A group of four people collaborating around a laptop on a table covered with papers.

IE University Research Ecosystem

The researchers, groups, and partnerships behind IE University research.
A busy public space filled with a crowd of people moving in different directions.

IE University's research ecosystem connects faculty working across disciplines, research groups driven by shared questions, alliances that extend the work worldwide, and applied projects where knowledge feeds into practice, challenges it, and at times redirects it.

Research Groups

IE University's research groups bring together faculty and doctoral researchers around shared lines of inquiry, spanning fields from economics and law to environmental technology and artificial intelligence. Each group takes on one of IE University's four research clusters, turning specialized expertise into evidence that shapes real-world decisions and anticipates what comes next.

  • A group of people gathered around a table discussing plans and documents.

    IE Econ & Finance Research Group

    Coordinator: Pedro Gete

    Studies how companies, households, markets, and governments make decisions and behave. Research spans macroeconomics, finance, microeconomics, accounting, real estate, labor relations, and quantitative political science, with sustainability as a key focus.

  • A man sits by a window writing in a notebook.

    IE Group on Non-Economic Drivers of Entrepreneurship

    Coordinator: Julio De Castro

    Examines economic and non-economic factors that influence entrepreneurship and business outcomes, including individual characteristics, group-level dynamics, and environmental and contextual conditions across different geographies and income segments.

  • A person walking through an archive filled with file boxes.

    IE Operations Management Group

    Coordinator: Antti Tenhiälä

    Advances research on digitalization, sustainability, and resilience across industries including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and finance. Uses methods spanning econometrics, simulation, machine learning, and optimization to improve decision-making, in close collaboration with industry partners.

  • A translucent spherical structure composed of interconnected lines and nodes.

    IE Research Group for Innovation, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies

    Coordinator: Álvaro Arenas

    Examines how AI and emerging technologies reshape organizations and society, focusing on digital platforms, technology for social good, and sustainability. Combines statistical analysis, algorithm development, and real-world experiments in close collaboration with industry.

  • A collection of vintage maps spread out on a table, interconnected with pins and strings.

    IE Strategy Group

    Coordinator: Daniel Blake

    Internationally recognized scholars investigating drivers of firm strategy and its role in shaping organizational performance, and social and environmental outcomes. Research covers corporate strategy, innovation and firm growth, platform ecosystems, digital strategy, non-market strategy, and sustainability.

  • A woman is observing data visualizations displayed on large screens in a gallery.

    IE Research Datalab

    Coordinator: David Gómez-Ullate

    Develops mathematical, statistical, and computational methods for data-driven discovery and intelligent decision-making, spanning artificial intelligence, statistics, and optimization. Applies these methods to challenges in health, climate, energy, and complex systems.

  • A grand courtroom featuring tall columns and wooden furniture.

    IE Global Public Law Research Group

    Coordinator: Fernando Pastor-Merchante

    Examines how public law confronts and evolves in response to major societal challenges including AI, digitalization, climate change, rising inequality, and geopolitical shifts. Emphasizes the role of law in safeguarding democracy, human rights, and the rule of law at the international, European, and national levels.

  • A man and a woman shake hands across a wooden table in a well-lit room.

    IE Private Law and Market Regulation Research Group

    Coordinator: Francisco de Elizalde

    Explores the role of law as a driver of innovation and justice in global and digital markets. Research covers contract, tort, property, corporate, labor, competition law, and economic regulation, examining how law responds to economic, technological, and social transformations.

  • A row of solar panels reflecting sunlight in a serene landscape during sunset.

    IE Environmental Technology Group

    Coordinator: Irene Sánchez-Andrea

    Develops science-based solutions to environmental challenges through an interdisciplinary approach spanning microbiology, biotechnology, biogeochemistry, environmental engineering, and remote sensing. Research advances resource recovery, water security, carbon management, and clean technologies.

  • A woman carefully examines a small plant while using tweezers.

    IE Intelligent Systems Group

    Coordinator: Eduardo Castelló Ferrer

    Brings together researchers across artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and scientific computing. Work spans human-computer interaction, cryptography, computational biology, and neuroscience, with a focus on building interpretable systems that promote transparency and trust.

  • A robotic arm is working on a green circuit board surrounded by various tools and components.

    IE Transformation by Design Group

    Coordinator: Laura Martínez de Guereñu

    Investigates how design across the built, visual, and material realms drives transformation, spanning adaptive practices, ecological systems, and material cycles. Brings together diverse perspectives to advance inclusive, sustainable, and regenerative design.

  • A woman is speaking confidently in front of an audience in a modern office setting.

    IE Research Group on Political Science and International Relations

    Coordinator: Catherine De Vries

    Brings together scholars from political science, international relations, law, and economics to examine how democratic institutions remain resilient amid geopolitical fragmentation and technological disruption. Develops evidence-based insights to strengthen governance worldwide.

Research Faculty

IE University's research faculty are intellectual entrepreneurs, scholars who advise institutions, inform policy, and turn today's knowledge into tomorrow's decisions.

Partnerships & Alliances

IE University's research alliances bring cross-border collaboration, shared infrastructure, and multi-institutional projects into its research ecosystem, producing outcomes governments, industry, and institutions can act on.

Featured Research Reports

Applied Research

Applied research at IE University covers externally funded work carried out with companies, private foundations, and public bodies, including Horizon Europe and national agencies. The mission is to match faculty interests with funding opportunities, coordinate compliance, and connect IE with the global innovation ecosystem. Affiliated centers and hubs operate at the boundary between research and application.

  • For Researchers

    Financial support, access to hard-to-obtain data, and alignment of research projects with business and societal needs.

  • For Partners

    Access to faculty expertise, research-based co-branding, and connections with an international network of professionals and institutions.

This image features the logo of IE University and IEX Labs.

Meet more labs at IE!

IEX LABS is reinventing a new, rigorous, entrepreneurially-driven polytechnic for learning and research.

Research Ethics & Governance

IE University's research adheres to European regulatory frameworks and institutional policies, covering research integrity, ethics, open access, data protection, and governance.

  • A diverse group of people posing together in a professional setting.
  • A motivational phrase encouraging individuals to empower their entrepreneurial spirit.
  • A motivational quote encouraging innovation with a proactive mindset.
  • A message emphasizing the importance of cherishing diversity in people, mind, and experience.
  • This image features a motivational phrase emphasizing a humanistic approach in a stylish font.