Expanding undergraduate research is a key university initiative. In today’s knowledge-based society, understanding what it means to create new ideas needs to become a core competency. A program launched last year by the Offices of Research, Academic Affairs, and Student Affairs enables freshman Regents Scholars to involve themselves in research when they first arrive on campus.
Many important research problems require teams of individuals with complementary expertise to make significant progress. The traditional boundaries between disciplines are quickly disappearing, allowing entirely new fields of scholarship to be born. Stem cell research, for example, is being investigated not just by health scientists, but by engineers who study interactions of stem cells with various materials, and by humanists who consider the ethical implications.
An interactive knowledge map, prepared in 2007 by a team of UCSD researchers, illustrates how traditional disciplines currently intersect. The map is part of a university-wide initiative to develop knowledge management technology, including databases and visualization tools, to track the creation and diffusion of knowledge in real time and across the globe. By harnessing such tools, the university is positioning itself to make the best possible investments as it recruits staff members; acquires research facilities; and integrates research, education, and public service.
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Last year saw the recruitment of sixty-one new faculty members on the general campus, including many who are engaged in interdisciplinary work, such as nano-scale science and medicine, environment and sustainability initiatives, and diaspora and indigenous cultures studies. The faculty also welcomed Steve Kay, Ph.D., from The Scripps Research Institute as UCSD’s new dean of the Division of Biological Sciences.
Since The Campaign for UCSD was launched seven years ago, the university has established 54 endowed faculty chairs, including 19 last year. By the time the capital campaign concluded in 2007, the campus had a total of 136 endowed positions.
UCSD’s Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Services (TechTIPS) facilitates the translation of intellectual capital developed at the university into commercial products and services. More than 1,400 technologies are available for licensing in biomedicine, bioinformatics, engineering and physical sciences, nanotechnology, and several other fields. Since its founding in 1994, the office has generated over one hundred start-up companies based on licensed university technology, including eight in fiscal year 2006–2007. Within that one-year time frame, UCSD granted fifty-six invention licenses and twenty-nine copyrights and trademark licenses.
To sustain its excellence in teaching, research, and service, UCSD continues to strengthen its community ties and diversify its revenue sources. In 2007, the university’s total revenues were $2.369 billion, representing a 48 percent rise since 2001, and 8.9 percent since 2006. A total of $129.6 million in private support, which UCSD received in 2007, helped the university achieve its projected $1 billion goal for its Imagine What’s Next fundraising campaign.
State support increased in 2007, following several years of decline. Revenue from student fees and tuition increased at a substantially lower rate than the average of the past five years. For the fall 2006 quarter, enrollment for undergraduate and graduate students grew by 3.0 percent. Mandatory in-state student fees (excluding health insurance) remained unchanged for 2007.
Grants and contracts, and health care revenue remain the university’s two largest funding sources. In 2007, revenues from grants and contracts totaled $738.6 million, with a one-year increase of 7.6 percent. Medical Center revenues were $659.5 million, a one-year increase of 6.2 percent
As a public university with a passion for excellence, UCSD applies its academic and research expertise to addressing community needs. Minors in science and mathematics education, introduced last year, speak to the critical shortage of high school science and math teachers and are part of the UC-wide California Teach program, which aims to dramatically increase the number of credentialed math and science teachers in the state.
Public service, another UCSD minor with strong community impact, encourages students to understand the history and practices of public service and to participate in the development of civic skills. The Rady School of Management continues to grow and is meeting its commitment to serve the regional business community. Generous donations of time, money, and expertise from more than three hundred individuals and companies are helping to shape the school’s educational programs for innovation-driven industries.
At Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a new marine sciences minor offers applied environmental skills to basic natural science and engineering majors. Plans are also underway for a B.S. degree in marine sciences. At the graduate level, academic departments are developing new Master of Advanced Studies (M.A.S.) degree programs for San Diego’s working professionals. The UCSD School of Medicine and the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine jointly offer an M.A.S. in the leadership of healthcare organizations. A new M.A.S. in health law, offered jointly by UCSD and California Western School of Law, will help medical and legal professionals negotiate the complexities of managed care, advances in medical treatment and biotechnology, issues of access, and bioethics.
Beyond the local community lies an increasingly interconnected world. UCSD continues to lead the UC system in the number of undergraduate students who study abroad each academic year. In 2006–2007, over one thousand UCSD students participated in Education Abroad and Opportunities Abroad Programs. In support of campuswide efforts to solidify the coordination of international education and research programs, IR/PS Dean Peter Cowhey was appointed last year to the newly created position of Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs.
In the twentieth century, Scripps oceanographers Roger Revelle and Charles Keeling helped to put global warming on the international radar screen. As an institution that sounded the initial alert, UCSD is now pursuing the critical next step: providing model sustainability solutions through academic research and operational best practices. Functioning as a living laboratory, UCSD will be an early adopter for real-world tools and leading-edge technologies for the global marketplace.
UCSD faces multiple challenges as it grapples with sustainability. Within the next five years, over $1 billion in new facilities will come online. State operating and capital budget constraints undermine strategies for controlling energy costs and reducing the university’s carbon footprint. New state-level energy policies mandate compliance but do not provide the resources to implement the operational changes.
UCSD aims to become the largest university site in the world for photovoltaic (PV) energy and fuel cells, and meet 32 percent of the entire UC system target of 10 megawatts of renewable energy by 2014. In addition, the university is exploring the utilization of other no- or low-carbon sources, such as off-peak wind energy and sea water cooling.
Partnering with the private sector and securing incentives from the state of California will enable the university to install a 1.2-megawatt fuel cell power plant by July 2008 and 1 megawatt of PV panels by December 2008. Powered by methane gas, a renewable fuel, the new fuel cell plant represents $8 million in capital improvements and will reduce the net cost by 8 percent of grid price without UCSD capital outlay. The PV installation represents a $16 million capital improvement and provides a twenty-year useful life of zero fuel costs. By 2008, a 15-megawatt expansion of cogeneration capacity on campus will yield $2.4 million annually in savings and reduce carbon emissions.
UCSD has identified a number of strategies that leverage available resources in support of collaborative faculty research projects. The thirty-acre Science Research Park (SRP) provides rental space at market rates to local research and development entities and fosters strong research links between UCSD and its entrepreneurial tenants.
UCSD is collaborating with alumnus Craig Venter and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) to design a state-of-the-art facility in La Jolla and share vital scientific research and intellectual property resources in the genomics and human genetics field. Another collaborative venture, The San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine (SDCRM), marshals the intellectual resources of four San Diego-based institutions: UCSD, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and The Scripps Research Institute. SDCRM objectives include establishing a jointly operated facility dedicated to stem cell research, and seeking funding to support these collaborative projects. In fiscal year 2006–2007, the consortium received twenty-nine grants totaling over $37 million.