July 30, 2007

Contact: Jana Smith
405.744.5827
jana.smith@okstate.edu 

STATE of Research 2007:
OSU growing a national, competitive research program

Stillwater , Okla . — Reporting on the "state of research" at the July meeting of the Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stephen W.S. McKeever, vice president for research and technology transfer, said significant progress in research at Oklahoma State University is the result of new initiatives and long-term investments made since he took over as head of research in 2003.

When compared to other Big 12 university research programs in 2004, OSU ranked higher than only two other universities. In a comparison of national research expenditures from 1998 to 2006, OSU didn't fare that well either. So what's changed? According to McKeever, the following initiatives have been introduced:

• Investments in research that include: (1) Increased start-up; (2) VPR Initiative Fund; (3) Core Facilities Fund; (4) Renovation Fund; and (5) Cost Share.


• A stronger VPRTT staff devoted to the cause in their specialized areas of expertise: an associate vice president and dean of the OSU Graduate College; a new assistant vice president for Research Support Services; and a new assistant vice president for Intellectual Property Management.


• OSU expects a new $70M Interdisciplinary Science Research Building to attract the best and brightest research faculty to campus to work hand-in-hand in biodiversity, biophysics, photonics and synthetic chemistry. The university broke ground this past week on the new building.


• A Sensor Testing Center known as the University Multispectral Lab with facilities in Ponca City and Stillwater will attract federal dollars to OSU, the region and the state. As of this date, $10M has been raised for the UML.


• The completion of the OSU-Tulsa Helmerich Advanced Technology Research Center in November 2007 will aid Vision Tulsa in building a technology-based economy and attract the highest-quality research faculty working in advanced materials-aerospace, biomedical and nanomaterials.


• At the OSU/Noble Foundation in Ardmore, a new Experiment Station, forage improvement and research in biofuels will add yet another dimension to the research capabilities of the university.


• Tuition programs, stipends and fellowships are attracting graduate students to the OSU Graduate College. The new programs attract better students which lead to better faculty and more research.

The Intellectual Property Management staff which includes a director, licensing & legal experts is focused on creating opportunities for faculty and the university. They have initiated a Technology Business Assessment Group to select and fund faculty research projects with commercial potential and those that need a boost with "gap funding." Other activities include a new start-up company incentive program; more disclosures, patents and licenses than ever before; royalties which now exceed $1M annually; and more start-up companies as a result of these activities.

A new Graduate and Research Development Office now plays an important role in fund raising for research. The office has secured future funding for the Niblack Scholarship Program for undergraduate students at OSU. Private funds totaling $4M and a new building, plus an additional $5.4M has been secured for the UML/Sensor Testing Center. Specialized equipment valued at $250,000 can be added to list of gifts. Other fund-raising priorities include graduate student stipends/fellowships; gap funding; new research buildings; and chairs and professorships.

A new position of grant writing specialist has been created and a new Grant Writing Assistance Program for faculty has been developed in an effort to increase the number of grant applications and winning grants. Workshops and seminars are held on campus to encourage faculty participation.

New marketing efforts include both conventional and non-conventional approaches to market research activities on and off campus. New research marketing materials, outreach activities to internal and external stakeholders and electronic, print and broadcast media are changing the perception of OSU research.

What began as an outreach activity in 2004 has grown into a major research event for the university. Research Week promotes OSU research university and statewide and attracts the highest level speakers from around the world. The event focuses on the accomplishments of OSU research faculty and raises awareness on campus, in the community and state.

A number of new centers have opened on campus. Each of these centers has evolved from specialized research areas-areas where OSU researchers excel: Disasters and Extreme Events; Center for Telecommunication and Network Security; Dynamic Ecosystem Biodiversity Observatory; Bioforensics; and Ethics.

The Restore, Reward & Grow Program is essential to the future growth and reputation of OSU research. Attracting and retaining high-quality faculty will lead to the overall success of university research programs. The program will allow OSU to add new positions with a research/scholarship emphasis and initiate cluster hires in areas of strategic importance for Oklahoma and the nation. These efforts are supported by the recent creation of research professor titles.

An incentive program established to increase National Science Foundation funding on campus opens the door to added opportunity for research faculty. NSF funding figures play an important role in university research standings.

The Return on this Investment: As a result of these investments and activities, 2007 Research Awards are up by almost 50%. And, it is anticipated that OSU Research Expenditures will be up in 2007 by $30M.

What is the impact on undergraduate students? In the last four years, OSU has had 16 National Scholarship winners (Goldwater, Truman, Rhodes, etc.) All did research at OSU as an undergraduate.

What is the impact on graduate students? Before the new stipend/tuition program only 55% of first-choice offers accepted positions at OSU. After the tuition/stipend program, 85% of first-choice offers were accepted. Quality is clearly increasing.

Investment Pays Off: Sensor Research at OSU
OSU received $19M from OSRHE over four years. These funds were expended on construction (renovations, new construction); start-up funding for new faculty hires; and shared major equipment. OSU leveraged the OSRHE investment and received $74.70M external funding over the same period in these research areas. To date, the return-on-investment is 3.9 to 1.

There has been an increase in innovation through inventions and commercialization as a result of this investment. The National Sensor Testing Facility in Ponca City and Stillwater (University Multispectral Laboratories or UML) will attract additional federal dollars to the university, region and state. The UML at Ponca City has received $27.9M IDIQ Federal (DOD & DHS) contract of which $7.95M has been received in Year 1. In addition, it has received $4M in cash gifts; approximately $6M in In-Kind gifts; and $6.6M in state appropriations for infrastructure improvement.

OSU has the highest concentration of Biosafety Labs in Oklahoma (13) and state-of-the-art labs located in Venture I at the Oklahoma Technology & Research Park. OSRHE funds supported 21 new faculty in physics, microbiology, electrical engineering and chemical engineering. The National Institutes of Health awarded up to $40M task funding to the College of Veterinary Medicine as a result of these world-class facilities (approximately $8M to date).

As a result of the Restore, Reward & Grow Program, 72 of 200 positions have been filled. Estimates of the anticipated average external award for the new faculty indicate that there will be a Return on Investment of 2.4 (3.6 if we use FY07 figures) for this initiative.

Future investment is needed if OSU is to increase the number of faculty. OSU's plan is to continue Restore, Reward, Grow; increase size of start-up offers; build more state-of-the-art facilities; increase graduate student stipends; attract more and better graduate students; and attract more postdoctoral research students.

Bottomline: Investment in research pays off-educationally for students, financially for the university and economically for the state.

Oklahoma State University—an active 100M+ research university located in Stillwater, Oklahoma—is home to more than 500 researchers working in the fields of biotechnology, energy, nanotechnology, sensors and more to develop innovative solutions for application and commercialization in the global marketplace. For more information about OSU's research programs, visit www.vpr.okstate.edu/researchcentral.