Research Impact

Drexel University first received national recognition in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, designated as an “R1 Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity," in 2018 and sustained this prestigious classification in 2022. Drexel is one of 146 institutions out of approximately 3,900 to receive this prestigious classification, indicating the highest level of research activity. Notably, Drexel is one of only 39 private universities to earn the distinction and one of only six in Pennsylvania. Since first receiving R1 designation, Drexel’s performance has improved on the majority of the classification metrics. The Carnegie Classification validates Drexel’s growing reputation as a global, comprehensive research university.

In 2024, Drexel disclosed 49 new inventions and received 33 new US patents up from 26 in 2023. Total research expenditures continue to increase year over year and total $170.2MM in 2024 up from $169.5 in 2023. Over the past five fiscal years, Drexel's externally sponsored research expenditures have increased 33%.

Read the Office of Research & Innovation's (ORI) 2023-2024 Annual Report for more information.

As a result of recommendations from the Research Administration initiative team, Drexel's Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) was expanded in 2019 to better support Drexel's growing research enterprise. Initiatives include:

• Establishment of dedicated teams to support research development, regulatory affairs and research compliance, sponsored programs, comprehensive technology transfer (Drexel Applied Innovation), and continuous improvement of research business operations and technology.
• Undergoing rigorous review of research business guidelines and processes to ensure transparency to all stakeholders, minimize administrative burden, clearly define roles and responsibilities, and ensure that processes and policies are in alignment with industry standards and federal regulations. In 2024, ORI updated more than 60 existing guidelines or procedures and created more than six new guidelines.
• Replacement of Drexel's research administration software system from COEUS to Novelution, launched in fall 2024.
• Integration of Salus research.

The Office of Research & Innovation is standing up a research development team to help position the institution to increase interdisciplinary and externally funded research and to be more competitive for large and complex awards. This includes refining institutional research strategy, developing research partners, adapting research services and resources, and supporting building research teams. Initiatives include:

• Using data and analytics to drive research strategy.
• Better position the institution with pre-RFP interventions.
• Tailor resources to support team development.
• Proposal development services to improve submission quality.

Drexel University partners with academic, industry, community, and global partners to collaborate on research resulting in real-world implications and innovations.

• Drexel is one of just a small number of research universities endowed by the Coulter Foundation to bring promising biomedical inventions to market through its Coulter-Drexel Translational Research Partnership Program.
• Researchers from  the College of Computing & Informatics are part of a team lead by Parallax Advanced Research Corporation, that also includes Knexus Research Corporation and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit – Dayton, that is working to train and test the artificial intelligence algorithms that will drive the technology.
• Researchers from Drexel were tapped to join an Environmental Protection Agency initiative to eliminate greenhouse gas chemicals called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), commonly used in refrigerants and insulating foams. As part of a federal initiative to address the potent, climate-damaging gasses, Drexel will receive $3.8 million over five years to develop a plasma arc device that can destroy HFCs.

• The Center for Functional Fabrics received $1.5 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to expand it's state-of-the-art prototyping facility to include the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center, which was created to support Drexel’s role as the regional leader of Advanced Functional Fabrics of America’s network of fabric discovery centers. The PA FDC engages, collaborates and innovates with government, companies and entrepreneurs taking advanced-textile ideas from concept to prototype to scalable products. These facilities will also prepare America’s workforce for jobs in this growing sector through education and training.

Drexel University is supporting and recognizing research excellence in an effort to elevate Drexel's reputation and research enterprise. Initiatives include:

• Providing seed funding to support innovative and strategic collaborations that stimulate and support the development of new research projects, the expansion of existing projects, as well as recognition of outstanding research performance. (See Drexel Selects Orthopedic Surgical Device Startup for Innovation Fund Support)
• Establishing internal committees, such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Committee, to engage in activities that support different aspects of the research process, including writing retreats to support grant and publication writing, quarterly social events to support interdisciplinary networking, speaker series to spark dialogue and new research ideas, interdisciplinary meet-ups to support conversations across disciplines that lead to new collaborations, ‘how-to’ grant writing seminars to gain skills in grant submissions, and participate in SIGS (special interest groups) to learn new research methods in partnership with their Drexel colleagues.
• As a means of supporting the ongoing development of our research, scholarship, and creative activities, as well as recognizing excellence in teaching, scholarship, and professional service, the Office of Research & Innovation and the Office of Faculty Advancement manage numerous awards for research, scholarship, creativity, teaching, and professional service. The Office of Graduate Studies also recognizes graduate and professional students for excellence in research, teaching, mentorship, and service.
• Drexel Research Discovery, the University’s research repository, provides access to the research, scholarship and creative work produced by Drexel faculty, professional staff and students — including theses and dissertations, books, journal articles, conference papers, creative works and data sets. In January 2025, Libraries staff added the 100,000th research asset marking the latest milestone in the Libraries’ efforts to provide a comprehensive database of Drexel research and scholarly work.