorithms and Complexity of Computing, Computing Cryptography, Quantum Computing
This area of research covers a wide range of topics including Computational Theory, Algorithm and Complexity, Computing Cryptography, Number Theory, and New Computational Paradigm such as Quantum Computing.
Faculty in this area: Angela Berardinelli, Erik Saule, Qiong Cheng, Siddharth Krishnan, Srinivas Akella, Christian Kuemmerle
Computer System and Networking
This area of research covers topics such as Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Networks and Storage, and System Aspect of Programming Languages and Compilers.
Faculty in this area: Dong Dai, Pu Wang, Dewan Ahmed, Taghi Mostafavi, Yonghong Yan, Razvan Bunescu, Tyler Allen
Parallel Computing, High Performance Computing, Distributed and Cloud Computing
This area of research covers a wide range of topics including Parallel Programming and Algorithms, High Performance Computing, Scientific Computing, Cloud and Distributed Computing.
Faculty in this area: Yonghong Yan, Erik Saule, Dong Dai, Gabriel Terejanu, Taghi Mostafavi, Kalpathi Subramanian, Tyler Allen
Computer Vision, Graphics, Visualization and HCI
This area of research covers topics such as traditional and AI-based Computer Vision, Computer Graphics and Visualization, Augmented and Virtual reality, Human-Computer Interaction, and Serious Games.
Faculty in this area: Aidong Lu, Kalpathi Subramanian, Wenwen Dou, Jing Yang, Jake Lee, Min Shin, Gabriel Terejanu, Julio Bahamon, Liyue Fan, Razvan Bunescu, Samira Shaikh, Christian Kuemmerle, Srijan Das
Security and Privacy
This area of research covers topics including System and Information Security, Cybersecurity, Identity and Privacy, and Theory and Cryptography.
Faculty in this area: Liyue Fan, Pu Wang, Bojan Cukic, Aidong Lu
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning
Topics in this area include Classical Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning, and Applications of AI/DL/ML.
Faculty in this area: Mohammad Atif, Samira Shaikh, Gabriel Terejanu, Zbigniew Ras, Jake Lee, Julio Bahamon, Wenwen Dou, Razvan Bunescu, Taghi Mostafavi, Mohsen Dorodchi, Pu Wang, Wlodek Zadrozny, Siddharth Krishnan, Dong Dai, Aidong Lu, John Gero, Bojan Cukic, Liyue Fan, Dewan Ahmed, Min Shin, Qiong Cheng, Srinivas Akella, Jing Yang, Yonghong Yan, Wenhao Luo, Christian Kuemmerle, Srijan Das, Xiang Zhang
Human Language Processing
This area of research includes topics such as Natural Language Processing, Voice Analysis, and Computational Linguistics.
Faculty in this area: Mohammad Atif, Samira Shaikh, Wlodek Zadrozny, Razvan Bunescu, Siddharth Krishnan, Wenwen Dou, Jake Lee, Min Shin
Embedded, Real-time, Robotics, and IoT
Topics in this area include Embedded System and Real-time System, Robotics and Cyber-physical Systems, Autonomous, Mobile and Intelligence System, IoT, Edge and Pervasive/Ubiquitous Computing.
Faculty in this area: Srinivas Akella, Pu Wang, Harini Ramaprasad, Dewan Ahmed, Aidong Lu, Jake Lee, Mohsen Dorodchi, Wenhao Luo, Srijan Das
Database, Data Mining, Big Data, and Informatics
This area of research includes topics such as Data and Database Management, Knowledge Discovery & Data.
Faculty in this area: Siddharth Krishnan, Zbigniew Ras, Jing Yang, Angela Berardinelli, Erik Saule, Aidong Lu, Qiong Cheng, Dong Dai, Gabriel Terejanu, Liyue Fan, Wenwen Dou, Mohsen Dorodchi, Taghi Mostafavi,Wlodek Zadrozny, Samira Shaikh, Bojan Cukic, Mohammad Atif, Christian Kuemmerle, Xiang Zhang
Programming Language Theory and Software Engineering
This area of research over topics including Theory of Programming Languages, Software Engineering and Software Reliability.
