The University of Minnesota has proved itself to be a formidable research institution.

According to Shanghai University’s Top 500 World Universities rankings, the U finished 28th, as measured by several indicators of academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, articles published in Nature and Science, articles indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.

Last year, the school attracted $675 million in sponsored awards, a 8.3 percent increase from 2006. The National Science Foundation ranks the U 14th out of 672 academic institutions in terms of total research and development expenditures in engineering and science. The U spent $624 million in 2007, a 4.8 increase from the previous year.

But the U’s sources of R&D funding are tenuous at best. Federally funded academic R&D expenditures rose just 1.1 percent to $30.4 billion in 2007; adjusting for inflation, expenditures fell 1.6 percent from 2006, which follows a 0.2 percent decline in 2005, according to NSF data, which calls the two year decline “unprecedented for this data series, which began in 1971.”

The federal goverment still remains the largest source of university R&D funds but its share has dropped to 62 percent last year from 64 percent in 2005.

What about the state? With the Minnesota facing a $5 billion budget deficit, it’s unlikely that the U can count on a big capital infusion from local taxpayers anytime soon.

In October, the U finalized its budget request that included a $141 million increase over two years to the nearly $1.5 billion the state currently gives. It also called for raising tuition by 9 percent and faculty and staff pay by 6 percent over the same period. But even President Robert Bruininks acknowledged it could be a tough sell.

Perhaps that’s why Bruininks’ name recently appeared on an open letter to President-Elect Obama, urging him to devote $40 billion to $45 billion, or five percent of an expected economic stimulus package, towards university facilities. The letter appeared as two full page ads in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Boston Globe last week.

Vice president of research Tim Mulcahy has beefed up the school’s Office of Technology Commercialization, hoping to generate licensing and royalty income from the school’s vast array of intellectual property. But the effort is a work in progress and good results won’t appear overnight.

Mulcahy himself is keenly aware of the situation.

“These are all clear indicators that the university is on a positive trajectory and that its research enterprise remains healthy,” Mulcahy said. “There is still work to be done and the funding environment continues to be more and more competitive.”

“Given the current economic conditions and the challenges higher education is facing… it is imperative that we continue to work together and think in an innovative and entrepreneurial way to continue this success,” he said.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 7:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.