Overview
Dear Colleagues,
I am proud to report that Virginia Tech continues on a consistent path toward achieving a new level of research excellence. The tables, graphs, and photos in this report are tangible evidence of the progress. More importantly, the energy and enthusiasm of the researchers with whom we work continues to be astounding in this time of fiscal uncertainty.
The most notable fact from this past year was achieved in FY 2007. Virginia Tech rose from 54th to 42nd in the annual NSF rankings of total research expenditures at universities. This was the largest increase of all the upper tier institutions. With more than a billion dollars in proposals submitted, we continue to progress toward our goal of $540M of research expenditures regardless of where we stand in the rankings.
We put a new focus this year on coordination of our many training efforts. We see the results of courses related to program and proposal development in bigger awards, higher success rates, and funding in new areas, such as the humanities. And both researchers and administrators are stepping up for professional development related to research integrity and federal regulations compliance. We also see certification of university personnel in research administration, which is important to maintaining our status as a prestigious research university.
In sponsored programs, my administration has committed to growing the staff at the same pace as our growth in research. We have added several new staff and have seen a significant decrease in turnover. While we focus on customer service for our university and external customers, we also recognize that an important customer group for the Office of Research management is our cadre of dedicated employees. We have set in place systems to advance our organizational processes so that everyone, from the business managers and faculty members to the Office of Sponsored Programs administrators and processors, is more satisfied in doing the business of research administration.
We now have a full complement of licensing associates at Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. and are showing exceptional results, including $150,000 in new licensing revenue, bringing licensing income to $2 million; a 50 percent reduction in patent expenses; and licensed technologies to four new startups.
We also continue to grow our research faculty and deal with the realities and challenges of managing a fluid work force. We have put in place procedures to clarify nebulous regulations and to speed processes – from personnel paperwork to proposal submission and project administration.
It is the mission of the Office of the Vice President for Research to support the efforts of the university’s research community – the faculty, staff, and students. We believe in the importance of what university researchers do.
Robert Walters
Vice President for Research