Benefits for Hoosiers
Feature Story
A Legislative Investment
The Indiana General Assembly grants $15 million to recruit top scientists to IU. more >>
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Research Funding
Return on Investment: Research funding that will fuel new discoveries
IU has a track record of success in attracting research funding. IU has received more federal, state, and private sponsored research funding in the past two years than all other Indiana public institutions. IU faculty members attracted an all-time high of $477 million dollars in 2005, and new funding increased by 10 percent in 2006. The Indiana Life Sciences Initiative will add fuel to our momentum.
There's an important connection between research funding and jobs. We call it idea flow. Research produces discoveries that get turned into ideas that lead to new products, companies, and jobs. These new products, companies, and jobs provide more opportunities for Hoosiers.
Researchers with labs receive the greatest percentage of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As the chart below illustrates, researchers at the IU School of Medicine are just as productive in their ability to compete for federal grants — we just need more researchers and more labs to get more federal funding.
An added benefit for the state is that this research effort will be truly statewide through the IU School of Medicine's regional medical education centers. Located on or near university campuses in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Muncie, South Bend, Terre Haute, and West Lafayette, the centers will be expanded to launch research initiatives tied to local life sciences strengths.
For FY 2007–2009, IU is requesting state funding support to begin the expansion of our regional medical education centers. Most of the scientists recruited to the regional centers will hold a joint appointment with IU and their host institutions. This will give IU and the partner institutions — Notre Dame, IPFW, Purdue University, Ball State University, Indiana State University, and the University of Southern Indiana — the opportunity to work together to align their life sciences research efforts and expand programs in ways that strengthen both the host institutions and the surrounding economies.
