Summary
Research Intelligence is the University Intelligence tab that answers "where do we actually stand?" Where Faculty Engagement tells you who to contact this week, this tab shows your institution's research position: top-line indicators, a ranked comparison against a peer set you control, how your profile is shaped against those peers, who's climbing, where your research is concentrated, and who your people collaborate with.
The header states your position immediately: your rank within the peer set, your percentile, and which peer set you're being measured against.
When to use
Before a board meeting or a briefing, to get your position and a sentence you can paste
During strategic planning, to see which research areas are growing and which are fading
When you are asked how you compare, to answer with a ranked cohort rather than an impression
When choosing who to benchmark against, to build and refine your peer set
Before a partnership conversation, to see which companies your faculty already co-author with
Before you begin
Complete the University Intelligence setup first: your workspace must have University Intelligence enabled and your institution must be identified.
Choose your peer set. Every rank, percentile, and comparison on this tab is calculated against it. New accounts start on R1 Public, a preset of large public research universities in the US; use the peer chip in the filter row to choose your own group.
Set your time window and topic scope. Both reshape what this tab shows.
Step-by-step instructions
1. Open the Research Intelligence tab.
Select Research Intelligence in the University Intelligence tab row.
Result: The header shows Your rank as a position within the peer set, your percentile, and the peer set's name (labeled Cohort in the header). Hover the percentile to see exactly how it was calculated for your current window and topic scope.
2. Read the top-line indicators.
Three cards sit below the header: Research works, Active authors, and Industry co-auths (industry co-authorships). Each shows the value for your selected window, the change against the previous period with an up or down arrow, your percentile against the peer set, and a small trend line.
Result: Each card names the window it covers, so a number here always tells you which period produced it.
3. Work the ranked table.
The full ranked cohort lists every institution in your peer set. Switch the ranking metric with the sort tabs (Research Works, Active Authors, or Industry Co-auth) and read across the Institution, Works, Authors, and Trend columns. Each row carries its own trend line.
Result: Your own institution is marked in the list. Selecting any row opens a detail panel for that peer.
4. Compare your profile shape on the radar.
Radar: your shape vs. cohort plots four dimensions: Works, Authors, Industry, and Citations. Your institution is drawn in the brand color and on top. Below the chart, select up to three peers to overlay. Hover a point to see the raw figure behind it.
Result: You can see at a glance whether you're broad across all four dimensions or strong in one and thin in another.
5. See who is climbing.
The slope chart shows each institution's rank at the start of a period against its rank now. Use the year selector (2y, 3y, 5y, 8y, or 10y) to change the span. Selecting any institution opens its detail panel.
Result: Lines rising toward the present are institutions gaining ground. When the span includes the current year, a footnote tells you that position is an early read built on a partial year.
6. See cohort output layered over time.
Cohort output, layered stacks each peer's annual research output across the span you choose. It shows the leading institutions plus your own, so you always have a reference point even if you sit outside the top of the group. Hover a year to inspect it, or use the Drill into chips below the chart.
Result: The same partial-year footnote appears here, telling you roughly how much of the current year has been indexed, so the final band's dip isn't mistaken for a decline.
7. See how the cohort is composed.
Cohort by output tier splits your peer set into 2k+ works (powerhouse), 1k–2k works (mid-major), and <1k works (focused). Selecting a slice lists every institution in that tier. Below the donut, your own year-over-year change is called out.
Result: You can tell whether you're ranked low because the group is genuinely larger, or because you're being compared against a band you don't belong in.
8. Explore collaboration.
Two panels sit side by side. Who works with whom maps co-authorship inside your institution: the clusters, the bridges, and the people who connect departments. Industry partners shows the companies your faculty co-author with as a bubble chart, sized by how much you collaborate and grouped by sector.
Result: Both follow your active window, so a quiet window produces a sparse map rather than a wrong one.
9. Draft a board-deck sentence.
Board-deck sentence produces one paste-ready summary of your current position. Pick a tone (Executive, Casual, or Detailed) and the sentence rewrites for it. Use Copy to take it, or Regenerate for a fresh draft.
