In 1996, Georgia State University earned a prestigious R1 designation by the Carnegie Foundation. Joining this elite category, reserved for the nation’s top research institutions, was a remarkable achievement.

From there, the doors opened to possibility — and we’ve never looked back.

Since 1996, our research expenditures have increased tenfold, from less than $20 million to $200 million. In 2022, university faculty earned $164.2 million in research funding — the highest total in university history and more than double the amount earned as recently as 2013. Thirty-nine investigators were awarded $1 million or more.

Our metamorphosis isn’t just about metrics. We’re home to world-class research facilities, including one of a few bio-safety level 4 labs in a university setting, dozens of collaborative research centers and numerous institutes focused on disciplines that range from neuroimaging to data science and health policy. Each day, our scientists are making life- and world-changing discoveries.

Now as we celebrate the 25^th anniversary of earning our R1 status, we’re proud to say Georgia State has risen as a dynamic research institution and earned a competitive seat among the country’s best.

Few institutions have come so far, so fast. How did we do it?

• Visionary leaders who compelled the research community to invest in Georgia State’s potential.
• Strategic investment in a research infrastructure with innovative centers and advanced labs.
• Recruitment of renowned faculty to take the helm, advancing new ideas and bringing about record-setting research funding and expenditures for the university.

Our efforts are a testament to the power of human ingenuity and imagination — proof of what we can do when we put our minds together and are determined to find a brighter future for ourselves. It’s the way Georgia State has approached everything over more than a century of operation.

It’s #THESTATEWAY^®