Welcome to the 2021-22 Annual Report on Indiana University Research

The stories shared here spotlight extraordinary work of IU faculty over the past year who, working with many partners, have driven research, discovery, commercialization and creative activity at IU. Their work is leading innovation in artificial intelligence, neuroscience, the environment and cancer research just to name a few. The real-world impact of this work is felt by Hoosiers across our state and citizens around the globe.

The IU Research Office does not conduct research; instead we work to support IU researchers across the state. As such, it is incumbent on us to continually review whether we are providing the best support possible to the faculty and students engaged in research on all IU campuses. 

Toward that end, the Research Office made organizational changes this year to achieve three goals: 1) expand financial resources available to support research; 2) increase support services available to advance research and researchers; and 3) engage more faculty in the work and leadership of the Research Office.

To further these goals, we launched the new Research Equipment Fund, with support from President Whitten, providing $4 million this year, and $5 million next year, for research equipment, instrumentation or datasets for research in any field. This fund will be available every year. Additionally, we launched the new IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship, providing funding for IU faculty who are poised to become national and international arts and humanities leaders. We have engaged the first of seven part-time faculty directors of research, thus further expanding the role of faculty in decision-making related to research funding, strategy and growth.

We hired IU’s first faculty associate vice president for research development and have reorganized proposal development. We also continue to work with university, campus, school and faculty leadership to provide more consistent and significant funding for research development and infrastructure.

As I prepare to finish my 8-year tenure as Vice President for Research and return to full time research and teaching, I am both grateful and honored to have had the privilege of working with so many talented colleagues and partners. The dedication, skill and passion that you bring to your work every day not only contributes to IU’s well-deserved reputation as a world-class, research institution, but also helps to meet the critical needs of the people of Indiana and beyond.