Welcome to

4th – ranked in scienceresearch spending, all areas, ~ $662M

Not in top 30 in scienceresearch spending, all areas, ~ $135M

Where you are…and where you are not

C & En News, Nov. 15, 2004+ LSU Office of Research

By Campus

Category LSU-Baton Rouge Wisconsin-Madison

Founded 1853 1848

Undergraduates 24,135 28,583

Graduate 4,991 8,924 (probably doesn’t include law & med)

Faculty 1300 2060

Staff >3000 ???

Employees ??? 15,770

Total cost (room, books, food, transportation)

$12,460 $14,349

Total Grants & Contracts 135,000,000 662,000,000

NACUBO* Rankings of University Foundations (public universities)

Not in top 25 17th ($678,000,000)

Neighboring NACUBO* university foundations

N/A Kansas, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Michigan State

ACT Score (25th–75th %-ile) 19-24 25-30

US News & World Rank Nat. U., Third Tier Nat. U, #32

Mostly from Websites

By State (rank of 50 states in parenthesis, where appropriate)

Category Louisiana Wisconsin

Population 4,468,000 5,450,000

Per capita income 25,500 29,900

Average K12 Teacher Salaries 34,505 (46) 42,232 (21)

Higher Ed FTE’s statewide 8,998 (28) 15,737 (12)

Higher Ed Payroll statewide 44,779,000 (26th) 79,560,000 (13th)

Per capita expenditure for higher education

$389 (34th) $535 (14th)

State expenditure for higher education $1,960,000,000 $2,411,000,000

State budget $17,000,000,000 $24,000,000,000

% Higher Education 11.5% 10%

State appropriation to flagship university as % of total budget.

$175M/$17B = 1% $399M/$24B = 1.6%

Wisconsin Blue Book—Zillions of Useful and Useless Statistics on all 50 States

But only $11/year less than Ohio!

Fully $145/year less than Utah!

By Chemistry DepartmentCategory LSU UW-MadisonNRC ranking (Chemistry, US) 66 9

NRC ranking (all disciplines, statewide)

1 ?

Neighbors in NRC Chemistry rankings

Georgia Tech, Nebraska, VPI, Kansas

Columbia, Illinois, UCLA, Chicago

Faculty (n. i. emeritus) 29 40

Graduate students 159 ~200

Research funding in chemistry (C&En News Rank)

$11.1M (33rd 63% Federal) $15.2M (14th 53% Federal)

Neighbors (2 higher, 2 lower) Notre Dame, U. Pennsylvania, LSU, Johns Hopkins, SUNY-Buffalo

CalTech, Harvard, Wisconsin, UCSD, Ohio State

Research $/Faculty $383,000 $380,000

Space What’s that? (South Campus) Out the wazoo

Fund-raising Beginnings (again) of organized effort

Faculty committee of six

Divisions AIMacroOP AIMaterialsOP

Undergraduate enrollment >5000 each semester >4000 each semester

Seminars Weekly, some weeks Weekly by division

TA’s (Fall Semester) 76 ~120

Conclusion

LSU’s plan to promote 12 departments to national prominence can work, not only in Chemistry but other IGERT-related departments such as ChE and BIOL

No way LSU can ever catch up as a complete university: would require superhuman political courage and integrity, neither of which is in long supply.

LSU must lead in efficiency.

OpinionThe things a university should do to strengthen

interdisciplinary research, education and training are the same things it should do to help all students.

All those things are about efficiency.

This is why IGERT is particularly important.

Students will have to stifle a laugh now.

IGERT Basics (All ~130 IGERT’s)

Integrative Graduate Education Research Training

NSF’s Flagship Program (Rita Colwell)Only US Citizens and Naturals qualifyAlmost zero funds to faculty, postdocs, etc. 100+ Sites Nationwide Train 5% of all NSF graduate studentsStarted out as $2.7M grant over 5 yearsNow about $700K/year (huge pay raises for students)That’s a steady state of 15+ students (even more at LSU)Two-stage competition, about 6% success rateThe rich get richer… when administration plays along. • Arizona—3 IGERT’s• UC-Davis—2 IGERT’s• Virginia Tech—3 IGERT’s two of them in the same department

Draw on your own experience…but consider carefully other organizations that train people well. Afterall, really outlandish proposals place living students at risk.

2. New Graduate Educational Model

Well….we barely have one. Encouraging anything macromolecular worked for first round of funding, but may not be good enough for a renewal.

1. Some scientific Focus

An IGERT Must Have:

3. Evaluation & Dissemination

I is for Integrative

• Research finds its way quickly to the classroom• Seminar info used in class, lab and research• Seminars & advisory panel visits = dissemination• Communications skills integrated with recruiting• Global experience that enhances ERT• Interdisciplinary infrastructure grows with program• Students as teacher/researchers: cohort teaching• Research integrated with leadership • The program itself is an integrative experiment:

involves education departments, social studies, etc.

