Research at Rice: Some Observations After Four Months Jim Coleman, Vice Provost for Research

1. Research at Rice: Some Observations After Four Months Jim Coleman, Vice Provost for Research Administrator's Forum, January 8, 2008

2. Research: The #1 Goal Expressed in the V2C A VISION FOR THE SECOND CENTURY 1. “We must visibly and substantially increase our commitment to our research mission and raise our research and scholarship profile. We must especially focus on departments and disciplines in strategically selected areas where we have an opportunity to achieve nationally and internationally recognized levels of distinction and achievement. Success in this endeavor will require significant investments in and improvements to our research support, physical facilities, and information technology infrastructure.”

3. Research Connects to All of the Goals of the V2C Undergraduate Experiences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs Engage with Houston Research, Creation, Innovation & Scholarship Facilities for Intellectual Vibrancy Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Inter- nationalization Increase Size And Quality

4. Research, Creativity and the Future of the U.S. • Some thoughts of a “futurist” regarding the importance of training a creative and research capable workforce Geoffrey Colvin

5. How do you measure research?How is Rice doing? Research @ Rice • Externally sponsored research dollars • Productivity (e.g., papers, books, performances) • Innovation (e.g., patents, start-ups) • Recognition (e.g., honors, awards, press) • Effect on the field (e.g., citations) • Effect on the world

6. The Federal Picture for Research Funding is Difficult About $20B less than straight-line 75

7. Rice’s Research Expenditures Have Been Growing Faster than the Federal Budget

8. 42% of Rice’s Research Funding is Brought in by About 6% of the Faculty * Excludes subawards; ** Calculated based on 487 Full-time tenure-track faculty

9. Rice’s Total Federal Research is Well Below Peers

10. But, Rice’s Growth in Federal Research is Strong Relative to Peers

11. Rice's Market Share of Federal Research Seems to be Increasing 0.120% 0.100% 0.080% % Market Share of Federal Research 0.060% 0.040% 0.020% 0.000% 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Federal Fiscal year

12. Rice is Doing Well Relative to Federal Budget and may be Well Positioned • 1999-2004 • Federal research budget grew by 47% (real dollars) • Rice’s federal research expenditures grew by 46% (about the same as the federal budget) • 2004-2006 • Federal research budget grew by 2.4% • Rice’s federal research expenditures grew by 17% (about seven times faster than the federal budget) • 2006-2011 • Federal research will grow slowly, if at all, but with NSF and DOE (in Physical Sciences) doing relatively well (Very good for Rice!!) • NIH’s Roadmap requires interdisciplinary approaches (Great opportunities for Rice with Houston’s Medical Center) • Rice is well positioned

13. Rice’s Performance at NSF is Strong, Particularly on a per Faculty Basis

14. Rice’s Junior Faculty are Extremely Competitive for the Most Prestigious Awards NSF CAREER Awards as a Function of Faculty Size (non-medical)

15. Faculty Productivity Rankings: Rice has Several Highly Ranked Programs • Electrical Engineering - #1 • Computer Science - #1 • Computer Engineering - #4 • Bioengineering - #5 • Religious Studies - #5 • Computational Sciences - #10 • Overall - #27 (highest in TX)

16. Rice is a Very Innovative Place, but With Room to Improve • Rice Alliance won the award for enterprise creation in 2007 over all the other entrepreneur centers in the U.S. • Patent filings per research dollar - #1* (*Milken Rankings (2000-2004)) • Invention disclosures per research dollar - #9* • Start-up companies per research dollar #9* • But, not much income from licensing yet (revenues of about $1M) • Industrial sponsored research is 2-10 times below our peer institutions • Nonetheless, Rice’s culture of innovation is truly exceptional (both Nila and I are amazed)

17. Rice Faculty’s Research has Helped Start Several Companies that Will Get Research to People (From Top: Jennifer West, Naomi Halas, Bruce Weisman and Richard Gomer)

18. Faculty Recognition at Rice Since I Arrived

19. Small Times Researcher of the Year Ching-HwaKiang (Physics) developed a technique for stretching a protein and following the path to understand the folding pathways. This work is important because protein misfolding may result in malfunction of biological processes and even disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and even cancer. Her breakthrough research in this area earned her the Small Times Best of Small Tech Researcher of the Year award in 2007. Ching-HwaKiang

20. Top Innovator in Nanoscience in 2007 Ajayan received a 2007 Nano 50™ Award (recognizing innovators that have significantly impacted – or are expected to impact – the state of the art in nanotechnology -and considered the “best of the best”) Ajayan also was recognized by Scientific American Magazine in 2006 as one of the 50 American research leaders in the category of Material Progress for his work in creating super-resilient springs from carbon nanotubes suitable for artificial joints. Pulickel Ajayan

21. Esquire’s Best and Brightest in 2007 Vicki Colvin, professor of chemistry and director of Rice's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), is one of just eight women featured on Esquire’s Best and Brightest list in 2007. Nanorust, an arsenic removing nanoparticle she co-discovered in 2006, is featured among Esquire’s "Six Ideas That Will Change the World" Vicki Colvin

22. Smithsonian Top “Innovator in the Arts and Sciences” Smithsonian Magazine named Michael Wong (Chemical Engineering) to its list of "America's Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences: 37 Under 36." Michael was recognized for creating a new class of palladium-coated gold nanoparticles that can be used to break down chlorinated compounds like trichloroethene (TCE) in polluted groundwater. Michael Wong

23. Debunking a Major Controversy April DeConcik (Religious Studies), debunked a “stunning” claim by National Geographic's translation of the Gospel of Judas. According to that translation, Judas was a hero, not a villain, who acted on Jesus' request to betray him. While researching and translating the Coptic Gospel of Judas , she discovered that National Geographic's translators had made some serious errors. Her book received national and international attention.

