The last few months have afforded me the incredible opportunity to meet with faculty, staff and students from multiple IU campuses. These individuals and teams are doing extraordinary work and are actively coalescing around innovative ways to advance research goals outlined in the IU 2030 Strategic Plan. I am excited to have the privilege of joining IU as Vice President for Research at such a critical inflection point. Working with IU colleagues and external partners, I look forward to collaborating on the development of expanded support for, and growing, transformative research and creative activity at IU.
Faculty and student researchers at IU have a rich, 200-year history of positively impacting Hoosier communities and beyond. IU Research will continue to support these efforts and with plans to do so with expanded resources. As a starting point, I am excited to announce the creation of a new internal funding opportunity, the IU Research and Creative Activity Conference Grants program. This funding program will provide IU faculty the opportunity to apply for matching funds to curate and host an innovative conference on an IU campus. By bringing together faculty and students from IU with scholars from institutions across the world, we will expand our scholarly networks and build new research and creative activity partnerships. Learn more about this new opportunity and apply online.
Through IU 2030, IU will work to scale up pursuit of groundbreaking discoveries and awe-inspiring cultural and creative endeavors. Expanding existing research strengths and exploring new ones, IU is doubling down on efforts to foster a culture of innovation for societal and economic development. By enhancing support for start-ups as well as disclosure and licensing of meaningful inventions, discoveries and innovations, we will increase access to the outcomes of IU researchers that improve the wellbeing of Hoosiers, our state and our economy. We are also significantly expanding our efforts to partner with industry for the dual purpose of solving important problems and providing opportunities of our students to have real world experiences to train and prepare the next generation of highly skilled and sought-after employees.
And while our aim is to do this broadly, we look forward to leveraging the growth potential made possible by the coming transition to IU Indianapolis in Fall 2024. We are committed to ensuring more are aware of what Indianapolis has long known: that it is home to one of the nation’s premier urban research universities.
I look forward to meeting many more around the state and the world who are interested in partnering with us. And, as always, your questions, concerns and ideas are most welcome.
Russell J. Mumper, Vice President for Research