WVU Experiencing
All-Time High in Research Funding
WVU reached an all-time high in funding for research and sponsored
programs this past year, receiving $133.9 million from federal,
state, industry, and private sources. This amount is up from
$88.7 million in fiscal year 2001.
Vice President for Research and Economic Development John Weete said the 51 percent increase represents the highest amount of funding in the history of the University from external sources.
"We like these trends . . . the University is going in the right direction," said Weete, who is also president of the WVU Research Corporation. "Funding received from federal agencies accounts for over 70 percent of the increase." WVU is also recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive, which places it among the top 154 research universities in the country and the only one in West Virginia.
"The ranking recognizes the achievements of our faculty and improves their competitiveness in obtaining federal support—and lifts the worth of degrees for our graduates and alumni," Weete said.
Technology transfer is another area where the University has seen significant growth over the past year. The Office of Technology Transfer, created only three years ago, has had a flurry of activity that involves assessing, protecting, and marketing intellectual properties generated by WVU faculty and students.
In fiscal year 2002, 30 invention disclosures and 24 U.S. patent applications were filed, and three patents were issued. Six license agreements were signed last year and two start-up companies formed. One notable example is Protea Biosciences Inc.—a firm based on technologies developed by WVU faculty in the area of proteomics.
"Our increases in funding for the WVU research enterprise are resulting in increased job creation," Weete said, citing approximately 800 new full- and part-time jobs as a result of external funding.
WVU Second
in Nation in Congressional Earmarks for Academics, Research
The Chronicle of Higher Education's annual listing of congressional earmarks for higher
education was released in September, and WVU was once again near
the top of the list, second only to the University of South Florida.
WVU received some $31.6 million of the $1.8 billion in congressionally approved funds this past fiscal year, according to the survey.
Vice President for Research and Economic Development John Weete noted that public funds are put to good use at WVU for worthwhile and important projects, such as $6.8 million for a new facility for positron emission tomography and $4 million for forensic science research.
"We are, as always, delighted and grateful for this congressional support—much of which is due to Senator Robert C. Byrd's and Congressman Alan Mollohan's assistance," Weete said.
Grant Money
Awarded for Research Park and Fire Academy
WVU's proposals to develop a Research Park in Morgantown and
a new Extension Fire Service Training Academy at WVU Jackson's
Mill near Weston received a major boost in November when the
state Economic Development Grant Committee approved $5 million
for the park and $2 million for the academy. Funding for the
park was half the amount requested by the University while the
training academy request was fully funded.
John Weete, vice president of research and economic development at WVU and president of the WVU Research Corp., said "This funding will allow the University to start the infrastructure necessary for our future park."
The park will be located on 100 acres near the Maple Avenue exit off Route 705, site of the old WVU poultry farm near Monongalia General Hospital.
"The overall mission of the park will be to facilitate the economic development role of the University by contributing to the diversification and enhancement of the state's economy," said Weete. "The Research Park also will provide an outlet for the commercialization of University-based technologies."
The park will host and nurture an array of commercial entities, including start-up companies based on technologies developed at WVU. Likely tenants include those in the biometrics, biotechnology, biomedical, homeland security, and forensics fields.
Grant funding for the new Extension Fire Service Training Academy at WVU Jackson's Mill in Lewis County will be used to complete site preparation, said Dave Miller, special assistant to the president for external affairs at WVU.
"Once completed, this state-of-the-art training facility will attract first responders, industrial emergency brigades, and other emergency personnel from all across the Mid-Atlantic region," Miller said.
The Role of
Parents in Preschool
A professor from WVU's Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry,
and Consumer Sciences has studied the effects of parents' influence
on preschool curricula and how teachers can help parents understand
how a developmentally appropriate classroom will benefit their
children.
"Instead of focusing on a child's ability to be independent and work well with others, parents of children enrolled in preschool tend to be more focused on their ability to read and write," said Barbara Warash, professor of family and consumer science and director of the WVU Child Development Laboratory (nursery school). This simple fact puts a lot of pressure on preschool teachers to deviate from maintaining a developmentally appropriate classroom.
"Developmentally inappropriate instruction for three- to five-year-olds would involve structured activities where children have to sit for long periods of time, doing things such as practicing printing on worksheets," Warash said. "Appropriate activities for children in this age group should involve movement and choices so that the children are not all doing the same thing at the same time."
"The pressure of standardized tests and parents urging teachers to utilize more formalized instruction have made it difficult for preschool teachers to follow a developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children," Warash explained. "In West Virginia, standardized testing begins in kindergarten, causing teachers to accelerate the learning process in order for their students to know the necessary information that will appear on the test."
Controlling
the Speed of Mutant Genes
Research by a WVU physicist on chemical waves could one day lead
to new ways of controlling the speed of mutant genes and other
foreign matter as it flows through the body's bloodstream.
Physics Professor Boyd Edwards reported in the September 2 issue of Physical Review Letters that a chemical wave front moving through a tube filled with fluid moving in the opposite direction is not slowed by the liquid. Laws of nature dictate otherwise in most cases.
"We've learned chemical waves are like pedestrians in a hurry," said Edwards. "Head winds don't slow them down but may bend them out of shape. Tail winds, on the other hand, speed them along."
Using trusted equations common with physics, Edwards predicted that a chemical wave front moving through a tube filled with fluid moving in the opposite direction develops a trailing spike at the center of the tube. The spike consumes just enough extra fluid to compensate for the flow, thereby allowing the wave front to travel at its usual speed. In contrast, a chemical wave moving in the same direction as the flow is carried along by the flow, and travels faster than usual.
Laboratory experiments are already under way at WVU to test these predictions. Deeper theoretical understanding is being sought by physics doctoral student Robert Spangler.
Organic Agriculture
Research Receives Grant
Research will continue on organic agricultural production at
WVU's Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences
thanks to a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The grant will help to expand and continue the WVU Organic Research Farm project started in 1999. The project compares organic farming systems to assist growers in the transition from conventional to organic farming methods.
"Organic food production is a rapidly growing sector of the United States agricultural economy, and is considered by many to be inherently safer and better for the environment," said James Kotcon, associate professor in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences at the Davis College.
The new grant will allow researchers to evaluate long-term effects of crop rotations that began in 1999. Researchers will also investigate new poultry and sheep pasture rotations and how to integrate these with crop production in whole farm systems.