At Indiana Wesleyan University, research is more than the pursuit of knowledge. It is an act of faithful inquiry. Because we believe all truth is God’s truth, our faculty and students pursue discovery to better understand His creation, cultivate wisdom, address meaningful questions, and contribute to human flourishing.
Across the sciences, humanities, arts, education, business, health, and other disciplines, IWU researchers combine rigorous scholarship with a distinctly Christ-centered understanding of why knowledge matters: to serve others, strengthen communities, steward creation, and participate in Christ’s redemptive work in the world.
Research at IWU is growing across disciplines through the work of faculty scholars, student researchers, community partners, and external collaborators.
175+
Scholarly works published by faculty
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Books authored by faculty
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Grants and external funding
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At IWU, students don’t have to wait until graduate school to participate in meaningful research.
Undergraduate students work alongside faculty mentors to design experiments, gather and analyze evidence, contribute to scholarly work, present findings, and explore questions with real-world significance. That close faculty-student partnership gives students something that can be difficult to find at much larger research institutions: meaningful access to the people actually conducting the research.
From studying the human brain and protecting native pollinators to exploring nuclear physics, artistic innovation, leadership, and ethical uses of artificial intelligence, students are active participants in discovery.
Research isn’t something students simply learn about at IWU. They help do it.
Research at IWU reaches far beyond the laboratory. Our faculty and students pursue questions across disciplines, bringing rigorous inquiry, creativity, and Christian faith into conversation.
Explore research in neuroscience, biology, chemistry, environmental science, physics, and other fields that deepen our understanding of God’s creation.
Discover research addressing human behavior, wellness, addiction recovery, food insecurity, community development, and other challenges affecting people and communities.
See how scholarship and creative inquiry illuminate history, culture, theology, literature, art, design, and the relationship between faith and human creativity.
Explore scholarship examining leadership, organizations, education, artificial intelligence, ethics, and how emerging ideas and technologies can be used responsibly in service to others.
Some of the most important learning at IWU happens when students move from studying what others have discovered to asking questions of their own.
Working closely with faculty mentors, undergraduate researchers develop skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, experimentation, analysis, collaboration, and communication. They also gain the confidence to see themselves as scholars capable of contributing to their disciplines.
IWU students conduct research on campus and through collaborations beyond the university, present their work at scholarly conferences, contribute to peer-reviewed publications, and pursue advanced study and research careers after graduation.
At Indiana Wesleyan University, faith does not sit outside the research process. It gives our pursuit of knowledge greater purpose.
We believe all truth is God’s truth. Whether examining the smallest components of an atom, studying the complexity of the human mind, creating a work of art, or seeking solutions to challenges facing communities, research gives us another way to encounter and understand the world God has made.
That conviction calls IWU researchers to pursue truth with humility and intellectual rigor, to ask difficult questions, to conduct scholarship with integrity, and to consider how what we discover can be used for the good of others.
Research, then, is not simply an academic exercise. It can be an act of worship—one that seeks truth, cultivates wisdom, stewards God’s creation, and ultimately points beyond knowledge itself to Jesus Christ, who is the Truth.
Discovery matters most when it moves beyond ourselves.
IWU faculty and students use research to address real needs, strengthen communities, inform professional practice, and contribute to conversations far beyond campus. Their work is helping protect pollinators, increase access to fresh food, understand addiction and recovery, advance nuclear science, explore the ethical use of artificial intelligence, and rethink how organizations understand leadership.
Through these efforts, scholarship becomes service—and knowledge becomes another way IWU fulfills its mission of developing students in character, scholarship, and leadership to change the world.
Protecting Our Environment
Strengthening Communities
Advancing Discovery
Shaping the Future
Behind every discovery is a question—and behind every statistic is a story.
Meet the faculty and students pursuing those questions and discover how research at IWU is expanding knowledge, shaping students, strengthening communities, and serving Christ’s Kingdom. Explore All Research Stories
An IWU professor leads research on the ethical use of AI in higher education, exploring how tools like large language models can enhance learning while preserving human responsibility. Through collaborative, faith-informed scholarship, students and professionals are equipped to use emerging technologies with wisdom, integrity, and purpose.
At IWU, students learn that followership is an active, Christ-centered practice that strengthens leadership through responsibility, courage, and service. Through research-driven learning and real-world application, they are equipped to influence organizations with integrity, humility, and purpose.
An IWU study found that reducing social media and replacing it with prayer improves anxiety, self-control, and spiritual clarity among students. Through student-led research, the project highlights how intentional habits can foster deeper faith and healthier mental well-being.
At IWU, we ask questions because truth matters. We pursue answers because knowledge carries responsibility. And we put discovery to work because scholarship can serve people, strengthen communities, steward God’s creation, and glorify Christ.
Read Research With Purpose
