Students studying at the Marsh Institute

Research at Clark

Research has been a central component of Clark's mission since its founding in 1887 as the first all-graduate institution in the United States. Today, as Clark scholars continue to challenge convention through intellectual innovation, their research also bridges the divide between knowledge and practice. Clark's research institutes and centers build on a foundation of interdisciplinary scholarship, with faculty and students working across boundaries to develop innovative solutions to a wide range of contemporary challenges.


Transformative Research

A tradition of challenging convention

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Mass., Clark University has a tradition of challenging convention in the quest for new knowledge. Clark has been home to Albert A. Michelson, the first American to win a Nobel Prize in Science; to Robert Goddard, the father of the space age; psychologist G. Stanley Hall, who first developed the concept of adolescence; and George H. Blakeslee, who established the field of international relations. Clark continues this legacy today as a pioneer in the development and use of GIS and remote sensing tools for the analysis of and response to climate change effects, among other areas of transformative research.

Linking research with action

In addition to a spirit of intellectual innovation, Clark researchers have had a longstanding commitment to linking transformative research to the world of action. Known as use-inspired research, such work aims to blend basic research and application. The Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise, Clark University's newest research institute, has at the core of its mission developing a model of research that maximizes the application of the work for user-communities. Clark's involvement with the aids2031 project embodies Clark's tradition of focusing its research profile on innovative solutions to the world's most pressing social concerns.

Research in a liberal arts setting

As a liberal arts-based research university with approximately 2,200 undergraduate and 800 graduate students, Clark University provides an environment that allows new and bold ideas to flourish. Clark's distinctive focus on liberal education within the context of a research university provides opportunities for linkages between research and inquiry-based learning that can be lost in other kinds of institutions. Clark's flexibility fosters opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, which is another longstanding Clark tradition and also critical to addressing complex problems. Clark University is poised to address the challenges facing today's world, challenges that require the groundbreaking ideas behind transformative research and effective implementation through use-inspired frameworks.