Research at USCB has two payoffs: the first is when money is spent for the products, services, and participants needed to carry out various studies and experiments, while the second payoff is in overall innovative advancements such as increased productivity and new technologies and products. These advancements contribute to the productivity of the region as a whole, as social capital gravitates to centers of intellectual and creative output.
In addition to over a hundred faculty members as elected members or fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, there are five Nobel Prize winners, recognized for their landmark contributions in research to the fields of chemistry, economics, and physics.
Research centers include institutes focused on theoretical physics, electronic structures, materials, nanotechnology, optoelectronics, earthquakes, earth systems science, polymers and organic solids, marine sciences, neuroscience, quantum mechanics, astrophysics and cosmology, linguistics, Black studies, Chicano studies, global climate change, humanities, and ecological systems.