8.2: Regional Universities and Institutions

Increase our collaborations with regional universities and institutions

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As a nexus of major nationally ranked and historically important research universities, the region is able to attract a highly educated work force and provide an intellectual ambiance that fosters creativity and innovation. In addition to our growing partnerships with NCCU and Durham Tech, our proximity to UNC and NCSU facilitates faculty collaboration on an array of projects ranging from statistical modeling and child and family programs to government policy and the arts. As an indication of the extent of collaborative research, some 81 cross-institution subcontracts received $30M in funding this past year. Students also have easy access to inter-institutional programs, resources, and facilities. They benefit from joint agreements that enable regularly enrolled students to take course work for credit at neighboring universities. In addition, we are intentionally developing programs such as the Robertson Scholars Program that build shared communities of students whose educational experiences are enhanced by access to more than one campus . In addition to research universities, the region is also home to nationally recognized centers and institutes such as the National Humanities Institute, the Research Triangle Institute, the Renaissance Computing Institute, the Triangle Universities Center for Advance Studies, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These are complemented by the presence of major corporations such as GlaxoSmithKline and IBM. Duke has benefited significantly from this confluence of talent and research that drove the original founders of the Research Triangle Park to create the shared research venue that is now home to more than 36 companies employing some 38,000 workers. We cannot take the future of Research Triangle Park for granted, however, and Duke and the region will need to invest in its continual renewal and advancement. Strategic partnerships between Duke, area universities, and these public and private institutions advance research and leverage resources otherwise not possible. Partnerships with the Research Triangle Institute enable the development and translation of knowledge generated by the university for societal benefit. For example, Duke, UNC, and RTI International have jointly developed the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security to address terrorism and homeland security. Faculty at Duke, UNC, and NCSU collaborate in the area of marine sciences. The Pratt School of Engineering and RTI have collaborated to create TechEval to evaluate and bring research products to market. The Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy has partnered with RTI to create a "biorepository" of medical samples, part of which will contain samples for the development of biologically-based assays for Chernobyl radiation exposure. Beyond the confines of the Research Triangle Park, Duke is actively engaged with such additional public and private partners as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a multi-program science and technology laboratory managed for the U.S. Department of Energy in which scientists and engineers conduct basic and applied research and development to strengthen the nation's leadership in key science areas. Finally, efforts are underway to build the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis - just outside of Charlotte - that will house research laboratories from the Triangle universities, Dole Foods Research Labs, corporate research laboratories, and numerous biotechnology companies. As we move forward, we seek to more systematically coordinate and leverage our inter-institutional partnerships and to increase regional partnerships that enhance our strategic initiatives. Many external funding agencies require multi-institutional or public and private collaboration, and we seek to take greater and more aggressive advantage of this funding type in support for our research endeavors. In particular, we hope to facilitate collaborations that address the region's own challenges and opportunities, ranging from transportation and solid waste to water quality and health care. Duke must also develop more tightly organized administrative leadership and a strategic plan for our regional partnership efforts. It continues to be important for Duke University to be involved in RTP and its efforts to assure future innovation and growth in the region. At the same time, new regional partnerships must be pursued. The creation of the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, in particular, provides a creative physical and intellectual model for the Triangle universities to engage in and one in which Duke should take a leadership role. This opportunity must be coordinated with ongoing and future efforts within RTP as both compete for faculty engagement, student recruitment, and institutional resources. Because of the growth of research centers within the state and the increasing importance of developing regional partnerships in support of the university's strategic goals, now is the time to reconceptualize our approach and organize ourselves administratively so that we are able to take best advantage of opportunities in a deliberative and effective manner.

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