By Sharron Hannon
UGA research funding lines that had grown every year until 1995 have been static for the past few years, according to Vice President for Research Joe Key, who says he finds that data “disturbing.”
 One result has been a drop in the university’s position relative to peer institutions in federal research-and-development expenditures. A table published in the March 5 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education shows UGA ranked 81st in the nation--well behind Georgia Tech and Emory in the 35th and 37th positions, respectively.
“It’s hard to put a finger on what the problem is,” Key told the Strategic Planning Advisory Group at their regular breakfast briefing. But he has some ideas on what could be done to maximize UGA’s research potential and attract more research dollars: more focused hiring and more interdisciplinary research.
“There are real growth opportunities in biomedical sciences and information sciences,” he said. “If we get the right kind of people doing the right kind of research, there’s a lot of money out there to support it.”
But that requires “taking a hard look at ourselves,” he said. “We have to decide these are areas that are important to UGA and to the state of Georgia and that we’re going to be good in ABC and not so good in XYZ.”
Focused hiring is difficult without buy-in from faculty, since hiring decisions are made at the department level, he said. “Academic freedom to many faculty means that colleges can do what they want to do and departments can do what they want to do.”
Advisory-group members noted that 20 years ago the university focused on the life sciences for a decade, but that initiative had been top-down rather than collegial.
Speaking about interdisciplinary research, Key called it “the name of the game.” He cited as an example a recent proposal for fungal genomics research at UGA that involves several disciplines ranging from mathematics to education to communications.
But that must be faculty-driven, noted Provost Karen Holbrook, a member of the advisory group. “People have to want to work together, to see opportunities and think about new initiatives,” she said.
Key also advocated creating linkages with other universities and other programs, using as an example a consortium of Southeastern universities, coordinated by UGA researchers, that has raised more than $10 million to purchase equipment for use at the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago. “If you want to be a player, you’ve got to be there,” he said of such national science facilities.
Key also noted “tremendous opportunities” in the social sciences for applied research focusing on real-world problems, such as the work done by UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security.
In response to a question about space needs for research, Key said that while there are shortages in some areas, “we are not as tight as we were a few years ago.”
On the Web
The strategic planning Web site (www.strategicplanning.uga.edu) offers a place to make comments and review what others have said about topics being considered as the university develops its strategic plan.
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