Faced with potentially declining funding for research, Ohio University’s Office of Research is turning to alternate paths to maintain its cash flow.
Ohio University is using patent revenue—income that comes from the sale of a researcher’s patent to a company—to cover research costs, as funding for the practices is declining nationally.
The university’s increase in patent revenue during the past five years will make up for a looming decrease in funding that National Institutes of Health officials expect will worsen after sequestration and budget cuts.
The National Institutes of Health provide OU with more than 18 percent of its research funding, according to a previous Post article.
“The number of applications is rising but the funding is going down, leaving (National Institutes of Health) with a lower success rate than it had in over a decade,” Amanda Fine, National Institutes of Health public affairs specialist, said in an email.
In fiscal year 2011-12, OU received $64,216,800 from external sources, including federal grants and private companies.
“As the federal government experiences potential reductions (and) depends on the continual resolutions of Congress and budget uncertainties, it’s really important for us to offer internal awards to our faculty (to) use the funding to break into new areas of their science and creative activity,” said Roxanne Male-Brune, director of grant development and projects in the Graduate College.
The Office of Research awarded almost $370,000 in internal awards to faculty, staff and students to conduct research and creative activity in fiscal year 2011-12.
OU was listed as the top university in the state for licensing income and one of the top schools in the country for research return on investment, according to the Association of University Technology Managers in 2010.
“I think what I saw (was) a campus that valued its research and actually protected the budget for a lot of its outreach and funding programs for faculty and students,” Male-Brune said. “This campus prioritized research and maintained the funding.”
For a decade, OU has received between $56 million and $64 million in external funding sources, according to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs 2011-12 annual awards report.
The university also steadily increased its research royalty income; in 2010, the university received $8.2 million in royalties.
The university hopes to put more of its internal money, which includes some of the research’s base budget income and money fundraised from the OU Foundation, to research.
The Office of Research also fundraises, Male-Brune said. In partnership with University Advancement, the office raised $15,000 in a recent year.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was enough to start the travel fund, and it also funds (the science cafés) and café conversations,” Male-Brune said.
Colleges that have a higher demand for research, such as those in the sciences, are typically awarded more money than those in the fine arts.
OU’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology received almost 24 percent of the total external awards in fiscal year 2011-12.
Among the lowest amounts received was the College of Fine Arts, which received less than 1 percent, according to the most recent numbers available in the 2011-12 annual awards report.
“It’s vital,” said Shawn Ostermann, associate dean for research, graduate studies and planning. “More than half of our graduate students receive funding for their education solely by working on research projects.”
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