A decrease in private funding for research this year indicates
that UCLA’s research has reached a stopping point in
expansion, said Andrew Neighbour, associate vice chancellor for
research.
“UCLA-sponsored research has typically been rising 15 to
20 percent a year for the last four to five years,” he said.
“We’re going to see a flattening of that for the next
few years.”
Neighbour attributes this not only to the downturn in the
economy but also to the fact that there is no room for more
research facilities than UCLA already has.
“We don’t have any additional expansion room for new
facilities and research programs,” he said.
While federal research grants increased this year, it was not to
the extent of the decrease in private funding, he explained.
Neighbour said while research has seen a significant drop in the
amount of money coming from the private sector, the number of
projects being invested in have remained level.
Robert Peccei, vice chancellor for research at UCLA, said one of
the challenges facing research is its tremendous size, receiving
over three-quarters of a billion dollars in research awards each
year.
“That’s an enormous amount of money and commitments,
and it has stressed essentially all of our administrative and
compliance capabilities,” he said.
This year, two major national research institutes were awarded
to UCLA.
The National Science Foundation-sponsored Center for Embedded
Network Systems and the NASA-funded Center for Cell Mimetic Space
Exploration are both fully funded for 10 years, as opposed to the
typical five, he said.
As federal funds are granted for research, cuts to state
research funds continue to be planned in the state legislature.
Despite the fact that funds given by the state to research are
less than three percent of the total research budget, Peccei said
this year’s cuts still greatly affected specific research
units on campus.
Gov. Gray Davis’ mandated 10 percent cut on research
across the board specifically affected those research institutions
that do not receive federal funds or private grants.
“I think everybody, with some pain, has managed to go
through the first 10 percent cut,” Peccei said.
Peccei said his concern is that the projected additional 10
percent cut for next year will again mandate which organizations
will be affected.
“My hope is that if we do get a 10 percent cut in the
coming year that we will have some flexibility to have some
discretion because there are certain units that can take the cut
more than others,” he said.
Reflecting the state’s better budget past, this year the
California NanoSystems Institute held its groundbreaking ceremony
in February after confirming pledged state funds.
The 30-month-old institute began construction this year on its
new building, located between Boelter Hall and the Life Sciences
building.
The center intends to merge the public and private sector by
matching private funds to state funds.
Neighbour said the state’s interest in such research is
that, by merging ties with the private sector, the university can
play a more active role in economic development and job
stimulation.
“There is a real interest in seeing that our basic
discovery is being put to a use that the public and the state can
benefit from,” he said.
CNSI Director Fraser Stoddart said the building will create a
situation that will foster innovative research not seen in
traditional departmental situations.
“It will open up areas between disciplines and cause
cross-fertilization, bringing about creativity in research and
teaching at borderlines between disciplines,” he said.
“It is like going back to a renaissance time.”