Goal 3
Become a leading public research university addressing the most challenging issues of the 21st century.
In 2015, Georgia State secured $101 million in annual research awards, which included $70.2 million in federal funding — the highest external grant funding in the university’s history. Federal sponsorship accounts for 70 percent of the total research volume, a 21 percent increase from the previous year. This funding includes increases of 33 percent from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and 18 percent from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In fiscal year 2015, Georgia State ranked sixth in the nation for percent growth in NIH funding.
In the last five years, research awards have almost doubled. Georgia State is ranked in the top 10 for notable growth in NIH research funding over the last decade.* NIH is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world.
The number of principal investigators with more than $1 million in external funding has increased from nine in 2010 to 18 in 2015, seven of whom have portfolios of more than $2 million.
In the 2014 NSF Higher Education R&D expenditures data for all institutions, Georgia State ranked 105th for all non-medical school research and development expenditures, ahead of a number of Association of American Universities institutions.
INITIATIVE 1
2011 Initiative 1: Enhance a research culture.
Since 2011, 61 faculty scholars and researchers have been hired via the Second Century Initiative (2CI) and other strategic hiring. The primary goal was to build nationally and internationally recognized strength and critical mass using cluster hiring around common scholarly themes. This hiring initiative was intended to enhance Georgia State’s overall faculty quality, interdisciplinary richness, competitiveness and recognition for excellence in research. The 2CI and related strategic hiring has been transformative in enhancing the quantity and quality of scholarship and research at Georgia State.
Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholars are among the nation’s top researchers and brightest minds in their fields. Since the strategic plan began, GRA Eminent Scholars at Georgia State have increased from three in 2011 to seven in 2015.
To honor and support faculty researchers, the Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program was established to bring faculty visitors to the campus to increase the presence of faculty from underrepresented groups and increase the likelihood of recruitment of these underrepresented faculty. There have been five Distinguished Visiting Scholars since 2012.
A Distinguished University Professorship also was established to recognize a sustained and outstanding record in scholarship and instruction, and to provide the impetus for continuing high achievement. There have been 25 Distinguished University Professors appointed since 2012.
Regents’ Professorships are bestowed on distinguished Georgia State faculty whose scholarly achievements are recognized nationally and internationally as innovative and renowned. There are 32 Georgia State Regents’ Professors — 14 of whom have been added since 2010.
2016 Initiative 1: Support a research culture that tackles large and complex problems.
While maintaining support for individual research programs, the university will also foster the development of research programs around large and complex problems that require teams of faculty researchers across a span of disciplines. Programs such as the Next Generation Initiative will invest in existing areas of strength and new ideas.
INITIATIVE 2
2011 Initiative 2: Establish university-level research centers.
Public and private funding agencies are focusing increasingly on finding solutions to interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research problems that will have a significant societal and economic impact. To assure Georgia State’s competitiveness in attracting research funding to address these critical challenges, the strategic plan called for the establishment of University Research Centers built on successful interdisciplinary collaborations to address challenges facing our rapidly changing society. In FY15, the five University Research Centers have secured more than $20.5 million in funding. Six University-Level Research Centers have been created to date: 1) the Center for Molecular and Translational Medicine, 2) the Center for Diagnostics and Therapeutics, 3) the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, 4) the Center for Nano-Optics, 5) the Center for Obesity Reversal and established in fall 2015 — 6) the Mark Chaffin Center for Healthy Development.
In 2010, Georgia State’s first university-level Research Institute was established — the Institute for Biomedical Sciences (IBMS). IBMS is a leading multidisciplinary research and education institute dedicated to advancing fundamental and innovative biomedical research that improves human health and educates future generations of leading biomedical scientists and health professionals related to biomedical sciences. The Institute has partnerships with universities around the nation and in nine countries. In FY15, it generated more than $6.9 million in research funding.
2016 Initiative 2: Unchanged.
INITIATIVE 3
2011 Initiative 3: Create a Georgia State Faculty Fellowship Program.
A Georgia State Faculty Fellowship Program was developed in 2011 to allow faculty to have time to facilitate completion of applications for preeminent international and national fellowships or awards. Since the program was developed, there have been 18 Fellows and of those, 10 have received external awards.
2016 Initiative 3: Expand the Faculty Fellowship Program to include support for faculty to expand their research through a new discipline.
We will create a new category of fellowships that encourage faculty to acquire skills, perspectives and techniques in other disciplines that will permit them to expand their impact in solving complex problems.
INITIATIVE 4
2011 Initiative 4: Enhance supporting infrastructure for the conduct of research.
Research administration support services have been strengthened by expanding central research administration management, adding online administrative systems and adding new, distributed research administration staff in colleges and departments to provide more local services. Research information has been strengthened with Research Solutions Vertical where all research, grants and compliance management functions are now digital. ScholarWorks, an open source archive of scholarly output for faculty was introduced. The CURVE (Collaborative University Research and Visualization Environment), opened in the University Library in 2014, is a technology-rich discovery space supporting research and digital scholarship. A new Chief Innovation Officer was hired in 2014 to direct the university’s Information Systems and Technology Department and to help define and implement innovative strategies and technology solutions to advance the university.
A new research lab building, adjacent to the Petit Science Center, is scheduled to be completed in June 2016 and will provide expansion space for new research faculty who need state-of-the-art wet labs and related core facilities.
2016 Initiative 4: Unchanged, with explicit recognition that this initiative is not restricted to the laboratory and experimental sciences.
INITIATIVE 5
2011 Initiative 5: Enhance Georgia State’s contributions to the sciences, and health and medical research and education.
Contributions to health and medical education include the establishment of the new School of Public Health (SPH) in 2013, which offers master’s, Ph.D. and graduate certificate programs. Students in the SPH have increased from 227 in 2013 to more than 300 in 2015 and the school now has more than 500 alumni. Faculty and staff in the School of Public Health are focused on educating students, research, implementing solutions to societal problems and partnering with community organizations to develop answers to the public health challenges faced by communities in Georgia and cities across the globe. The SPH strategically focuses its research and educational programs in areas such as urban health disparities, chronic diseases, tobacco regulation and violence prevention.
2016 Initiative 5: Use team approaches to build upon partnerships with institutions in Atlanta and beyond to expand the magnitude and impact of our health-related research efforts.
Atlanta is the headquarters for numerous health and medical organizations that provide a unique environment for collaborative research, funding and employment opportunities. To fulfill this potential we will expand and formalize our partnerships with institutions in the Atlanta metro area and beyond. In addition, we will increase our ability to secure training and career development awards to assure a pipeline of trained and collaborative researchers.