IRIS’s 2025 Year in Review is available now. Download the report to learn how IRIS uses big administrative data to help universities, researchers, and federal agencies demonstrate the public value of research and higher education.
The past year has proven challenging for academic research and higher education. It has also demonstrated just how important rich, rigorous, independent sources of data can be for individual institutions and our sector. The information that IRIS member institutions, partners, researchers, and funders make possible is contributing to the public and to our knowledge in deeper, more important, and exciting ways.
Highlights from 2025:
- We welcomed four new university members: the University of Minnesota, Utah State University, Michigan Technological University, and the Medical University of South Carolina.
- We produced seven custom reports detailing the social and economic impact of research, which members leveraged to demonstrate how research activities help build a skilled scientific workforce, drive key industries, and invest in the national and local economy.
- We contributed data-driven perspectives and analysis to articles in national and regional media that brought the public value of research into focus.
- We made significant strides in research and on projects that will:
- Enable policymakers, research organizations, and other decision makers to better understand, communicate, and prepare for the economic impacts of research investments in critical and emerging technologies.
- Examine the conditions that yield high impact, novel discoveries that alter the trajectories of the fields and industries from which they emerge.
- Improve and expand the IRIS data infrastructure.
- We welcomed new staff to our team and members to our board of directors, whose expertise and shared commitment have helped us reach new milestones and position IRIS for its next phase of impact.