Science Market Update

Corvallis Research Funding Surges Forward on Waves of Success and Innovation

Posted by Jaimee Saliba on Thu, Oct 25, 2012

Oregon State University in Corvallis is the state's leading public research institution and has recently announced that the 2011 fiscal year ending in June was its 2nd best ever for overall research funding levels (the prior year being #1 by a hair). In fact, 2011 was OSU's top year for private sector funding, at $35M, which inclulded payments for testing services, environmental analysis, prototype development and licensing fees. That figure represents a 42% increase over 2 years. Alll in all, Oregon State counted $261.7M in external funding in the 2011 fiscal year.

While federal funding has decreased in the past five years for many agencies, some, like the NSF and DoE Office of Science actually saw their appropriations grow by about 27%. In that same period, OSU saw their funding from these two sources increase by about 49%. Moreover, OSU's single-largest grant source, the Dept. of Agriculture, was responsible for seeing that OSU saw a 58% increase in funding in that 5-year timespan.

As one of the few universities in the US to be able to boast Sea Grant, Land Grant, and Sun Grant designations, Oregon State at Corvallis is a busy, multi-faceted place. While not situated directly on the coast, 50 miles west at Newport harbor OSU just welcomed the research vessel Oceanus (seen above) to its Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), to replace the now-retired Wecoma. The mid-sized vessel (177 feet) is owned by the NSF and supports research funded by both the NSF and US Navy with its onboard laboratories and marine research equipment. Oceanus is one of 16 vessels nationwide in the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet and is now one of the research tools in use at OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.

You may have heard of Newport and the HMSC back in June when a large floating piece of Japanese dock let loose by the tsunami washed up on the Oregon coast and made news all across North America. The event would have been jaw-dropping just for the spectacle (and tragic overtones), but proved a rare opportunity for marine scientists at OSU as well because the dock was covered in organisms not native to the Northeast and hence potentially invasive. According to John Chapman, an OSU marine invasive species specialist: “This float is an island unlike any transoceanic debris we have ever seen." That so many species survived the trans-Pacific voyage was only one of the wonders these marine scientists are still examining with regard to the alien dock.

osu marine science research

[Marine biologists study organisms the Japanese dock that came ashore in Newport early this summer; photo courtesy of OSU via their flickr photostream]

Marine biology and oceanic research are important areas of study for the NSF and worth following for their life science lab equipment and supply needs. OSU has a strong program in this area in addition to its other cutting-edge and well-funded life science departments and centers at Corvallis. Join Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. next on September 11, 2013 for our annual Corvallis BioResearch Product Faire event on the OSU campus. For a free OSU funding report and information about exhibiting, click the button below:

science research building

Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. is a full-service event marketing and planning company producing on-campus life science research tradeshows nationwide for going on 21 years. We plan and promote each event to bring the best products and services to the best research campuses across the country. Life science researchers, purchasing agents, and lab managers are actively invited to attend to see the latest products and equipment and discuss their laboratory tool and service needs. See our Nationwide Show Schedule for 2013.

Tags: Oregon State University, Northwest, Oregon, 2012, Funding, Front Line event, marine science, OR, Corvallis, NSF, ORSTU

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