North Dakota State University's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, established in 2002, conducts large-scale, multidisciplinary research for government and industry. CNSE's Research 2 facility includes 77,000 sf of cleanroom, laboratory and engineering spaces that house its design, synthesis, fabrication and characterization capabilities. Core competencies include wireless miniaturized electronics design and prototype fabrication, research on polymeric and hard protective coatings, and on materials for electronics and energy conversion.

SUNRISE is a student centered, faculty organized supercluster consisting of 29 faculty in 13 separate academic departments at UND, NDSU, Mayville State, and the ND College of Science – Wahpeton. SUNRISE research is focused in three areas: the technologies to enable the environmentally sustainable use of coal, the production of fuels, chemicals, polymers, and composites from renewable sources, and the harvesting of energy from diffuse sources (wind/solar/hydrogen).

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the North Dakota Division of Community Services (DCS), developed the Plains Organization for Wind Energy Resources (POWER) to serve as a regional center of excellence for wind energy. Through POWER, the EERC provides the educational, technical, and partnership-building resources necessary for harnessing and developing the vast wind resources of the central and northern Great Plains.

The Center for Air Toxic Metals (CATM) at the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is one of the EERC's ten Centers of Excellence. Established in 1992 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Engineering and Technology Demonstration CATM is tasked with focusing national research efforts on trace element emissions. The goal of CATM is to develop key information on trace elements such that pollution prevention strategies can be developed and implemented to reduce trace element emissions.