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Indiana University Indianapolis has become the first institution in Indianapolis to receive Research 1, or R1, status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the university announced Thursday.
An R1 designation is presented to universities with $50 million in research and development expenditures that award at least 70 doctoral degrees in any field in a year.
“We’ve said all along we want to be the best urban research university in the country,” IU President Pamela Whitten said in an interview with Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “With this new classification, now we’re actually able to put to put our brand on that.”
Reaching R1 status has been a goal of university leadership for some time. Before IUPUI split into IU Indianapolis and Purdue in Indianapolis last year, IUPUI was rated a Research 2 university.
Indiana University Bloomington is also R1, along with Purdue University in West Lafayette and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend.
According to the university, in fiscal year 2023, IU’s Indianapolis campus had research expenditures exceeding $76.8 million and awarded 88 doctoral degrees.
Thursday’s announcement comes two months after IU announced the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, or IU LAB.
The IU LAB will be housed in a six-floor, 150,000-square-foot facility that is expected to open in 2027 at the 16 Tech Innovation District. Funding for the project comes from a $138 million Lilly Endowment grant.
Former Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg is leading IU LAB as its inaugural president and CEO.
“It’s really the right time, the right place, the right corridor where we really can find that next discovery, commercialize the next product, and train the life science leaders of the future,” Rosenberg said.
The IU LAB will build on IU’s $250 million investment, announced in 2023, to position the university as a global leader in life sciences and biotechnology innovation. It will be critical in meeting ambitious goals outlined in the IU 2030 strategic plan.
“The R1 designation for IU Indianapolis, reflecting the quality of the research on the campus, is just the beginning. We look forward to accelerating the pace of discoveries and more translation of those discoveries to improve lives here in Indiana and far beyond,” Jay Hess, dean of the IU School of Medicine, said in a news release.
IU LAB will focus first on research and innovation in five critical disease areas relating to diabetes and obesity, neuroscience, rare diseases, cancer and bone engineering and regenerative medicine.
Inside INdiana Business is taking a closer look at the new designation, plans for IU LAB and the impact it will have on 16 Tech and the community on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
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Great news: congratulations to a fantastic campus! Ironic that it occurs at a time when the Republican Party seems intent on killing off higher education generally, and research funding specifically. The GOP is a disaster
The former Republican political Party is no longer functional . Now it is MUSK -TRUMP MAGA CULT loyal only to the Oligarchy ruling by Fiat executive orders to dismantle the Federal Government .
Whoa. This is HUGE! Great job!
How will the loss of NIH funding affect the status of these R1 universities, and more importantly, how will it affect the work they do?
Huge news for IU Indianapolis – very exciting!