Welcome to CIRCAD

An Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (IUCRC) integrating data science and modeling, risk assessment and decision theory, and economic and policy analysis to develop innovative solutions to society’s climate challenges.

Image
conference attendees

CIRCAD's 2024 Climate Risk & Resilience Summit in Atlanta, Georgia

September 12, 2024

CIRCAD's Atlanta summit attracts over 100 attendees

Learn more

Our Vision

The Center for Innovation in Risk-analysis for Climate Adaptation and Decision-making (CIRCAD) will be a science and policy research center where university faculty and students work with partners from the insurance, finance, and other risk-related industries to develop innovative solutions to society’s climate challenges.

CIRCAD’s research will integrate data science and modeling, risk assessment and decision theory, and economic and policy analysis to design and evaluate novel and actionable strategies, products, policies, and practices.

By disseminating the knowledge and tools produced by the center to communities, commercial and residential customers, and government officials, CIRCAD will enhance climate decision-making and foster resilience on a system-wide scale.

In the process of achieving these goals, CIRCAD will also recruit, mentor, and develop a diverse, highly-trained, climate-ready workforce.

Planning Process

To achieve our vision, we are building CIRCAD as a consortium of university research sites, government agencies and labs, and public and private companies following the National Science Foundation’s successful Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) model. 

We have already received a one-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support our planning process and have obtained letters of interest from more than thirty parties.

We are currently soliciting input from these and other potential CIRCAD members to prioritized our center’s goals, activities, partnerships, and research themes.

This process will culminate in a Climate Resilience Summit to be held in Atlanta in September, 2024. The full proposal for a five-year IUCRC focused on climate risk is then due to NSF by mid-December, 2024.

The Partnership

Image
iucrc partnership
Reproduced from NSF Program Solicitation 20-570

Our Expertise

CIRCAD consists of two academic sites (Duke University and the University of Georgia) and a number of collaborating partner institutions. We have over 30 faculty and senior researchers ready to work with industry on projects related to climate risk and resilience. Our faculty span the fields of engineering, climate science, public policy, decision science, economics, law, statistics, and computing. CIRCAD’s competitive advantage arises not only from our disciplinary expertise, but also our ability to integrate across disciplines to develop innovative and actionable solutions. CIRCAD’s areas of expertise include:

Icon

Data Science & Modeling

Icon

Nature-Based Solutions

Icon

Risk Assessment & Decision Theory

Icon

Economic & Policy Analysis

Icon

Insurance & Financial Innovation

Icon

Community Engagement

hands and wooden gears

Our faculty span the fields of engineering, climate science, public policy, decision science, finance, law, statistics, math, and computing.

Partner Institutions

Industry Member Benefits

Interested in becoming a CIRCAD industry member or partner?

Icon

Research

Select and direct projects with complete access to center research and intellectual property

Icon

Relationships

Collaborate with communities and climate leaders from industry, academia, and government

Icon

Training & Mentoring

Connect with students who are gaining world-class training in the skills needed by your industry

Icon

Resources

Dramatically leverage R&D funds through shared costs and significantly reduced overhead

Icon

Impact

Advance solutions to the most pressing climate-risk related business and social challenges