Title: Carnegie Renews Classification of Georgetown as ‘Very High Research University’
Georgetown has once again been classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an institution with “very high research activity.”
The classification, also known as R1, which Georgetown also received in 2015, follows Carnegie’s latest review of American doctoral universities.
“We are pleased to be recognized once again in Carnegie’s top category for the extraordinary range, diversity and interdisciplinary nature of research at Georgetown,” says Georgetown Provost Robert Groves. “The classification reflects our commitment to an intellectual environment conducive to the discovery and communication of new knowledge, and to solving some of the world’s most pressing issues facing humankind.”
Leveraging Discoveries
Georgetown’s largest research center – Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) – is home to more than 400 scientists, accounting for well over half of the university’s extramural funding research.
GUMC’s research spectrum ranges from basic laboratory science to translational research and clinical studies, including behavioral and population health research. The university also oversees more than 300 active clinical trials.
“Our deep inquiry advances scientific understanding, improves lives and informs policy,” says Dr. Edward B. Healton, executive vice president of health sciences. “We seek to leverage that knowledge to achieve social justice in the Jesuit tradition that frames our work at Georgetown.”
The medical center’s research priorities encompass global health, mind and brain, cancer and population health and health disparities. In addition, GUMC researchers collaborate with scientists across the university and faculty experts in international development, public policy, law, chemistry, biology, psychology and physics.
National Centers, Laboratories
GUMC also is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Clinical and Translational Science Award, one of a few select institutions in the country to hold both of these federal grants.
The university is also committed to training the next generation of scientists through its biomedical graduate education, which offers master’s, doctoral and dual degrees, as well as certificates in topics such as biotechnology, tumor biology and global health, aging and health, neuroscience and health informatics.
Its School of Nursing & Health Studies provides undergraduate students with faculty-student collaborations around scientific investigation and offers a doctor of nurse anesthesia practice degree.
Interdisciplinary research is ongoing through the Georgetown Environment Initiative, the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology, the Massive Data Institute and the Georgetown Institute on Innovation, Evaluation, and Development.
A large set of research centers of the McCourt School of Public Policy informs the nation about significant policy issues. Students also have the opportunity to advance their training through one of the educational and research collaborations Georgetown has with three of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.
In 2015, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching renewed Georgetown’s prestigious classification as one of the nation’s premier institutions committed to community engagement. That classification extends to 2025.