>> Brochure: UC ARRA funding at work
By Andy Evangelista
UC President Mark Yudof was among leaders of six research universities who met with Vice President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday (Sept. 21) to discuss how their stimulus-funded research creates jobs and plants the seeds for new discoveries, technologies and future industries.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the federal stimulus, provided more than $18 billion for scientific research through the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. Biden said the research funds were among the most critical parts of the stimulus and key to the nation's economic competitiveness.
"Folks, this is where the future lies," he said. "Our economic future will grow from ideas that are incubating at universities. That's the breeding ground and it always has been."
Biden promised a continued federal commitment to research, saying it was up to Washington to provide the "vision" and "seed money" to help universities "change the world."
"I greatly appreciate the vice president's time and the Administration's support for research funding and higher education," said Yudof. "ARRA funds are supporting our efforts to ensure a quality and affordable education and to create jobs."
University of California campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have received more than $1.1 billion in ARRA research funding for more than 1,900 research projects, noted Yudof. UC research seeks answers to problems ranging from climate change and clean energy to childhood diseases and cancer.
Many of the ARRA-funded projects also are helping move discoveries and products from the lab to the public, creating partnerships with industries and training a new generation of technology leaders.
ARRA research funding also has created or retained more than 5,400 UC jobs.
At UC Berkeley, molecular and cell biologist Daniel Portnoy has received $5 million in ARRA funds from the NIH to study how bacteria that cause illnesses such as tuberculosis and food-borne ailments evade the body's immune system. This research could lead to new vaccine markets in the biotech industry, and the grant has already spurred the move of one start-up company, Aduro BioTech, to the city of Berkeley to collaborate with Portnoy's team.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has received an $18 million award from the DOE to build the Advanced Biofuels Process Development Unit, which will help speed commercialization of the next generation of biofuels by providing industry-scale testbeds for innovative technologies.
At UCLA, electrical engineering professor Diana Huffaker has received $3 million from the National Science Foundation for the Clean Energy for Green Industry Fellowship — a program designed to train the future leaders of the clean technology industry. In five years, the program will graduate some three dozen Ph.D students with expertise in energy storage, harvesting and conservation. It is part of an effort with the city of Los Angeles and several local agencies to turn the city into a center of green technology, green jobs and green manufacturing with a downtown research and manufacturing corridor.
The research monies from ARRA are in addition to $716.5 million in one-time ARRA-backed state Fiscal Stabilization Funds to UC to support core operations and offset state budget cuts during the last two fiscal years. UC expects to receive another $106 million in one-time state Fiscal Stabilization Funds during 2010-11. These stabilization funds, covering three fiscal years, are estimated to save some 11,000 UC jobs.
Also participating in Tuesday's White House event with Vice President Biden were White House science adviser John Holdren; France Córdova, president, Purdue University; Ron Daniels, president, Johns Hopkins University; Elson Floyd, president, Washington State University; Amy Gutmann, president, University of Pennsylvania; J. Bernard Machen, president, University of Florida; Robert Berdahl, president, Association of American Universities; and M. Peter McPherson, president, Association of Public and Landgrant Universities.
Andy Evangelista is the research coordinator for the UC Office of the President Strategic Communications Department. For more information, visit the UC Newsroom or follow us on Twitter.