Research activities serve to expand the existing body of knowledge, provide learning opportunities for graduate students, and find solutions for problems. The research mission in the University System is concentrated primarily in the four universities. Fort Valley State University has an agricultural research mission assigned to it as a result of its designation as an 1890 Land Grant Institution and operates an Agricultural Research Station at Fort Valley. Research programs carried out in the universities had a total extramural support in FY1998 of $483 million and are described below. Georgia Southern University and Valdosta State University have research missions focused on applied topics.
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Georgia Tech is a major center for advanced technology in Georgia and the Southeast. The Institute conducts research of national significance, provides services and facilities to faculty, students, industry, and government agencies, and supports the economic and technological growth of the state. Research operations are carried out through a group of schools, centers, and laboratories, each performing research in a particular field of interest. Most of the research is supported by contracts with government organizations and private industry. A significant portion of the total research activity is within the broad fields of electronics, environmental science and technology, manufacturing, biotechnology, materials, microelectronics, transportation, and telecommunications. Signal processing, tribology, acoustics, fusion, combustion, rotary wing aircraft, and work on energy conservation and applications are also important areas, as are domestic and international economic development, computer technology and applications, mechanics, and the fields of biological, physical, chemical, material, earth, atmospheric, and social sciences. To assist with the State's economic development, Georgia Tech maintains field offices in Albany, Augusta, Brunswick, Carrollton, Columbus, Douglas, Dublin, Gainesville, Macon, Madison, Rome, Savannah and Warner Robins. Research is also being conducted at various sponsor locations throughout the nation and the world. Extramural support for FY1998 was $187 million.
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
GSU is an urban research university with a wide range of active, extramurally-funded research programs in each of the six colleges. Areas of emphasis include vaccine development, design and synthesis of new drugs, protein production, environmental science, and telecommunications. Policy areas, including economics, education, health, crime, poverty, transportation and law, contribute to the base of knowledge and produce information that is useful in making policy decisions. National attention is garnered through programs in the Policy Research Center, the Language Research Center, the Economic Forecasting Center, and the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy. The University's efforts in mathematics education have attracted significant regional and national attention and federal and state funding. Teacher preparation initiatives in this area as well as in the natural and social sciences, which are designed jointly by the Colleges of Education and Arts and Sciences, serve as a model of cross-college collaboration and fulfill national expectations for educational reform. Georgia State University extramural support for FY1998 was $61 million.
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA
Extramurally funded research programs are disease oriented and are carried out in both basic and clinical disciplines in the five schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Allied Health Sciences and Graduate Studies. Institutes which focus on specific research disciplines are the Georgia Institute for Prevention of Human Disease and Accidents, the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, and the Vascular Biology Center. A special initiative involves the research and development of telecommunications in health care delivery known as Telemedicine. There is an Alzheimer's program to develop and test new drugs and agents for improving memory. A specialized Heart Development Group carries out research on the origin and molecular biology of congenital heart defects. Significant priorities in research are: genetics and molecular medicine, cardiovascular research, children's disease, aging, and health services research that includes minority and women's health. Applied research places emphasis on the development of new intellectual properties, biotechnology and technology transfer. The latter is focused on economic growth of the state and involves consortia with other universities including the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA). A special program funded by the Medical College of Georgia Research Institute in Biomedical and Bioengineering Research is partnered with the Georgia Institute of Technology. Research programs on campus include asthma, arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, childhood diseases, clinical pharmacology, diabetes, drug abuse, epilepsy, genetic aspects of aging, geriatrics, glaucoma, health care improvement, hearing, wound healing, inborn errors of metabolism, infectious diseases, mediators of inflammation, mental health, molecular biology, neurosciences, neuromuscular diseases, neuropharmacology, nutrition, organ transplantation, reproductive endocrinology, stroke, toxicology of industrial pollutants, transgenic animals, and vision. Unique research in dentistry includes materials research, fluoride metabolism, and rehabilitation including dental implants. Extramural research support for FY1998 was $102 million.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
The University of Georgia is both a land-grant and sea-grant college. All thirteen schools/colleges have extensive research programs. The following areas are representative of some of the recognized research strengths. Research in biology and chemistry is conducted in many colleges, departments, and multidisciplinary units, including the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, the Center for Metalloenzyme Studies, the Center for Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology, the Center for Biological Resource Recovery, and the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry. Biotechnology research focuses on plant development and production, crop protection, forest science and applications, animal improvement and health, human health, and fermentation applications. Research in the College of Pharmacy focuses on the development of new drugs and toxicology. Agricultural research is conducted at the three major Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations in Athens, Griffin, and Tifton, and five smaller stations in the state. Research emphasis is on environmentally sound and input-efficient production practices. The Veterinary Medicine Experiment Station and the Poultry Disease Research Center in Athens conduct research on disease problems of agricultural and companion animals. The Veterinary Diagnostic Assistance Laboratories have facilities in Athens and Tifton. Environmental and ecological research is a major emphasis across several colleges, with the recognized activities in the Institute of Ecology and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Marine research is concentrated at the Marine Institute of Sapelo Island, the Marine Extension Center at Brunswick, and the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. Research strengths in other areas are highlighted in the Institute for Behavioral Research, the Center for East-West Trade Policy, the Humanities Center, the Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science, and the Center for Simulational Physics. Ongoing research in math, reading, and science education, as well as learning disorders, is conducted by faculty in the College of Education. Extramural support to the University of Georgia for FY1998 was $132 million.
Source: Research Advisory Committee; Office of Associate Vice Chancellor of Planning and Policy Analysis
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Information Digest 1998-1999
©December 1999 University System of Georgia