Ohio State ranked No. 1 among public universities and third nationally for industry-sponsored research.
Gathered by the National Science Foundation, this latest report evaluates based on funds spent on research rather than through grants received, said Tom Rosol, the interim vice president for research at OSU.
“These numbers are more accurate (than numbers based on grants),” Rosol said. “It shows that we have many faculty that are successful at their research.”
Rosol said seeking funding forces researchers to be salespeople – selling their ideas to federal and state agencies, corporations and foundations.
OSU researchers put forth about 4,000 proposals a year and nearly half of the proposals are funded, Rosol said.
“Our faculty are competing well,” he said.
Engineering, with 62 percent, and medicine, with 23 percent, make up the majority of proposals from OSU faculty, he said.
Martin Sarter, a researcher in the department of psychology, said he would expect nothing less than high marks from a quality university such as OSU.
“This is a very comprehensive institution; it’s not a surprise,” Sarter said.
Sarter has three active projects concerned with neurobiology and “brain circuitry.”
These are exciting times for the university, especially the psychology department, an extremely research-intensive department, he said.
“This is a great place to be,” Sarter said.
The research funding continues to grow. A 13 percent increase in the level of funding can be seen from the previous year alone, Rosol said. OSU boasts an 80 percent increase from just three years ago.
Rosol said the reason for the tremendous growth is due to the significant growth of the national budget, as well as the competitive nature of the faculty.
“Our faculty are growing faster than the national average,” he said.
Rosol said he’s not concerned about the effects of Ohio’s budget crisis on the next report. Despite the gloomy fiscal forecast, he expects a healthy five to 10 percent increase.
“I think it will be challenging,” he said.
In today’s economy, all institutions will struggle to maintain growth, he said.
For the time being, the latest figures point to a brighter future for Ohio’s workforce, Rosol said. More “start-up companies” and high-technology jobs could result from the funded research.
The Expenditure Survey also ranked OSU fifth nationally among all public universities and colleges during the 2001 fiscal year.
Ed Gardner, director of institutional research and data analysis at OSU, said he’s still gathering expenditure numbers from last fiscal year. Gardner said he expects to release OSU’s latest output by mid to late September.
