Iowans are invited to “Dare to Discover” the research, creativity, and innovation the University of Iowa strives to achieve—from the screen of their computer, tablet, or smartphone.

The University of Iowa Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (OVPR&ED) is launching a new gateway website— discover.research.uiowa.edu/—to connect communities close to campus and across the state with outreach, engagement, research, and creative endeavors at the UI.

“We created the ‘Dare to Discover’ website to provide the citizens of Iowa a direct and accessible link to the University of Iowa research enterprise. We view it as a virtual doorway through which educators, students, and community leaders can enter and tap the resources of a major public university,” says Dan Reed, vice president for research and economic development.

“This public portal is part of our broader strategy to forge new partnerships with the people of Iowa. University organizations like the Pentacrest Museums and the Office of the State Archaeologist are eager to engage with the public and share their rich cultural and educational assets with the state,” he adds.

Using the new website, educators and the general public can plan field trips and tours of museums and other units, such as the state archaeological repository, which houses over 4 million objects from Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, Late Prehistoric, and Historic cultures. They can learn about upcoming events happening on campus and around the state, and reserve resources that are available to travel to their communities, including discovery trunks for hands-on lessons about Iowa's natural and cultural history, and speakers for hands-on classroom presentations and community lectures.

The "Dare to Discover" website also offers information about the variety of services that OVPR&ED units provide for communities across the state, such as archaeological fieldwork and analysis, fossil, and artifact identification, public health and environmental services, among many others. The website is a joint project of the Pentacrest Museums, the Office of the State Archaeologist, The Public Policy Center, The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Iowa Centers for Enterprise, and the State Hygienic Laboratory at the UI.

The UI also maintains an Outreach website outreach.uiowa.edu that shows how the university impacts Iowans and is searchable by county, congressional district and other geographic areas.