Multimedia
“Discovery and Innovation—the ‘Coins of the Global Realm’”
Radio Commentary of
President Michael A. McRobbie
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
September 2, 2008
Introduction
More than a decade ago, Charles Vest, then-President of MIT, published an article titled “Living by Our Wits.” In it he said that “research and innovation are the key ingredients of sustained growth and prosperity.”
The Benefits of Research
President Vest was dramatically highlighting how each of us benefits daily from university research discoveries. These include the recombinant DNA technique that has revolutionized the field of biology and spawned the modern biotechnology industry.
University research has given us kidney dialysis and skin grafting. It has pioneered open heart surgery, pacemakers, life-saving heart defibrillators, artificial knee joints, and laser eye surgery. University researchers also are responsible for the development of the computer, the Internet, and GPS technology. They are also responsible for the Richter scale that measures earthquakes and the chlorinated water purification system that makes our water drinkable.
Record Research Totals for IU
Indiana University faculty have made similarly significant discoveries that have pushed forward the boundaries of progress. Today they are doing so with greater success than ever before.
Externally funded research totals provide a good index of that progress. During fiscal year 2008, research dollars coming to IU increased 21 percent. IU faculty, as well as our staff and students, competed successfully with their peers to attract a record total of $525.3 million in external research funding. That amount is more than twice the totals of 1998 and nearly five times the totals of twenty years ago.
Almost half of this record amount came from federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. That is a 25 percent increase in federal funding over the previous year and another new record for IU.
A Highly Competitive Funding Environment
Especially at the federal level, Competition for research funding has become much keener over the past five years. Because of flat funding by Congress and a growing number of applications, success rates have declined. The odds of an applicant receiving a grant from either the NIH or NSF have steadily dropped from one in three to one in five.
In spite of this, we submitted more proposals than ever before. And more IU proposals received funding than ever before. These record totals are a testament to the value of the world class research conducted by IU’s outstanding faculty.
Conclusion
MIT President Emeritus Chuck Vest concludes the article I mentioned earlier by noting that: “In an international economy that increasingly forces us to live by our wits, it is clear that innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and bright, well-educated men and women—not muscle or natural resources—will be the coin of the global realm.” Indeed it is and will continue to be. IU is doing its part to generate that valuable currency.
