About us

UNSW CCRC is a multi-disciplinary research centre comprising one of the largest university research facilities of its kind in Australia, administered within the School of BEES in the Faculty of Science.

CCRC houses research expertise in the key areas of Earth’s climate: atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial processes. We apply basic scientific principles to pressing questions on climate dynamics, global climate change, and extremes of weather and climate.

Our atmosphere research includes studies of large scale dynamics, convection, radiation, climate feedbacks, and factors controlling precipitation changes and other meteorological impacts.

Our oceanographic research focuses on the ocean’s role in the climate system: including large-scale physical oceanography, coupled climate modes and regional ocean circulation, palaeoclimate dynamics, the ocean’s thermohaline circulation, global biogeochemical cycles and climate changes in Earth’s past.

On the land surface, we focus on modelling terrestrial processes in climate models to develop our understanding of the effects of carbon dynamics, hydrology and vegetation processes on climate.

Scientists at CCRC employ a variety of research tools including global and regional models of the atmosphere, ocean and land surface, coastal domain simulations and process models. We also use a great variety of data collected from satellites, radars, ships, weather stations, eddy-flux towers and aircraft from regions as diverse as the Great Barrier Reef, the tropics, urban surfaces, the Tasman Sea and Antarctica.

CCRC leads the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, a multi-university initiative to advance fundamental climate sciences in Australia formed in 2017. 

The CCRC also houses the UNSW node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Weather of the 21st Century, focussing on how  Australia's weather is being reshaped by climate change. 

Additionally, CCRC researchers are associated with the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, aiming to deepen our understanding of the Antarctic environment, its ecosystems, and the global processes it influences.

The CCRC is home to the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)'s  Weather and Climate node which integrates scientific research with practical applications, supporting communities and governments in building resilience against floods and other natural disasters.

Researchers at the CCRC are also part of the International Universities Climate Alliance, a UNSW initiative that brings the world's leading climate and environmental research universities together in a coalition of 48 member institutions, spanning every region on earth.

Most of our research applies maths and/or physics. The CCRC and School of Physics now have a joint arrangement to promote cooperation in teaching, supervision and research. Please contact us for more details!