The Institute of Advanced Research (IAR) is an innovative modern university, which offers professionally focused undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree programs. IAR was established in 2006 with the support of the President of India Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, who inaugurated the Institute, and the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The University is financially supported by the Puri Foundation for Education in India, established by Professor Nathu Ram Puri, who is a leading industrialist in the UK with manufacturing and other businesses worldwide. The University is a not-for-profit institution and its sole purpose is to promote world-leading education, research, and innovation for young people nationally and internationally.

The Institute is well respected for its high quality of research nationally and internationally with the research being published in top international journals.

IAR was awarded the university status under the Gujarat Private Universities Amendment Act, 2011.

The University commenced offering educational programs in 2014 and currently has around 500 students in several undergraduate, masters and research degree programs.

The university aspires to be the leading university in the private higher education sector nationally with a strong international presence and with a focus on quality rather than scale.