{{short description|Establishment endowed for doing research}} [[File:Researcher at work in her laboratory.jpg|thumb|Researcher working in a laboratory]] A '''research institute''', '''research centre''', or '''research organization''' is an establishment founded for doing [[research]]. Research institutes may specialize in [[basic research]] or may be oriented to [[applied research]]. Although the term often implies [[natural science]] research, there are also many research institutes in the [[social science]] as well, especially for [[sociology|sociological]] and [[history|historical]] research purposes.
== Famous research institutes == In the early medieval period, several astronomical observatories were built in the Islamic world. The first of these was the 9th-century [[Baghdad]] observatory built during the time of the [[Abbasid]] caliph [[al-Ma'mun]], though the most famous were the 13th-century [[Maragheh observatory]], and the 15th-century [[Ulugh Beg Observatory]].<ref>E. S. Kennedy (1962), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/228039 Reviewed Work: ''The Observatory in Islam and Its Place in the General History of the Observatory''] by [[Aydin Sayili]], ''[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]'' '''53''' (2): 237–239.{{doi|10.1086/349558}}</ref>
The [[Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics]] was a school of mathematics and astronomy founded by [[Madhava of Sangamagrama]] in [[Kerala]], [[India]]. The school flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries, and the original discoveries of the school seem to have ended with [[Narayana Bhattathiri]] (1559–1632). In attempting to solve astronomical problems, the Kerala school independently discovered a number of important mathematical concepts.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
The earliest research institute in Europe was [[Tycho Brahe]]'s [[Uraniborg]] complex on the island of [[Hven]], a 16th-century [[Astronomy|astronomical]] laboratory set up to make highly accurate measurements of the stars.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}} The oldest research institute in Asia,{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}} the [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]], was founded in 1876.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biographical Memoirs :: MEGHNAD SAHA |url=http://www.saha.ac.in/web/founder/founder-life-works?showall=&start=10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009093311/http://www.saha.ac.in/web/founder/founder-life-works?showall=&start=10 |archive-date=9 October 2017 |access-date=23 February 2026}}</ref>
[[Thomas Edison]], dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park",<ref name="Wizard">{{cite web |url=http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/edison.html |title=The Wizard of Menlo Park |work=The Franklin Institute |access-date=24 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305131049/http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/edison.html |archive-date=5 March 2013 }}</ref> was one of the first [[inventors]] to apply the principles of [[mass production]] and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention in the late 1800s, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.<ref name="Walsh">{{cite news|last=Walsh|first= Bryan|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1910417_1910419_1910460,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718030306/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1910417_1910419_1910460,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2009 |title=The Electrifying Edison |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=15 July 2009 |access-date=31 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/upload/TWHP-Lessons_25edison.pdf |title=Teaching with Historic Places - The Invention Factory: Thomas Edison's Laboratories |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250205130006/https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/upload/TWHP-Lessons_25edison.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In the [[United States]] there are numerous notable research institutes including [[Bell Labs]], [[Xerox Parc]], [[The Scripps Research Institute]],<ref>[http://www.scripps.edu/e_index.html The Scripps Research Institute] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020914202346/http://www.scripps.edu/e_index.html |date=2002-09-14 }}</ref> [[Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology|Beckman Institute]], [[RTI International]], and [[SRI International]]. [[Hughes Aircraft]] used a research institute structure for its organizational model.<ref>Hughes After Howard, Kenneth Richardson, 2011, pg88, {{ISBN|978-0-9708050-8-9}}</ref>
== Research institutes in Europe == From the throes of the [[Scientific Revolution]] came the 17th-century scientific academy. In London, the [[Royal Society]] was founded in 1660, and in France, [[Louis XIV]] founded the [[French Academy of Sciences|Académie royale des sciences]] in 1666, which came after private academic assemblies had been created earlier in the seventeenth century to foster research.
In the early 18th century, [[Peter the Great]] established an educational-research institute to be built in his newly created imperial capital, [[St Petersburg]]. His plan combined provisions for linguistic, philosophical, and scientific instruction with a separate academy in which graduates could pursue further scientific research. It was the first institution of its kind in Europe to conduct scientific research within the structure of a university. The St Petersburg Academy was established by decree on 28 January 1724.<ref>History of Universities: 1994, Volume 13, Peter Denley, Oxford University Press.1995, p142 {{ISBN|978-0-19-820531-9}}</ref>
At the European level, there are now several government-funded institutions such as the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA), the nuclear research centre [[CERN]], the [[European Southern Observatory]] (ESO) (Grenoble), the [[European Synchrotron Radiation Facility]] (ESRF) (Grenoble), [[EUMETSAT]], the Italian-European Sistema Trieste with, among others, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics and the research complex Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, the biology project EMBL, and the fusion project [[ITER]] which in addition to technical developments has a strong research focus.