Faculty in this area: Bojan Cukic, Mohammad Atif, Razvan Bunescu
CS Education, Computer Ethics and Cognition
Research topics in this area include CS Education and Computer Ethics, Cognition and Neurocognition.
Faculty in this area: John Gero, Kalpathi Subramanian, Harini Ramaprasad, Audrey Rorrer, Mohsen Dorodchi, Dewan Ahmed, Erik Saule, Julio Bahamon, Aidong Lu, Angela Berardinelli, Bojan Cukic, Qiong Cheng
Research Labs and Centers
The Ribarsky Center for Visual Analytics
The Ribarsky Center for Visual Analytics strives to develop and promote the science of visual analytics and to advance interactive visualization as an integrative discipline that is indispensable for attacking key real world applications. Current research focuses on geospatial and social media visual analytics, bioinformatic visualization, visualization techniques and virtual reality user interfaces. The Center is equipped with a variety of display systems ranging from mobile and virtual reality displays to a high resolution, stereoscopic multi-touch display wall. VISIT
Robotics Lab
Research in the Robotics Lab focuses on developing novel algorithms, technologies, and methodologies to enable and support the intelligent interactions of robots with the physical world and with other machines and humans in their environment. Current research focuses on multiple robot coordination, robot motion planning, inspection and monitoring, and manufacturing and automation. The lab is equipped with several state-of-the-art drones, mobile robots, and robot manipulators that are used in research and education.
KDD Lab
The Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) Lab conducts research related to the design, analysis and implementation of data mining theory, systems and applications including: Actionable Knowledge Mining, Business Analytics, Decision Support Systems for Fine Art, Flexible Query Answering, Health Informatics, Multimedia Databases, Music Information Retrieval, Recommender Systems, Sentiment Analysis, Social Good, Text Mining. VISIT
Wireless Networking and Sensing Lab
The Wireless Networking and Sensing (WiNS) Lab in the Department of Computer Science at UNC Charlotte focuses on research that advances the way that people and applications interact in emerging wireless networks, mobile computing and smart sensing. Research areas include algorithm design for various mobile and wireless networks and pervasive computing environments. Researchers explore problems and solutions for ad hoc networks, sensor networks, delay tolerant networks, mobile social networks, smart sensing, and the Internet of Things.
High Performance Computing Architecture and System Lab
The High Performance Computing Architecture and System (HPCAS) research laboratory does computer system research for parallel and high performance computing, including parallel programming models, compiler and runtime systems, parallel and scientific application development and optimization, and exploring exploring new hardware architecture and techniques to achieve these goals. The lab collaborates with scientists to apply their solutions to real world problems, and educate and mentor students and peers to promote the area of high performance computing and computer systems. The lab is directed by Dr. Yonghong Yan.
Video and Image Analysis Lab
The Video and Image Analysis Lab in the Department of Computer Science at UNC Charlotte focuses on research that shapes the future of how people interact with computers. Our primary research areas are biomedical image analysis, computer vision, human-computer interaction, virtual environments, and virtual humans, and our work addresses interdisciplinary problems that engage the broader community. The lab provides a stimulating, collaborative environment for working on the most interesting, socially-relevant research questions in computing.
Uncertainty Quantification Lab
Uncertainty Quantification Lab’s mission is to accelerate discoveries and decision-making under uncertainty through novel computational tools based on a deep integration of computation, modeling, and experimentation. The research activities in our group fall into two categories: development of new methodologies and algorithms (eg. machine learning constrained by physics, causal discovery, explainable AI, probabilistic modeling) and applications via funded collaborations with researchers in various sciences and engineering disciplines (eg. material design, microbiology, vibration analysis). Every project is a mixture between methodology development and application, and every student in the UQ lab is exposed to a stimulating interdisciplinary environment.
Gaming and Mixed Reality Lab
The gaming and mixed reality lab in the Department of Computer Science at UNC Charlotte is equipped with the latest devices of gaming, virtual reality and augmented reality. We perform interdisciplinary research on the topics of serious gaming, mixed reality, and immersive analytics; and aim at developing new technologies for the future of work and education.