Result: The sentence writes itself into place as it's generated; a Drafting… indicator shows while it's still being written. This sentence is drafted by AI from your dashboard data. Read it before putting it in front of anyone, and check the figures against the cards above, because you're the one presenting it.
10. Review your research topic portfolio.
Research topic portfolio sorts your research areas into Strategic, Steady, Emerging, Declining, and Opportunity, so you can see where output is concentrated and what's moving.
Result: This is the fastest way to find an area worth investing in, or one quietly fading.
11. Open the Patents lens.
The Patents card near the top of the tab opens your institution's patents. It isn't in the tab row.
Result: The Patents page opens with a back button that returns you here.
Tips
Your peer set is the most consequential control on this tab. Every rank, percentile, and comparison recalculates against it. If a number looks wrong, check which peer set you're in before anything else.
The percentile explains itself. Hover it in the header to see how it was calculated for your current window, peer set, and topic scope.
The radar is about shape, not size. Its value is the silhouette: whether you're even across the four dimensions or spiky. Hover any point for the raw number behind it.
Use the tier donut before you argue about rank. Knowing whether your peer set is mostly larger institutions changes what your position actually means.
Narrow the topic scope to compare within a field. The whole tab re-ranks, which is how you answer "where do we stand in this specific area?" rather than overall.
The year selectors are independent. The slope chart and the layered output chart each carry their own span, separate from the window in the filter row, because both work in whole years.
Common issues
Your rank changed but nothing about your institution did.
Almost always the peer set or the scope moved. Adding or removing peers re-ranks everyone, and so does changing the window or the topic scope. Small peer sets are especially sensitive: in a set of eight, one institution's good year can move you a place.
The most recent year looks like a decline.
The current calendar year is always partial; only the months indexed so far are counted. The slope chart and the layered output chart say so in a footnote beneath them. Treat the newest point as an early read, not a final figure.
"No active authors in this window" or "No co-authorship clusters yet in this window"
There isn't enough activity in the selected window to draw a network. Widen the window, or clear a narrow topic scope.
"Couldn't load top-line KPIs. Try refreshing the page."
The indicator data failed to load. Refresh the page. If it keeps happening, contact support.
"Couldn't generate the board-deck sentence."
The summary couldn't be drafted. Use Regenerate, or change the tone to trigger a fresh attempt. The rest of the tab is unaffected.
A topic is marked as outside your topic scope.
You're looking at something excluded by your active scope. Clear or widen the scope from the filter row to bring it back in.
There is no grant or funding comparison.
Funding comparisons are currently switched off across University Intelligence. See the FAQ below.
Frequently asked questions
What does the percentile actually mean?
It's your position within your selected peer set on the ranking metric, recalculated for your active window and topic scope. Hover it in the header for the full explanation, including your rank and the size of your peer set.
Is the board-deck sentence written by AI?
Yes. It's generated from your dashboard data by an AI model, which is why you can change its tone and regenerate it. Read it and check its figures before using it in a briefing; it's a first draft, not an approved statement.
Why can't I compare grant funding against peers?
Grant dollar comparisons are currently unavailable across University Intelligence while the underlying data is reviewed for accuracy. That's also why funding doesn't appear as a ranking metric, a table column, or a radar dimension. The tab compares publications, authors, industry collaboration, and citations instead.
Can I compare against more than three peers on the radar?
Not on the radar. Three overlays plus your own institution is the readable limit. Use the ranked table and the layered output chart to see your whole peer set at once.
Where are patents?
Patents have their own lens, reached from the Patents card on this tab rather than from the tab row. There's a back button to return.
Does this tab show the same numbers as Faculty Engagement?
They draw on the same underlying research data and respect the same filters, but they answer different questions. This tab compares your institution against others; Faculty Engagement shows individual faculty activity you can act on.
Why is my institution missing from a chart?
Check that an institution is set in the filter row and that a peer set is applied. Charts that rank you against a peer set need both before they can place you.