Penn State leaders spoke about the university’s plans for the future during a livestream presentation Thursday, outlining steps being taken across the campuses and colleges.
Among the topics was a renewed focus on research. Senior Vice President for Research Andrew Read said the university had at one time been in the top 15 for research expenditures, nationally, but has slipped. He said the university would like to get back to that.
“We're very well positioned to capture the significant funds that are related to today's national priorities and that are going to be important in the near future. And those priorities, we do want to address as a university," Read said. "They are around the really important national and global problems.”
Read said the university will be investing in new staff positions to support the growing research.
“We had incredible growth over the last five years, 30% increase in research expenditures, so a lot more work, and all that work fell on far too few staff," he said. "And we can’t let that happen again for so many reasons.”
He said the university will be supporting its teams of researchers as they target opportunities.
"In the past year, I'm pleased to say we've submitted some of the largest grants in Penn State's history, including one just this week, which went in well north of a billion dollars," Read said.
He said the university is well positioned to receive funding through the CHIPS in Science Act, the federal legislation passed in 2022 to fund semiconductor research, development and production.
