Considered an underrated powerhouse by some, Indiana University grabbed the attention of other research universities last month when it announced a $300 million initiative aimed at asking -- and answering -- some of the world’s biggest questions. In so doing, it joined a growing number of research institutions to launch similar programs centered on big ideas. Beside boosting a university’s public profile, advocates of such “grand challenge” research programs say they help cut down silos across campus and reorient the university mission back toward the public good. But such research has its critics, too, who say that these initiatives are often ill defined and tend to favor the life and physical sciences over other fields. So Indiana’s bold move also opened it up to possible criticism, should its initiative fail to meet expectations. Fred Cate, Indiana’s vice president for research, is undaunted by the project’s inherent risk.

October 7, 2015 ・ From Inside Higher Ed