If Wall Street were as successful long term as the University of North Dakota’s Faculty Seed Money Program, folks would line up to invest their money.
According to Phyllis Johnson, vice president for research and economic development, over the past eight years the University has given more than $1.8 million in research seed money grants to more than 60 faculty members. In return, UND has received external grant awards of more than $9.1 million (not including seed money used to attract a recent $10 million, five-year COBRE grant award for epigenetics research at the School of Medicine & Health Sciences). That’s a very respectable 5-to-1 return on investment, or $5 in external grant money for every $1 of faculty seed money.
“By any standard, this is an exceptionally successful program, doing a lot more than it was ever expected to do,” said Johnson.
Forrest Ames, professor of mechanical engineering, tapped into the program a couple years ago. Since then, he has been awarded more than $1.5 million in extramural funding, including a $750,000 federal grant for a collaborative project with Yilidirim Bora Suzen of North Dakota State University to develop an innovative jet engine airfoil test and analysis program. That doesn’t include Ames’ most recent award of a half-million dollars to boost the efficiency of big natural gas-fired turbines used to generate electricity.
Launched in 2000, the seed money program was the idea of William Sheridan, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Biology. The goal: to help faculty members to submit competitive research proposals to major funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Juan Miguel Pedraza