People tend to think of academic research as pure expense. In fact, research at Indiana University drives significant economic impact. Each year faculty researchers at IU bring hundreds of millions of fresh dollars into the state from external funding sources. These funds, in turn, create new jobs and opportunities as they are expended.
In fiscal year 2010/11, researchers at IU were awarded $488.2 million in grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. IU competes against other institutions for these funds on the strength of its programs in medicine, nursing, arts and sciences, as well as in information technology and engineering.
Securing these competitively awarded funds enabled IU to expend a record $509 million on research operations in fiscal year 2010/11. These expenditures translated into an economic impact of $843.9 million ($447.3 direct impact and $396.6 indirect impact) for the state of Indiana.
The research operations themselves generate quality jobs; and further, many research outcomes produce new technologies with potential market applications. A recent example of the economic impact of research is the acquisition of Marcadia Biotech , a start-up founded IU Bloomington chemistry professor Richard DiMarchi that focused on new treatments for obesity and diabetes, by Roche in a transaction worth up to $537 million.
For details about IU’s research impact, including research expenditures by school, read the 2012 economic impact report prepared by the Tripp Umbach consulting firm.
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