Organized research groups, specialized research centers, and programs provide unique opportunities for students to work side-by-side with world renown scientists on projects of varying scope and disciplines. Some of these projects take place within the following research units and institutes:

• AirUCI
• Center for Chemical and Material Physics Program (ChAMP)
• Center for Chemical and Structural Biology 
• Center for Cosmology
• Center for Interdisciplinary Chemical Synthesis
• Center for Mathematical and Computational Biology
• Center for Solar Energy 
• Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit (CaSTL)
• The Environment Institute: Global Change, Energy, and Sustainable Resources
• Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP)
• Institute for Surface and Interface Science (ISIS)
• Southern California Center for Galaxy Evolution (CGE)