Increasingly, states are taking the lead in funding Research & Development in public universities, filling a gap left by federal inaction, contends Heike Mayer, an assistant professor of urban affairs at Virginia Tech, in a Times-Dispatch op-ed. Virginia supports R&D at its public universities, although the commitment trails that of many other states.
Quoting from a Pew Center study, “Investing In Innovation,” she notes that successful states follow some simple guidelines:
- Embed investments in a 21st-century innovation strategy that moves beyond funding discrete programs to making a coordinated set of investments.
- Find your strengths — and needs — and fund R&D in those areas.
- Invest in collaboration. Encourage, or even mandate, that universities, industry, and government work together.
- Enlist experts. Seek advice from industry, people outside your state, and even from abroad.
- Be consistent, but not to a fault. Commit to a cycle of investment and assessment.
- Measure the results of funding, so you can be sure public dollars are well spent.
It was a goal of the Warner administration to lift the rankings of Virginia’s major research universities — led by Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth — among the nation’s top research universities. You don’t hear much about that anymore. Probably because the Virginia rankings haven’t been climbing. Raising one’s standards in the R&D rankings isn’t easy when every other university in the country is trying to raise its rankings as well.
According to the latest National Science Foundation study, Virginia Tech, the Virginia state champ, ranked 56th in R&D spending in Fiscal 2005 with $290 million. That’s up from $167 million in 1998, an increase of about 73 percent. Impressive… but not as impressive enough to maintain its standing.
The University of Virginia fell to a 69th place ranking, with $239 million in R&D. VCU hung in the top 100 with a 99th place ranking.
I can’t find the documentation online, but as memory serves me, Virginia Tech stood as high as 49 or 50 in recent years, and UVa within the top 60. Do any readers know the numbers?
Overall, Virginia universities conducted $914 million in R&D in Fiscal 2005, according to the NSF. We trailed:
California ($6.3 billion)
New York ($3.6 billion)
Texas ($3.1 billion)
Maryland ($2.6 billion)
Pennsylvania ($2.4 billion)
Massachusetts ($2.1 billion)
Illinois ($1.8 billion)
North Carolina ($1.7 billion)
Florida ($1.5 billion)
Ohio ($1.5 billion)
Michigan ($1.5 billion)
Georgia ($1.3 billion)
Wisconsin ($1 billion)
Missouri was nipping on our heels.
