Idaho State University

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• Office of Research
• Compliance Committees
  • Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
  • Biosafety Committee
  • HIPAA
  • Human Subjects Committee (IRB)
• DOE EPSCoR in Idaho
• EPSCoR at ISU
• Faculty Research Interests
• Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs)
• Internal Funding Awards
• Internal Grant Committees
  • Faculty Research Committee (FRC)
  • Graduate Student Research and Scholarship Committee (GSRSC)
  • Humanities and Social Sciences Research Committee (HSSRC)
  • Undergraduate Research Committee (UgRC)
  • University Research Committee (URC)
• Noon Discussions
  • Human Subjects Topics
  • Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
  • Retrospective of Research
  • Sharing the Wealth
• Past Research Events
• Personnel
• Research Centers and Institutes
  • What are research centers?
  • Research Center Application
• Research Facilities, Equipment & Resources
• Research Coordinating Council (RCC)
• Research Policies and Procedures
• Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
• Sponsored Programs
• University Research Colloquia & Research Workshops

What Are Research Centers?

In 1986 the Idaho State Board of Education recognized that many "important advances can only be made with the establishment of focused research centers." In order to identify potential centers and promote interdisciplinary research, Idaho State University has established a number of criteria used in creating such centers.

1. There must be a core group of researchers who have worked together and have created a particular niche that transcends traditional departmental boundaries. Such researchers need a record of success in publishing research, generating support and recognition inside and outside the university, and receiving extramural funds for research projects.
2. A sound foundation for the center must already exist on campus. Such a foundation would include secretarial support, technicians and other support staff, graduate students available to be research assistants; adequate equipment holdings to conduct research; and appropriate physical plant facilities.
3. Members of the research center should have numerous professional connections inside and outside the university. Such connections might include working relationships with private companies, governmental institutions, other universities, or research consortia.
4. The individuals who join together to form the research center should have a record of consistent sustained and long-term research. Good research which leads to establishment of research centers is built on years of effort by individual faculty which can be then improved and expanded by collaboration with other experts.
5. The center must have a designated director who is a strong, experienced researcher, who has published in refereed journals and/or received favorable peer evaluations of research, and who has knowledge and experience related to extramural grants. In addition, the director must have strong administrative skills and be capable of drawing people together and working toward a common goal.

With these goals and guidelines in mind, Idaho State University initially has established four research centers:

• Center for Ecological Research and Education CERE)
• GIS Teaching and Research Center
• Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC)
• Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC)

Since that time the number of research centers at ISU has expanded to include:

• Family Medicine Clinical Research Center
• Institute of Rural Health (IRH)
• Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering (INSE)
• ISU Biomedical Research Institute (IBRI)

The establishment and development of research centers will have multiple benefits for the university, the communities and counties of Southeast Idaho, and the citizens of the State of Idaho.

For the university, the establishment of research centers will improve the university's ability to train students in areas of growing importance. The centers will enhance academic programs in a number of disciplines by attracting top flight faculty members to Idaho State University, by improving research equipment holdings, and by promoting the concept of interdisciplinary scholarship.

The communities and counties of Southeast Idaho will benefit from the center's ability to attract outside funding sources which will in turn be spent, in part, in the area. Private and public agencies can turn to such centers when expertise is needed to solve a local problem. Graduate research assistants trained in the centers will improve the area's image by adding diversity and new skills to the employment pool. Major discoveries made at the centers will generate positive public attention in state, regional, and national media outlets.

The citizens of Idaho will benefit through the prestige and stature research centers will draw from important sectors of society. Business and industry, governmental agencies, private foundations, and other universities will turn to ISU for collaboration, support and development as research centers become functional and gain national attention for their work.

Research centers promote an innovative, collaborative model of scholarship which improves the ability of the university to carry out its mission of teaching excellence, important research, and public service.

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