Explore Centers and Institutes

The Thomas A. Edison Papers is a documentary editing project sponsored by Rutgers, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the New Jersey Historical Commission. For decades, the 5 million pages of documents that chronicle the extraordinary life and achievements of Thomas Alva Edison remained hidden and inaccessible to members of the general public. Since the massive project began in 1978, a team of editors/scholars has been turning this incomparable trove of Edisonia into a premier educational resource. Fulfilling their original mission, they have made Edison accessible—and comprehensible—to countless numbers of young and lifetime learners.

The Center for Tobacco Studies (CTS) is one of the nation’s leading tobacco-focused research centers. It seeks to reduce and ultimately eliminate, tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in New Jersey, the US, and globally. CTS does this via research that informs interventions, regulations and policies; the delivery of evidence-based tobacco treatment; dissemination of research findings to key stakeholders; and training of tobacco treatment providers and the next generation of tobacco control researchers.

The Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) is a national leader in the research and development of innovative transportation policy. Located within the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, VTC brings to bear the full array of resources of a major research university on transportation issues of regional and national significance. VTC includes the National Transit Institute, which was created by Congress in 1992 to design and deliver training and education programs for the U.S. transit industry.

As part of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the Center for Transportation Safety, Security and Risk (CTSSR) serves as a National Transportation Security Center of Excellence (NTSCOE) for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. CTSSR develops state-of-the-art responses to the transportation security and risk analysis challenges of the 21st century. The Center’s research projects apply decision tools, GIS mapping and risk modeling to real-world transportation contexts in order to better assess and manage risks and improve resiliency related to security and all-hazards incidents.

The Center for Turfgrass Science generates and disseminates knowledge, and provides training and education in the turfgrass sciences by fostering nationally recognized multidisciplinary research; undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional education; and service programs that support the turfgrass industry.

University Hospital Craniofacial Center of New Jersey was formed to provide state of the art care for children and adults afflicted with craniofacial disorders. Our center is based out of University Hospital, the largest academic tertiary care medical center in the State of New Jersey. The treatment of Craniofacial Syndromes (for example, cleft lip/palate, Crouzon's syndrome, Apert's Syndrome) requires a multidisciplinary approach. As such, the New Jersey Cleft and Craniofacial Center is comprised of specialists from multiple areas of expertise. 

The Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability (CUES) is a unique academic center because it is a collaboration between the departments of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Sciences. This collaboration provides an opportunity to combine the best science, engineering, and design capabilities in order to better address urban environmental issues and questions.

CUPR, a component of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, is nationally and internationally recognized for its research on affordable housing, land use policy, environmental impact analysis, state planning, public finance, land development practice, historic preservation, infrastructure assessment, development impact analysis, the costs of sprawl, transportation information systems, environmental impacts, and community economic development. As a full-time academic research institution, CUPR has developed a wide array of fiscal, environmental, transportation, and quality of life impact models that have been used in major public policy evaluations throughout the United States.

As part of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, the Center for Vector Biology has been established to provide research and information for the citizens of New Jersey about insects and the diseases they transmit. The center interprets and disseminates data collected by county agencies for surveillance of mosquito vectors and their infection rates for Eastern Equine and West Nile viruses. Population trends for state mosquitoes are reported on a weekly basis.

The Laboratory of Vision Research (LVR) is part of the Center for Cognitive Science within the School of Arts and Sciences, and is founded on three major objectives: to conduct advanced interdisciplinary research in vision by engaging undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers; to offer undergraduate and graduate courses in visual perception and related areas, and to serve as a consulting body to local and global institutions and a link to science journalists.