== Scientific research in the 20th century United States == {{see also|Research I university}} Research institutes came to emerge at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1900, at least in Europe and the United States, the scientific profession had only evolved so far as to include the theoretical implications of science and not its application. Research scientists had yet to establish a leadership in expertise. Outside scientific circles, it was generally assumed that a person in an occupation related to the sciences carried out work which was necessarily "scientific" and that the skill of the scientist did not hold any more merit than the skill of a labourer. A philosophical position on science was not thought by all researchers to be intellectually superior to applied methods. However, any research on scientific application was limited by comparison. A loose definition attributed all naturally occurring phenomena to "science". The growth of scientific study stimulated a desire to reinvigorate the scientific discipline by robust research in order to extract [[Basic research|"pure" science]] from such broad categorisation.<ref name="Ida">{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/scienceinamerica00rein | url-access = registration | page = [https://archive.org/details/scienceinamerica00rein/page/221 221] | title = Science in America, a documentary history, 1900–1939| series =The Chicago History of Science and Medicine | first = Ida H. | last = Reingold | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1981 | isbn = 978-0-226-70946-8}}</ref>{{copyedit inline|date=February 2026}}
=== 1900–1939 === This began with research conducted autonomously away from public utility and governmental supervision. Enclaves for industrial investigations became established. These included the [[Rockefeller University|Rockefeller Institute]], [[Carnegie Institution of Washington]], and the [[Institute for Advanced Study]]. Research was advanced in both theory and application. This was aided by substantial private donation.<ref name="Ida"/>
=== 1940 onward === As of 2006, there were over 14,000 research centres in the United States.<ref>Evaluating Research Centers and Institutes for Success: A Manual and Guide with Case Studies William R. Tash WT & Associates, 2006. 229 pages</ref>
The expansion of universities into the faculty of research fed into these developments as mass education produced mass [[scientific communities]]. A growing public consciousness of scientific research brought public perception to the fore in driving specific research developments. After the [[Second World War]] and the [[atom bomb]] specific research threads were followed: [[environmental pollution]] and [[National security|national defence]].<ref name="Ida"/>{{failed verification|date=February 2026}}
==Notable research centres==
=== Australia ===
* [[CSIRO|Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=TOP 60 NON-PROFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES GRANTED U.S. UTILITY PATENTS |url=https://academyofinventors.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Top-60-Non-Profit-Research-Institutions-and-Government-Agencies-List.pdf |website=National Academy of Inventors}}</ref>
=== Belgium ===
* [[IMEC|Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre]]<ref name=":0" />
=== Canada ===
* [[National Research Council Canada]]<ref name=":0" />
=== China ===
* [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]<ref name=":0" />
=== France ===
* [[French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[French National Centre for Scientific Research]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Inserm|Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale]]<ref name=":0" />
=== Germany === *[[Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft|Fraunhofer Society]] *[[Helmholtz Association]] *[[Max Planck Society]]
=== Hong Kong ===
* [[Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute]]'''<ref name=":0" />''' * Nano and Advanced Materials Institute Limited'''<ref name=":0" />'''
=== Hungary === *[[Biological Research Centre (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)|Biological Research Centre]]
=== India === *[[Bose Institute]] *[[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] *[[Indian Council of Medical Research]] *[[South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies]]{{Importance inline|date=February 2026}} *[[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]]
=== Italy === *[[International Centre for Theoretical Physics|Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics]]
=== Japan ===
* [[National Institute for Materials Science]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Riken]]
=== Luxembourg ===
* [[Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology]]<ref name=":0" />
=== Netherlands ===
* [[Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica]]
*[[Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research]]<ref name=":0" />
=== Russia ===
* [[Russian Academy of Sciences]]
=== South Korea ===
* [[Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute]]<ref name=":0" /> * Korea Electronics Technology Institute<ref name=":0" /> * [[Korea Institute of Science and Technology]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology]]<ref name=":0" />
=== Sri Lanka ===
* [[Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology]]
=== Taiwan ===
* [[Academia Sinica|Academica Sinica]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Industrial Technology Research Institute]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Institute for Information Industry]]<ref name=":0" />
=== United Kingdom ===
* [[Francis Crick Institute|European Bioinformatics Institute]] * [[Francis Crick Institute]]
=== United States === *[[American Institutes for Research]] *[[Ames Research Center]] *[[Argonne National Laboratory]] *[[Bell Labs]] *[[Broad Institute|Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[Carnegie Institution for Science]] *[[Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering]]{{Importance inline|date=February 2026}} *[[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]] *[[Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[Institute for Advanced Study]] *[[Marine Sciences Research Center]]{{Importance inline|date=February 2026}} *[[Mayo Clinic]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center|Memorial Sloan Kettering Center Center]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[New York Genome Center]] *[[Palo Alto Research Center]] *[[Pennington Biomedical Research Center]] *[[Rockefeller University|Rockefeller Institute]] *[[RTI International]], also known as Research Triangle Institute<ref name=":0" /> *[[Salk Institute for Biological Studies]] *[[Scripps Research]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[Southwest Research Institute]]<ref name=":0" /> *[[SRI International]], known as Stanford Research Institute until 1977 *[[Thomas J. Watson Research Center]]
==See also== *[[Think tank]] *[[European Survey Research Association]] *[[London Research Institute]] *[[Research funding]] *[[Contract research organization]] *[[Research Organization Registry]]
== Footnotes == {{reflist|group=}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Research Institute}} [[Category:Institutes|*]] [[Category:Research institutes| ]] [[Category:Arab inventions]]