RESEARCH FUNDING AIDS ASU, ECONOMY
BYLINE: Eugene Scott, The Arizona Republic
Arizona State University received more than $200 million in research funding this year, and Tempe could reap the benefits.
Areas around universities typically see an economic boost from research dollars because students and faculty work on projects that can be marketed and manufactured nearby.
"When the university has more money, it not only springs new businesses from that research but attracts existing businesses to the area from that research, and that will just really feed the economy," said Mary Ann Miller, president and chief executive officer of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.
Ann Speicher, spokeswoman for Association of American Universities, agreed.
ASU officials said the increase in research dollars is an important step for the university, too.
This is the first time the university has spent this much on research.
Six years ago the university didn't even spend $100 million on research annually, said Jonathan Fink, ASU vice president of research and economic affairs.
"It is a signal that ASU is maturing as a research institution and that allows the university to contribute more to the state economy," Fink said.
"We're not the first in the state to do so, but we've gotten there more quickly than most universities, and we feel that's a reflection of the strategy we've had on focusing on interdisciplinary research."
Tempe, as well as the rest of the state, could benefit from some of the biomedical research sooner than others in the country in the near future, Fink said.
"What you find is people in places like Los Angeles and Houston tend to get better cutting-edge medical care, because the universities there and research hospitals are getting new research that are applied there more quickly," he said.
With the opening of ASU's and the University of Arizona's biomedical campus next year, Fink said he hopes even more dollars will come to the Valley.
ASU almost has to become a prominent research institution to keep up with the state's growth, Fink said.
"It is more important that ASU is maturing so that Arizona will have two world-class institutions that will compete against those in other parts of the country," he said.
While UA has spent significantly more than ASU on research for some time, including $478 million in the past fiscal year, the universities have discovered ways to attract much-needed research dollars to the country's second-fastest-growing state.
"What has gotten people's attention is the willingness of the various parties in Arizona to work together. The fact that the three state universities work together is something that's very unusual," Fink said.
Investments in research and an increased emphasis on emerging subjects are leading the research growth, Fink said.
"The scholarship being performed in all disciplines and at all four ASU campuses is what is building our reputation as a place where innovative, advanced scientific work is performed," ASU President Michael Crow said.
Fink said the Biodesign Institute, three interdisciplinary science and technology buildings, and projects at ASU's Research Park are attracting most of the research dollars, including those from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Army.
ASU spent nearly $175 million in federal government funds, nearly $24 million in technology and research initiative funds and more than $5 million on specific research projects funded by the ASU Foundation for the fiscal year ending June 30.
"Reaching and sustaining a level of $400 million per year in the next several years will put us in a category that, while not at the top of the academic pecking order, would provide us with considerable recognition and respect and provide even more of a return on our community's investment in ASU," Fink said.
The nation's top research universities spend close to $1 billion annually, but Fink said most of them have medical and agriculture schools, key places for high-dollar research.
ASU being able to reach the level it has without a medical school or an agriculture school is significant, he said.
"ASU is one of the youngest major research universities in the country, and as such we have to work very hard to compete with more established schools," Fink said.
"We've had to do it on basic science and engineering and social sciences. Departments that aren't typically seen as drivers of research have done quite well here."
Location is another obstacle when it comes to attracting the dollars often found on the East Coast.
"One of the issues that we face is that we're a long way from Washington and the places where decisions are made," Fink said.
"Arizona just doesn't normally come to mind."
Fink said ASU faculty will be the leaders in getting influential organizations thinking of Arizona.
"Our faculty will have to be more competitive. They're working really hard, and they have a lot of obligations balancing teaching and research and service, but the faculty will have to perform at a certain level for us to attract more research dollars," he said.
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