PARI is currently involved with research and educational programs at several campuses within the University of North Carolina system. A major near-term initiative is to formalize these relationships and extend their benefits to all 16 campuses by becoming a recognized UNC Center.

PARI's goal in becoming a Center is to strengthen the existing bond with the UNC system, foster new opportunities for education and research within the system, and ensure the future availability of PARI's resources regionally, nationally, and for the University system.

PARI also has a number of programs underway. These include: Pulsar Timing Program, several graduate student research projects, a number of undergraduate individual and group projects, several high school individual and group projects, a proposed Space Science Lab, and a proposed teacher workshop program to develop science lab kits.

Our goal for the next two years is to maintain all current programs, and to add programs initiated and funded by outside groups. Within two years, we plan to have such programs constitute a third of the program activity at PARI.

Current infrastructure goals include further development of the Optical Ridge, installation of a library that will grow to 20,000 astronomy and related books, and establishment of the Center for Astronomical Plate Preservation (CAPP), and upgrading the 26 meter radio telescope receivers.