Fall 2001
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The role of the research university has never been more important, its contributions never more critical in facing the challenges of the twenty-first century, including the unprecedented pace of scientific, technological, and global change.
"The extensive research activities of the University of Oregon are generating new knowledge, as well as translating fundamental discoveries into practical applications," says Rich Linton, UO vice president for research and graduate studies. "The economic and societal benefits that come to the state because of the UO's core research programs are significant in terms of job and business creation, workforce development, and an enhanced quality of life for Oregonians. These positive impacts are both immediate and long-term."
This publication focuses on the university's extensive efforts with the Oregon business community to foster mutually beneficial relationships involving research and economic development.
Research is Good Business
"The economic benefits of investments in university research are impressive," Linton says. "The UO research enterprise is responsible for thousands of jobs and many millions of dollars of earned income to Oregon workers and their families."
Research and sponsored programs at the UO alone will attract approximately $60 million in competitively awarded grants and contracts this year. Such support is becoming comparable in size to the total funding that UO receives, about $75 million annually, in state appropriations for all purposes. In addition, less than 2 percent of the state's direct appropriations to higher education are designated specifically for research activities. Simply put, there is enormous leveraging of the relatively modest state investment in UO research.
About 28 percent of the UO's annual operating expenditures are provided by contracts and grants, the vast majority of which comes from federal agencies. Each dollar devoted to academic research also has been shown to create at least one to two additional dollars in new economic activity. In addition to the direct effects of wages and salaries paid to UO employees, the university purchases goods and services from local businesses. There are also indirect effects as these first receivers of research expenditures, in turn, purchase goods and services. Considering these "multiplier effects," UO research is estimated to contribute in excess of $150 million annually into the Oregon economy (see graph).
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| Research funds flow into state economy. UO research funding (green area), which comes mostly from federal sources, is now more than $60 million annually. Economists use "multiplier effects" to calculate what this infusion means to the Oregon economy (yellow area). |
According to recent figures reported by the U.S. Commerce Department, forty-five jobs are supported by every million dollars of research grant support received by the UO. At current levels of sponsored funding, this equates to 2,700 jobs, including those directly related to UO faculty, staff, and student positions. Approximately 1,200 students are employed as graduate assistants, many of them working directly on sponsored research projects that provide their salaries. In addition, roughly one of every two UO graduate students resides in Oregon following graduation.
The university is not only generating workers with advanced skills, but it is also supporting the creation of new businesses. Specifically, the UO is engaged in the transfer of new discoveries and technologies developed on-campus into private-sector companies or start-ups (see story). When expressed as a function of sponsored research expenditures, technology transfer activities at the UO (e.g. invention disclosures, patents, licensing revenues, start-up companies created) compare very favorably with many of the best research universities nationally, including those with engineering and medical schools, and generally surpass other academic institutions in Oregon.
Where Research and Business Meet
"The UO is a place where the intersections of research and business should be encouraged," Linton says. "The idea of working collaboratively with the business community for mutual benefit is increasingly important in the way we operate as a research university."
Good examples are the fast-developing fields of molecular biology and neurosciences, areas of particular research distinction at the UO (see story). Innovative basic science conducted in UO laboratories is laying the groundwork for advances in biomedicine that involve new diagnostic and therapeutic agents. UO professors hold patents on potentially beneficial new drugs and diagnostic probes, they have formed biomedical spin-off companies, and they have invented new technologies and licensed them to entrepreneurial companies interested in turning such advances into clinical or research tools.
The UO has the highest-ranked graduate science programs within Oregon. As one reflection of those strengths, UO faculty members have created partnerships to ensure that the innovative education, research, and training activities in the sciences are directly applicable to the practical needs of Oregon companies. The UO Materials Science Institute, for example (see story), has established close working relationships with many of Oregon's top engineering and high-technology companies through its popular graduate internship programs. The collaborative interplay is producing highly skilled university graduates at the interface of science and engineering who are in high demand for employment by industries in Oregon and elsewhere.
"We are a significant engine for the state's economy, and we intend to leverage the power of this engine to the greater benefit of Oregon in the years to come," Linton says. "We are working hard to assure that the necessary ingredients are in place to facilitate such progress." For example, the Riverfront Research Park in Eugene (see story) represents a long-term commitment to encourage the university and the Oregon business community to work together in research and development activities. The UO Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (see story) links university talent, technologies or programs with businesses seeking mutually beneficial relationships through donations, student internships, collaborative research, and other forms of sponsorship.
"Taken together," Linton says, "the coordinated elements of the university described in this publication—cutting edge research programs, close R&D collaborations with Oregon businesses, and the associated infrastructure put in place to nurture those interactions—demonstrate the UO's commitment to making a difference in supporting a sustainable economic future for Oregon."