The University expended $472.7 million in support of research system-wide in 2006–07, using funds received from the state and federal governments, industry, foundations, and individual donors; more than 400 research laboratories on the West Lafayette campus. Various offices or groups, some interdisciplinary, have been formed to do or promote research.

Centers and Institutes

Currently there are nearly 120 University-approved centers and institutes on the Purdue campus in West Lafayette. Research collaborations by faculty and students — undergraduate as well as graduate — are now typically interdisciplinary in nature. Many have the advantage of working in enviable state-of-the-art facilities with equipment that is second-to-none.

The Office of the Vice President for Research oversees Purdue’s burgeoning research efforts. Our state, the nation, and the world has been watching … and benefiting … as, since 2001, Discovery Park has developed into a $375 million research and learning complex of 11 dynamic centers.

Discovery Park centers extend campus infrastructure to the entire University, allowing multidisciplinary groups to come together and respond to grand challenges and opportunities. Whether it takes root in Discovery Park or elsewhere on campus, each center or institute is cultivated to fill a particular need. Large project centers or institutes, generally funded by an outside agency, are organized around a specific objective and have a natural lifespan. Grassroots centers or institutes vary in size and are formed from faculty initiatives; they are frequently funded by departments within a college or school.