24. Other Rice Recognition Since I Arrived Steve Murdock was nominated by President Bush and confirmed by Senate as Director of the US Census Bureau Tony Mikos received the 2007 Alpha Chi Sigma Award from  the American Institute of Chemical  Engineers (AIChE) for his outstanding career accomplishments. This one of the highest honors  bestowed by the organization. Vicki Colvin, Bonnie Bartel, Sidney Burrus and Pulickel Ajayan were elected Fellows of AAAS; Naomi Halas was elected a Fellow of IEEE; Jiangpen Ma was elected a Fellow of the APS James Dunham is a featured artist on the Grammy-nominated Ying Quartet double CD "Tchaikovsky: Three String Quartets; Souvenir de Florence." 

25. Undergraduates Receive Recognition for Research Too Will Rice College senior Grant Belgard earned a 2008 Marshall Scholarship allowing him to study Biochemistry at Oxford. Grant felt that his research experience with Michael Wong on nanomaterials was a key part of his scientific education at Rice. Furthermore, he is part of a team that submitted a patent application on the work Grant Belgard

26. But, Rice Faculty Could be Better Recognized Although Rice Faculty are well recognized and their research is clearly affecting their fields and the world, there is no question that recognition could be stronger. So, Rice may need a more coherent and coordinated strategy for increasing our profile – for example, a better process for nominating faculty for prestigious awards in order to increase recognition

27. How Does Rice Reach the Research Goal Articulated in the Vision for the 2nd Century? Research success is an optimization function of three factors: • Faculty (number and productivity) • Facilities • Infrastructure (equipment, support, research climate, etc.)

28. Rice Needs to Retain and Recruit Faculty, Open New Facilities, and Improve Infrastructure How Does Rice Reach the Research Goal Articulated in the Vision for the 2nd Century? Research success is an optimization function of three factors: • Faculty (number and productivity) • Facilities • Infrastructure (equipment, support, etc.)

29. Rice Needs Stronger Infrastructure to Grow Research • Rice faculty suffer from little “economy of scale”, and hence have an unusually difficult balance of teaching, research and service relative to peer institutions • Rice faculty have strong sense of institutional ownership that exacerbates the issue above • Rice is very thin on administrative support for faculty, which further exacerbates the problem • Issue – there are many faculty who feel they can not take on another grant, or decline to develop proposals, because they simply do not have the time. Can Rice provide support to enable them to take on additional research?

30. What do the Faculty Say They Need? • Graduate students and Postdocs (mechanisms and distribution of support; quality, stronger focus of institution) • Administrative support for: • Finding research funding opportunities (particularly in Social Sciences and Humanities) • Developing proposals (assistance in preparation, management of the process, technical writing assistance, etc.) • Managing awards • Facilitating compliance, particularly right now with export controls

31. So, What do the Faculty Say They Need? • Better coordinated and supported efforts to develop industrial research funding • Increased support in technology management and technology transfer • Increased support for shared equipment • Increased recognition and support of importance of research and scholarship across campus (many have a sense of very mixed messages, or that V2C might only be about growth in research funding)

32. So, What am I Focusing on Right Now? • Working with RAG, Kathy Collins, HR, and Deans to develop model for increased support for proposal development and award management • Working with staff in the Office of Research, Resource Development, Deans, and Institutes to develop new model to facilitate corporate research (draft plan in circulation) • Developing a strategic plan for technology management • Working with Linda Thrane and Ray Martinez to improve our process for working with federal agencies and prioritizing funding requests to our federal delegation

33. So, What am I Focusing on Right Now? • Spending a great deal of time engaging with Houston’s economic development community • Working with the Provost, Deans, Rice Faculty and leaders of the TMC to develop the programmatic foci for the Collaborative Research Center • Faculty Initiative Fund • Working with Paula Sanders on developing strategies to respond to issues articulated by faculty with respect to graduate student and postdocs • Developing stronger and regular communication mechanisms with Schools and Institutes

34. So, what am focusing on right now? • Working with the Shared Equipment Authority to better understand Rice needs in this area • Supporting faculty on major Center proposals (e.g., CPINE) • Beginning to think about how the Research Office can help to more clearly articulate research at Rice, including its importance and centrality to the institution in all disciplines • Developing Export control process and procedures with Joe Davidson and Provost

35. Conclusions • The quality of Rice Faculty and their research has blown me away • Research has the opportunity to truly define the experience of everyone at Rice in a way that is unique • Rice is administratively thin in facilitating faculty research, and Rice’s “smallness” actually exacerbates that problem dramatically- Faculty need help • Attaining Goal #1 of the V2C will require improvement in infrastructure and a more coordinated effort to grow research funding from a diverse array of sponsors