SSTI Digest

Arizona legislators approved the fiscal year 2009 budget last week, providing funds for proposals aimed at stimulating the state’s economy through investments in higher education infrastructure and increasing R&D activity.   Proceeds from an expansion of the state’s lottery will finance $1 billion in bonding for construction projects across the state’s three universities, including $470 million for completion of the Phoenix biomedical campus and upgrades to several buildings.

The Louisiana State Legislature recently approved several bills as part of a comprehensive package designed to revamp the state’s workforce development programs to focus on job training in emerging industries to ensure these fields have a highly qualified labor pool in the coming years.   The workforce reform package is centered on the creation of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, which will replace the state’s Department of Labor. The new commission will oversee the entire workforce development system and is charged with integrating workforce development initiatives through educational and training programs, with the purpose of developing a highly skilled workforce. A Workforce Investment Council also will be established to set workforce training priorities based on input from business leaders.  

Our German isn't what it should be and online translators weren't as helpful as we'd expected, but we wanted to make readers aware of the size of the investment Berlin is making over the next four years to recruit star faculty to its four research universities and the four local, private research institutions of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Helmholtzgemeinschaft, Leibniz Community, and the Max Planck Society. Termed the Berlin International Forum for Excellence, the initiative is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of the region's scientific assets in promising fields of research.

To help put the size of the investment into perspective, Berlin had a population of 3.4 million in 2006.

Science covered the announcement briefly at: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/610/1

The annual convention for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) provides an opportunity each year for many attendees to announce new initiatives and reports in the field of life science research and bio-related TBED – sometimes blockbuster initiatives trying to create the most buzz during and after the event. For example, at this year’s recently concluded event in San Diego, with more than 20,000 attendees representing 48 states and 70 countries, Maryland and Massachusetts announced biotech initiatives topping the $1 billion mark (see the June 18, 2008 issue of the Digest).   Not all of the announcements were attached to expensive price tags. Some involved increased collaboration and cooperation to promote the research strengths of the collective members or to market the geographic area. Examples include:  

With the recent news that initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions for venture-back companies are becoming scarce, many are anticipating a national venture capital crisis. A lack of exit opportunities could lead angel and venture investors to become more hesitant to invest at any stage of venture development as they seek opportunities that produce a return in the foreseeable future.

In this sort of environment, it may be appropriate to examine how recent trends have effected early-stage investment around the country and which states have been successfully cultivating early-stage capital in a time when risk-averse investors increasingly have turned toward later-stage investments for short-term returns.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

CTC Tampa Bay is seeking a venture lab manager to establish and build its Venture Lab program. This postion involves bridging relationships with government, private sector, and university entities in order to support the growth of selected early-stage technology-based companies. The selected companies must offer innovative products and services that can potentially generate significant revenues from the defense/homeland security market and other dual-use markets. A BA/BS degree in science, engineering or business, plus at least 10 years of directly related experience (or an MA/MS degree, plus at least eight years of directly related experience), are required.

Summer camps focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are typically designed to spark youth interest and introduce students to career options in these critical areas. However, a vital component of these programs is exposure to scientific challenges that many classroom settings cannot provide. Recognizing this exposure as beneficial to both teachers and students, several programs are targeting educators with the goal of enhancing instructional methods in the classroom in order to increase student achievement in the STEM fields. The following are examples of professional development programs for science teachers from across the country offered over the summer months.   Kansas