The Charlotte Research Institute (CRI) was a partnership between the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and corporations in the region. In 2019, the university retired that brand and model, and the institute's functions are now known as the Office of Research Partnerships (ORP). The goal of CRI was to develop technology-based academic and business partnerships, ranging from consultation to onsite collaborative research. The institute's support of education and research included three centers: eBusiness, Optoelectronics and Optical Communications, and Precision Metrology.
The CRI was located on UNC Charlotte's Millennial Campus.