CI² fundamentally integrates diverse educational institutions tightly into its research strategy. Seed funded by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the team has been working to tightly integrate undergraduates not only from R1 institutions like Oregon, Stanford, MIT, and UCI, but also from less research-intensive institutions including Prairie View A&M in Texas, U. Mass. Boston, and Cal. State Los Angeles through regular science group meetings, collaborative center research, and team-based mentoring and training.

The core hypothesis is that by collaboration between diverse institutions we can create and scale pipelines of talented and diverse students with the knowledge, skills, and vision to be future leaders in electrochemical science and technology.