Community Engaged Research

Research and community go hand in hand

Community engagement is central to IU Indianapolis’ mission. Community-engaged research brings together university and community partners to co-create solutions grounded in lived experience, local expertise, and scholarly inquiry.

The Office of Workforce and Community Engagement connects faculty, students, and community organizations to support research addressing pressing community priorities, emphasizing shared knowledge, mutual benefit, and long-term collaboration.

Together, the IU Indianapolis community has made significant advances—including the development of the Civic-Minded Graduate scale and rubrics, as well as longitudinal research on students engaged in service learning. We continue to deepen campus–community partnerships and highlight the impact of this collaborative work.

What is community-engaged research?

Community-engaged research takes place in the field. Faculty members and students conduct research that assists them as they partner with communities to meet an identified need and improve quality of life.

While partnerships vary in their depth, researchers often incorporate community organizations into every part of the research process.

For the purposes of IRB at IU, community-engaged research is defined as research that "includes the meaningful involvement of community partners in the research process, including but not limited to topic development, need identification, research design, conduct of research, and/or sharing of results."

How Community-Engaged Research Benefits Everyone

  • Improves project design and delivery

  • Strengthens implementation of findings

  • Helps identify and resolve ethical considerations

  • Improves study processes and participation

  • Deepens understanding of community priorities

  • Increases appreciation for community knowledge

  • Strengthens responsible and ethical research practices

  • Expands public involvement and shared ownership

  • Builds organizational visibility and credibility

  • Creates new partnership opportunities

  • Increases public benefit and impact

Centers Engaging Our Community

IU Indianapolis is home to dozens of centers and institutes that partner with the community and conduct research to improve quality of life across the city, state, and beyond.

Some highlights include:

The Polis Center (1989) – Uses geospatial technologies to help communities make better use of their data and improve outcomes.

Public Policy Institute(1992) – Provides unbiased research to help communities make informed policy decisions.

Basile Center for Art, Design and Public Life (2005) – Collaborates with community partners to develop creative solutions to real-world challenges.

See All Centers & Institutes

ENGAGE! Co-created Knowledge Serving the City

ENGAGE! is IU Indianapolis' first journal dedicated to community-engaged and community-based participatory research. IU Indianapolis is recognized locally, nationally, and internationally as an urban-serving research and health sciences university.

Community-engaged research (CER) in city settings is focused on the processes and results of inquiry-focused relationships between community partners and representatives of the university.

Learn more about ENGAGE!

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