Life-sciences plan includes hiring 100 faculty
IU official discusses results, accountability if Legislature funds life-sciences initiative
By Steve Hinnefeld
March 21, 2007
Indiana University officials know they must produce results if the Legislature comes through with funding for the Indiana Life Sciences Initiative, said Craig Brater, IU vice president for life sciences.
And they intend to do just that, he said, with a plan to hire 100 science faculty and bring in millions of dollars of research funding in the first two years of the program.
"What we're saying is, you hold us accountable," said Brater, who is also dean of the IU School of Medicine.
The university is asking for $80 million for life-science research in the two-year budget the Legislature will approve this spring. Brater spoke about the initiative Tuesday.
The House included half the money IU wants in the budget it approved and sent to the Senate. The Senate, meanwhile, approved Gov. Mitch Daniels' proposal to franchise the Hoosier Lottery for at least $1 billion and use the money for life-science research grants and scholarships.
Brater said the university needs both pots of money: a share of the
lottery-funded grants to recruit and equip faculty — to "get people in the door" — and the House appropriation to maintain their research.
IU plans to match state funding as it launches a 10-year effort to hire 476 faculty researchers and add $2.4 billion to the state economy through research funding.
Officials say the initiative will create 14,000 Hoosier jobs and produce 100 companies. Brater said officials don't yet know how many of the jobs will be at IU Bloomington, how many at the IU Medical School in Indianapolis and how many will be at regional medical education centers.
He said the nation's life-science economic hot spots — including Boston, North Carolina's Research Triangle and the San Francisco and San Diego areas — are all in areas with highly funded research universities.
Indiana stacks up well for the productivity of its research faculty, Brater said. Top universities simply have more of them. And if IU can add significant numbers, it should be able to make the most of its opportunities in life-science industries.
He said IU is proving the best researchers will forsake the East and West coasts for Indiana.
"They see Middle America as a great place to raise their families," he said. "It's affordable, and they prefer the ambience."
