by Kevin Boatright
Research is central to the mission of the University of Kansas. It takes many forms, and makes a major contribution to excellent classroom teaching, KU’s international reputation, and the vibrancy of Kansas communities. Just as important, KU research also provides a significant economic impact that benefits Lawrence, northeast Kansas, and the whole state.
KU has a number of research strengths, including drug delivery and development, renewable energy and the environment, special education and life span studies, remote sensing, and biomedical innovations. KU also has a strong reputation for research and scholarship in education, the humanities, engineering, the arts, and the social sciences.
These strengths translate into impressive numbers. During FY2008, for example, KU generated $198 million in expenditures for research, development, and training. That was nearly double the amount 10 years earlier. More than 80% of these funds came into Kansas from the federal government, including such agencies as the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation. Many of those grants were large, highly competitive, multiyear projects,
including 57 new awards of $1 million or more.
In FY2009, total expenditures surpassed $200 million for the first time. So far this year, federal stimulus grant awards for research exceed $15 million at the Lawrence campus alone. These numbers place KU among the top 50 public research universities in the U.S. The ability of KU researchers to compete for grants is one reason why KU is one of only 34 public members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
How does this translate into economic development for Kansas? In terms of direct impact, research grants result in on-campus jobs, equipment purchases, and investment in new facilities (which includes off-campus construction jobs). For example, KU is currently constructing a new $50+ million home for its nationally recognized School of Pharmacy. Recently, it was announced that the KU School of Engineering will build a $19 million Measurement, Materials and Sustainable Environment Center,
funded largely by the federal government.
Research has an economic impact in other ways. The ripple effect of jobs, purchases, and construction is felt throughout the community, resulting in other jobs, other purchases, and other construction.
KU research discoveries can also result in inventions with practical applications. The KU Center for Technology Commercialization works with faculty inventors to evaluate and protect their work. The outcomes can include start-up companies or licensing agreements based on the research, with benefits for KU, the inventor, and society. Currently, KU researchers submit as many as 100 invention disclosures each year. There are 17 active start-up companies in Kansas that are based on KU
research, and 80 licensing agreements were negotiated during the past 10 years – a third of them with Kansas companies.
KU is user-friendly for economic development in other ways. In 2007, a position for business and industry outreach was created in the KU Center for Research. The director works with such local organizations as the Lawrence-Douglas County Biosciences Authority, the Lawrence Regional Technology Center, and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce to coordinate activities. The director also works with companies – such as biofuels giant Archer Daniels Midland -- to form applied research
collaborations between KU researchers and the private sector.
One outcome of that campus-community initiative is the Bioscience & Technology Business Center, now under construction on KU’s West Campus. It is an “incubator” facility that will help bring KU research discoveries into the marketplace as potential products and start-up companies. The center will also support other small start-ups, and larger companies that want to collaborate with KU researchers and potentially locate near the campus.
The center is a unique partnership involving the Lawrence- Douglas County Biosciences Authority, the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, KU, the Kansas Bioscience Authority, KU Endowment, and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. Marketing of the facility has begun and tenants are being recruited, with occupancy during 2010.
Finally, KU collaborated with Deciphera Pharmaceuticals in 2008, leasing temporarily available lab space to the Lawrence company for 18 months as it expanded its operations. This unprecedented agreement is a further sign that KU is committed to promoting local and regional economic development.
What numbers alone don’t reflect, of course, is the impact of KU research on communities and individuals, whether it’s the brightened prognosis for a cancer patient, the rebuilding of tornado-ravaged Greensburg, the development of biodiesel fuels, or a device designed to help premature babies thrive. These outcomes, these stories, are what really count. The economic impact is a bonus, but an important one for KU, the local community, and Kansas.