UNC-Chapel Hill and the Surrounding Area
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UNC-Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the flagship school for the UNC system. It is an original “Public Ivy” school, with an academic reputation similar to that of an Ivy League school at the price of a public university. It is constantly ranked among the very best public universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. For a list of department and university rankings, please visit our rankings page. UNC has more than 300,000 living alumni, which include authors, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Nobel laureates.
UNC also has a strong sense of school pride. It is very common to see the quad filled with students dressed in the school’s recognizable Carolina blue. This is especially true on the day of an important sporting event. UNC has recently and/or traditionally had successful teams in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, football (also known as gridiron or American football), baseball, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and more. People joke that UNC stands for University of National Champions because the university wins an NCAA national championship in at least one sport nearly every year.
Collaborative Environment
UNC’s research culture and our building’s physical proximity to similar departments and schools facilitates research and entrepreneurial collaborations between computer science and other disciplines.
Data Science
UNC launched the School of Data Science and Society in 2022. Computer science faculty contributed to the curriculum, and the school’s inaugural dean came from the Department of Computer Science. Our department works closely with the school to share resources and collaborate on research and extracurricular initiatives, including career services support for students of both programs. Several faculty members have joint appointments in both units.
RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute) is a UNC institute located near campus that collaborates with our department as well as with Duke University and N.C. State University. Multiple RENCI researchers hold appointments with the Department of Computer Science, and the department regularly shares human resources, infrastructure, and technology with RENCI (and vice versa).
The School of Information and Library Science at UNC has a strong graduate program, and there are collaborations and networking opportunities between researchers in SILS and Computer Science.
Medical Research
The nearby UNC School of Medicine, ranked highly in research and near the top in primary care by U.S. News and World Report, provides our faculty members with opportunities to undertake collaborative applied research projects in robotics, medical image display and analysis, bioinformatics, augmented reality, and more. The School of Medicine is comprised of more than 25 departments and dozens of research centers, with a number of medical faculty holding adjunct or dual appointments with the Department of Computer Science.
Entrepreneurship
The Vice Chancellor’s Office for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development houses both the UNC Office of Technology Commercialization and Innovate Carolina. Technology Commercialization manages all aspects of intellectual property at UNC, offering help getting products to market and securing patents when appropriate. Innovate Carolina and Technology Commercialization also provide services, training, and mentorship to promote entrepreneurship and startup company formation.
The Kenan-Flagler Business School, ranked among the top graduate business schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report, is located southeast of Sitterson Hall, near UNC Hospitals.
The Chapel Hill Area
Chapel Hill is the quintessential Southern university town, home to a well-educated, multicultural population of 59,000. The area’s 700+ acres of parks and protected natural areas keep it from feeling like the urban center that it is. Despite being in the central part of the state, you can get from Chapel Hill to the beach or the mountains with just a three-hour drive along the state’s highways.
The climate is comfortable for most of the year. Chapel Hill’s summers are warm and humid, and the fall and spring are very comfortable, with temperatures typically ranging between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The winters are fairly mild, but Chapel Hill typically gets snow once or twice each winter.
Chapel Hill makes up one vertex of North Carolina’s Triangle region, which is named for the Research Triangle Park, a large complex of research and research-oriented manufacturing and laboratory facilities. The other vertices of the Triangle are Durham, home to Duke University, and Raleigh, home to North Carolina State University and the state capital.
From MONEY Magazine in 2014:
“Picture a college town, and you’re likely to conjure up a vision of Chapel Hill. The leafy campus, dating back to 1793, forms the heart of a vibrant downtown. The city draws a racially diverse, well-educated crowd of all ages (three-quarters of the population have a college degree or higher). Superb education is also a key draw for relocating families–80% of high schoolers participate in AP-level classes.
As part of the Research Triangle, along with Raleigh and Durham, Chapel Hill is in a prime place for jobs in technology, healthcare, life sciences and other white-collar fields, and it’s an easy commute to the other two cities. In Chapel Hill, you can leave your car at home, its widespread bus system is free of charge.”
The Chapel Hill area is frequently rated as one of the best places in America to live, one of the most educated cities in America, and one of the best for graduates of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs.
Read more about the town from The Guardian and UNC.
Virtual Tours of Chapel Hill
VR Vimeo tour (use arrow keys to move the camera on a computer)
4K YouTube tour of various locations
4K YouTube evening walk through campus
Carrboro
Bordering Chapel Hill to the west is Carrboro, a town of only 20,000 with a reputation as one of the most progressive communities in the Southern United States. Each year it hosts the Carrboro Music Festival and the Carrboro Film Festival, which feature local artists. Carrboro is within walking distance of downtown Chapel Hill, and the towns share bus lines and a school system. Chapel Hill-Carrboro public schools are some of the best in North Carolina in terms of graduation rate, test scores, and percentage of college-bound seniors. Carrboro’s Main Street area contains many popular shops, restaurants, and other attractions, including Weaver Street Market, a community-owned natural foods grocery store, and Cat’s Cradle, a live music venue with a capacity of 750 that hosts both established and up-and-coming bands.
Visit townofcarrboro.org to learn more about Carrboro.
The Research Triangle
UNC-Chapel Hill is located only eight miles from Duke University in Durham and 25 miles from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. These three cities make up North Carolina’s Research Triangle. The close proximity of the universities allows for frequent collaborative opportunities between schools. Since the 1960s, the schools have been sharing resources to purchase and develop technology infrastructure and bring technology companies and research labs to the Research Triangle Park (RTP). Offices and labs inside the RTP focus on research and development, rather than production. Companies inside the RTP frequently recruit UNC students into technology internships and jobs. The RTP website maintains a list of companies located inside the research park.
Durham
Many of our faculty, staff, and students live in nearby Durham. Despite being a larger city, Durham has a similar multicultural ambiance, hosting events like the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the MoogFest music, art, and technology festival. It is frequently recognized nationally for its music scene and restaurants, many of which are located in its historic downtown warehouse district. Also downtown are the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), which hosts broadway, music, and comedy productions, as well as Durham Bulls Athletic Park, home to the famous minor league baseball team the Durham Bulls.
Home to Duke University and North Carolina Central University, Durham is one of the most educated cities in America and home to many tech startups. Those startups hire many UNC students and graduates for jobs and internships.
Learn more from the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau website.
Raleigh
Raleigh is a short drive from Chapel Hill along Interstate 40. Raleigh is the state capital and the second-largest city in North Carolina. The city hosts several large indoor and outdoor music venues and theaters as well as the Carolina Hurricanes, a professional ice hockey team. Raleigh and its many nearby suburbs, including Apex, Cary, and Garner, are home to multiple tech companies that have earned a spot in Fortune’s annual 100 Best Companies and 50 Best Workplaces for Camaraderie lists. Many of our graduates find jobs in Raleigh, as it is a fast-growing city and frequently named one of the best for young professionals and young families.
The Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau maintains a page with information and a list of accolades earned by the city.
North Carolina
Chapel Hill’s central location within the state of North Carolina means that many of the state’s amenities outside of the Research Triangle can easily be enjoyed in a day trip. The state has 320 miles of Atlantic coastline and some of the country’s best beaches, which can be reached in two to three hours of driving. To the west, the state’s largest city, Charlotte, is just over two hours by car. Charlotte is home to a thriving financial technology sector that hires many of our graduates, as well as the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The city has sports teams in the NBA, NFL, and MLS. A bit further west, the Appalachian Mountains provide state and national parks, hiking trails, and quaint mountain towns within around three to four hours of driving. Asheville and Boone are two Western North Carolina cities in the mountains that are also home to UNC system universities.