Research and Grants
The Future of Research is Interdisciplinary
At NICCS, we envision research as an engine for innovation to advance social mobility, secure our environment, and meet the needs of the present and future. We strive to bring researchers together across disciplines to address three key areas that are vital for the present and future of humanity – environmental change, water resources and food systems innovation. As part of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN), we offer support for those projects that might start small, but which have huge potential to make a positive difference in our region and the world.
Our research is as diverse and innovative as our outstanding faculty, with projects ranging from urban-regional modeling to robotic technologies tailored to support crop production. Learn more about our NICCS research projects, faculty and staff.
NICCS and IIN: Breaking Down Boundaries and Filling Gaps in Research
“This research is not something I would be able to do on my own if there was no support from NICCS and IIN. This is not something big enough yet to do nationally and qualify for federal grants, and it is not something small enough to be able to do with a few thousand dollars. So NICCS is kind of a mediator here in between, hosting this research and helping get over the initial phases to prove the viability of it so we can eventually launch to larger scales. If it were not for NICCS and IIN, I don’t know who else would support this research.”
Mahdi Vaezi, NIU Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology
“Collaboration across disciplines is the whole point of NICCS – to allow university faculty members to be able to work together. We’re trying to break down barriers between these siloed disciplines, and really that’s where the most interesting science and interesting research can occur. We start to learn about the tools all of the others are using. And we find that, when we learn to communicate across disciplines, we can answer questions together that we can’t address separately.”
Melissa Lenczewski, NIU Professor of Geology and Director of the NIU Institute for the Study of Environment, Sustainability and Energy
Contact Us
Matthew Deitch, Ph.D.
Director, Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability
mdeitch@niu.edu