- OSU
News Research Archive
(an archive of past stories)- Coverage of OSU Research
- Reports on national news stories
- OSU Cancer Report
- (cancer research and treatment)
- Frontiers
- (a magazine about cancer research and treatment)
- Synergy
- (a magazine produced by the College of Biological Sciences)
- Reporting on Cancer
- (a reporter's guide to the disease)
- Science Communications Staff
Who we are and what we do.
(Last updated 1/27/00) - Coverage of OSU Research
1/24/00
OHIO STATE AMONG NATION'S ELITE IN INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH SPENDING
COLUMBUS - Since 1991, Ohio State University has more than doubled its industry-financed research expenditures, according to new statistics from the National Science Foundation.
As a result of its success, Ohio State moved up among the nation's elite universities in this category. Ohio State ranked 5th in the nation in 1998 (the latest data available from NSF), compared to 6th in 1997. Only Duke, Penn State, MIT, and Georgia Institute of Technology ranked higher.
Industrial funding fueled $40.4 million in research expenditures at the university in 1998, up $3.8 million from 1997. Industry-financed expenditures were at $15.4 million in 1991.
"I'm delighted that Ohio State continues to attract a growing share of industry research support," noted Ohio State President William E. Kirwan. "We hope to continue this positive progression while improving our performance in other funding categories."
Keith Alley, interim vice president for research, added, "Clearly, Ohio State has been incredibly successful in attracting industrial money to fund research. Our ability to work with industry to further research and develop new technology is good not only for the university, but for the state economy as well."
Alley gives particular credit to faculty in the colleges of
Engineering and Medicine and Public Health for Ohio State's high
ranking in industrial funding. "Faculty in engineering and
medicine have been very aggressive in finding corporate sources
to help fund their research," he said. "With the strong
economy, companies have had more money to invest in research
and our faculty has capitalized on that."
Along with the increase in industry-financed research expenditures,
the university also showed gains in overall research expenditures
and expenditures from federal sources.
Total research expenditures at Ohio State increased $12.4 million in 1998 to $301.5, and the university held its rank as the largest research program in the state. Second largest in the state was Case Western Reserve University, which had total research expenditures of $176.3 million.
Although total research expenditures increased, it was not enough to keep Ohio State from falling from 17th to 20th in national rankings for this category. Federal funding of research at Ohio State increased $1.6 million in 1998 to $124.2 million, ranking the university 35th in the nation, down from 31st in 1997.
While the university dropped in some comparative ranking categories in 1998, Alley said he is optimistic for the coming years. There have been many positive signs for the university since the 1998 period covered by the NSF report, he said.
For example, a major $18 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, awarded last year to Ohio State faculty to study stress and wound healing, will boost the university's figures in the future. And during 1998, Ohio State faculty significantly increased the dollar amount of funding applications made to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
"We're moving in the right direction, and I think the future looks very promising for research funding at Ohio State," Alley said.
Contact: Keith Alley, (614) 292-1582; Alley.2@osu.edu
Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu