Rathindra Bose

Bose wants team chemistry to propel NIU research

New V.P. outlines strategy to bolster external funding

by Tom Parisi

Ever the chemist, Rathindra Bose plans to mix things up.

The man newly appointed to oversee NIU research efforts is searching for just the right chemistry among faculty members to propel the university to new heights.

A renowned researcher in his own right and former administrator in charge of Kent State’s research agenda, Bose arrived in July with a formidable goal to double NIU’s external funding – to $100 million in five years.

To do this, he says, faculty must work across disciplines, combining resources to form new, innovative research groups that will take aim at some of society’s most pressing and complex problems.

“There are two ways we could attempt to double our funding,” explains Bose, who was hired as NIU’s first “vice president for research” and dually serves as dean of the Graduate School.

“We could write twice as many grant proposals,” he says, “or we could craft proposals targeted toward areas that will produce bigger grants. Funding trends demand that we take the latter route, and it requires an interdisciplinary approach to research.”

Bose will encourage faculty members to aim high, and when required he will advocate the hiring of new researchers needed to round out areas of strength.

The strategy is proven, Bose says.

Leveraging its interdisciplinary research approach, Clemson University doubled external funding to more than $100 million in five years. Kent State also has long championed the interdisciplinary model. Its Liquid Crystal Institute, for example, boasts a staff of some 50 scientists from various fields.

“My success at NIU is going to depend on collaboration with the deans and faculty,” Bose says. “I can only outline the goals and give some directions. The key decisions and execution will come at the level of the departments, the deans and the provost’s office.”

Identifying focus areas

While Bose doesn’t claim to know everything about NIU research – not yet, at least – he is a quick study. And already he’s identified areas of strength and/or emerging opportunities for NIU interdisciplinary research efforts. They include:

• Nanotechnology and materials science. Researchers from physics, chemistry and engineering already are working together in the university’s nanoscience laboratory, established last year. “Additionally, we must continue to pursue expansion of our collaborations with Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory,” Bose says. “Our relationships with those national laboratories give us a major strength in this area.”
• Biotechnology. NIU could build a biotech research specialty by bringing together researchers from such disciplines as bioinformatics, biological sciences, anthropology, chemistry, political science and computer science. “We have the components,” Bose says, “and biotech is the way of the future.”
• Math, science and engineering education. Expanded studies in how we learn would seem a natural for NIU, with its large College of Education, strengths in information technology and plethora of distinguished teachers. Government funders are keenly interested in finding ways to improve educational content and instruction, at all levels.
• Homeland security. NIU’s expertise in such areas as sociology, psychology, engineering, biological sciences, criminal justice, Southeast Asia and violence prevention would lend themselves to a focus on security issues, an area of keen national interest since 9/11.
• Children’s welfare. Several years ago, the state turned to NIU when it needed a partner to improve the education and welfare of abused and neglected children, resulting in establishment of the NIU Center for Child Welfare and Education. The area is ripe for interdisciplinary research, especially with university strengths in education, literacy, health sciences and early childhood education. Funding opportunities are available, not only from the U.S. Department of Education, but also the National Institutes of Health.
• Information technology. This research specialty would play to NIU strengths in such disciplines as business, communication, computer science, biological sciences and information technology. “The need for IT research is everywhere, and funding is coming from numerous sources,” Bose says.
• International business. With Illinois being an international leader in the areas of transportation, technology and manufacturing, Bose sees great need and great potential for an education center specializing in providing international business training. Such an effort would capitalize on NIU expertise in international business as well as in foreign cultures, customs, governments and languages.

“Interdisciplinary research will be important, but I don’t want to give the impression that I am only going to pursue these niche areas,” Bose says. “Grants secured by individual faculty members in their traditional areas of research also will play a large role in achieving our goals. I’ll be exploring all possible avenues to support these researchers as well.”

Bose will remain in an assessment mode over the next few months, meeting with deans and department heads. In addition to identifying targets for potential research expansion, he might propose the development of new interdisciplinary degree programs.

“By next spring, I should be able to tell the provost and president where the research investment should be made,” Bose says. “When it comes to hiring, I must stress that we want researchers who will fit well into our academic mission. Every new faculty member should be adept in the classroom as well as in the research laboratory.”

A perfect fit

In Bose, NIU found an administrator who is up to the task of both maintaining NIU’s high standard of graduate studies and expanding research efforts, says NIU President John Peters.

“He’s the right fit,” Peters says. “At all levels of higher education – from classroom instruction and laboratory research to department chair and high-level administration – Rathindra has excelled. We’re fortunate to have him.”

At Kent State, Bose wore a variety of hats over 16 years.

As a chemistry professor, he won numerous honors for teaching, including a nomination for the Carnegie Professor of the Year Award. He served as chair of the chemistry department for five years before being appointed as Kent State’s vice president for research and dean of graduate studies.

His personal research activities, which include the identification of key genes in response to cancer chemotherapeutic treatments, have secured more than $2.5 million in research grants from state and federal agencies. He has published extensively in refereed journals and has presented invited speeches worldwide. Kent State honored him with the university’s top award for scholarship, the equivalent of NIU’s Presidential Research Professorship.

Bose sees no separation between NIU’s teaching and research missions. “Universities impart knowledge and create new knowledge,” he says. “Research, or the pursuit of new knowledge, is an integral part of the NIU mission. Today’s need is going to be different than tomorrow’s need, and we must prepare the workforce for tomorrow.”

Growing in lean times

The funding picture for universities nationwide also is changing, forcing universities to rely more on external dollars. From 1999 to 2002, NIU’s external funding grew steadily. But with the economy sagging and government budget deficits growing, awards dipped by about 1 percent in fiscal year 2003, to $45.5 million.

Government budget crises point to the need for universities to work even harder, Bose says. Public academic institutions can’t survive, or at least can’t thrive, on tuition and state subsidies alone.

“We need to continuously improve our infrastructure, hire faculty and give both faculty and students the resources they need,” Bose says. “Without external dollars, we won’t be creating new knowledge. We’ll be teaching what we know, or maybe what we have access to.”

Interdisciplinary research efforts will help NIU further tap federal funding.

But Bose also hopes to replicate successes that Kent State had in mining industry, both as a partner in research and as a funding source. In January, for example, he signed an agreement with Samsung Electronics Co., which pledged substantial funding toward a research collaboration with Kent State. Such opportunities should exist at NIU as well, especially considering its close proximity to the Interstate-88 high tech corridor.

Technology transfer represents another promising funding avenue. In the past four years, the number of patents managed by NIU’s Technology Commercialization Office increased from 17 to 46 (including 16 provisional patents). The office needs to step up efforts to establish more spin-off companies, however, and currently lacks a director, though the post should be filled by the end of the year.

“Kent State had over 300 patents and created 11 companies in the last five years,” Bose says. “So I learned something along the way that hopefully I can implement here, but I need some help.”

Bose isn’t alone in his vision. It is one shared by Provost Ivan Legg and President Peters, who often likens NIU to land-grant universities.

“That informs my strategy,” Bose says. “The land grants are comprehensive institutions with strengths in almost every discipline. So the comparison tells me that we are on a clear mission, that NIU is going to be an international university that will serve Illinois and beyond. It tells me we are going to hire high-quality faculty and continue to build a sound infrastructure. The president has a big plan, a big goal. I hope the community recognizes the importance of that vision.”

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