Who We Are

We seek to become a premier, university-wide initiative that will function as a hub of activity, networking, and support for all city-related research and scholarship at the University of Connecticut.

Research involving the city is inherently diverse and interdisciplinary. Comprising an extensive network of Faculty Affiliates and supporters spanning multiple disciplines, schools, and colleges at UConn, the SGCI embraces a broad and inclusive definition of urban topics and strives to bring scholars and researchers together to tackle salient challenges facing today’s cities throughout the world.

Learn more about the SGCI and the many ways it supports cities-related work at our “About the SGCI” page!

"Writing Hartford" Essay Contest Now Open to All UConn Undergraduates!

Attention all undergraduates: SGCI is proud to announce the third annual Writing Hartford Essay Contest, open to all UConn undergrads on all campuses. Essay submissions must engage with the people, places, and/or city-related issues of Hartford, Connecticut in some way, and entries with multimodal or multimedia components are welcome! Faculty members can also nominate a student essay to receive one of two prizes (one for first year students, and one for any undergraduate regardless of year).

Visit the contest page for more details!

Online Faculty Affiliate Directory

With the SGCI Faculty Affiliates directory, UConn researchers can find colleagues who share similar academic interests, and members of the public can easily find experts in various cities-related topics. In addition to contact information, the directory prominently displays research themes, self-described research interests, project descriptions, and recent cities-related publications for all of our Faculty Affiliates.

Our Faculty Affiliate Directory can be viewed alphabetically by last name, or broken down by Research Theme.

SGCI Faculty Research Grants

We're pleased to announce that the SGCI Faculty Research Grants Program, thanks to support from UConn Hartford, Office of Global Affairs, and the Office of the Provost, was able to award grants to seven unique projects in its inaugural 2020 - 2021 award cycle. These grants fill a unique niche at UConn, supporting urban-related research by offering small funding awards suitable for projects that do not require large field research or costly data acquisition. More details about the awardees and their projects is forthcoming. Stay tuned!

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The SGCI has substantial potential to influence national and international conversations on cities-related topics -- but the scope and impact of our activities directly depends on support from faculty, staff, community partners, and donors. There are many ways you can help the SGCI achieve its goals:

Are you a UConn researcher whose work intersects with one of our six core research topics? Our scope is global, but we plan to create research agendas with a focus on Hartford and other Connecticut cities, too. Register to become an SGCI Faculty Affiliate!
Are you part of a community or organization that is seeking an expert in an urban-related topic at UConn? In the future, we plan on having the capacity to connect you with UConn researchers whose research could be relevant to your mission. Learn more by emailing us at sgci@uconn.edu.
Are you a donor or non-profit institution interested in funding cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research and projects on topics related to urban life? Contact us to learn how you can help!

To learn more about other ways you can support the SGCI, contact us at sgci@uconn.edu.