Flexibility• Use it to supplement scholarships,

internships• Can spend some for recruiting• Almost any legitimate need of students

can be funded (50 minigrants so far, average is ~$2,000, high is $10,000)

• This advantage disappears in some private universities (Score one for public education)

• USM is even smarter about funding.

Does Grad School Need Change?

“I don’t want to be like you.”

A person (and period)

worth considering.

Mission-oriented research.

Wilmer Miller

25 years later

1970’s

“What’s an allen wrench?”

Grad School Wasn’t a Paradise in 1976

• Very limited travel options for students.• Devise answer keys and grade for 50 students

(upper class TA’s)• Devise recitation section, quiz, grade for 50

students weekly…on top of large-class grading (lower class TA’s)

• Interdisciplinary just emerging nationally. • TA stipend of ~ $7000 (almost $23,000 adjusted

for inflation) • PhD starting salaries like $25K – major, stable

companies, though.

LSU’s IGERTApprentice-Artisan-Craftsperson Ladder

New apprenticeOld craftsperson

General exam

Minigrants

Finishing school“predoc” or “quadratical”

New Ph.D.

Artisan

Minithesis

Data DefenseCommunity Service

Craftsperson

Other Central IdeasApprenticeship: If you could have a student free for X years (2 < X < 4)

would you be willing to work WITH that student on a side-by-side basis for a time equivalent to writing a grant to support that student?

Better than a bootstrap.

Faculty as active scientists, not mere financiers of science.

Small science, even if team-oriented.

Vector cross products of capabilities: what new direction will the team go into that faculty participants and their groups could not do separately? The students become the agent (arrow) of that vector cross product.

Research is a fun activity, even for professors.

Creativity development: minigrants.

What we constantly tell students… and remind faculty

It’s an experiment!Do not commit to it lightly. You don’t get something for nothing.Create something new!If you need it for the status quo, you can’t have it. If it’s inspiring and risky, then you can probably have it.

Apprentice (Spring Yr1 – Spring Yr2) Perform the side-by-side experience

with your Ph.D. team.•Write the minithesis. •STSC class•Be a “normal” student for awhile.•Pass Ph.D. candidacy exam (general).

AAC Basics (Idealized!)

Artisan (Years 3 & 4, typically) •Continue executing the team project•Write minigrants to exercise your creativity

•Supplies or equipment for a sole-authoredpaper or preliminary results for grant

•Travel (meeting, scout a postdoc, co-op)•Execute community service project•Prepare for data defense

AAC Basics (Idealized!)

Top of the AAC ladder

Craftsperson (up to 6 months in Year 4 or 5) •Professional Conduct & Opportunities Course•Survive data defense•Apply for “finishing school” (predoc)•Final report on IGERT experience•Final defense of thesis

The Steady Background•Core Courses•Weekly seminars•Monthly meetings•Days like today once a year•Industrial outreach•Annual & semester reports•Working in a team•Working to escape the

team environment

Projects such as...Rods in supercrit fluids Chem/ChE/Physics MPI Germany & Wyo.

Composites Chem/ME Southern U.

Alzheimer’s Chem/Bio MIT, Wisconsin, NIH,NHFML

ProteinStructure/Function

Chem/Bio/Phys

Complex Fluids Chem/Chem/PhysicsPhysical & Polymer

CAMD, Stanford,Brookhaven

Molecular Recognition Chem/Chem Synth &Analytical

Dupont

Drilling muds/Environment/Composites

Chem/ChE Schlumberger

Many more projects at: http://macro.lsu.edu/igert

Or create your own!English & History Ph.D.’s do!

Who’s in?

Student Participation

0

5

10

15

20

25

Year

Textiles

Physics

ME

Education

Chemistry

ChE

BIOL

Faculty Participation by Year

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Year

Textiles

Physics

ME

Education

Chemistry

ChE

BIOL

About 1:1 faculty ratioGrowth of Engineering & Biological Sciences

Larger than your average IGERTHow do we do that?Should we do that?

October 2002 External Panel

Report

“The IGERT Panel is genuinely excited by the LSU IGERT “Teaching Craft for Macromolecular Creativity” program. It is obvious to the panel that the initial success of the program is due in large measure to the diligence of the staff and students involved….”

“The program is certain to improve as the initial ‘bugs’ are worked out.”

Between the lines…

• Much concern that we do NOT understand how teams work.

• Concern about inadequate interactions with industry.

• Ratchet down the core course load.

• Faculty need to learn how to work as teams in the courses.

More between the lines

Emphasize geographic diversity.

Develop feeder schools in the 2nd and 3rd tier.

More input and support from LSU administrators.

Collaborative ventures are working.

Students should make use of miniproposals to escape too much team.

Confusion about how many students IGERT can support.

Abt Report – January 2004From Abt

Beth BoulayAlina Martinez

Chosen by NSFDominic McGrath—Arizona Robert Lochhead—USM

They interviewed: “…the PI, 10 participating faculty, four department heads, two Vice Chancellors, two Deans, and 20 trainees. A total of 20 faculty and 20 students from six departments – biological science, chemical engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, textiles, and education….”

“Both content specialists had positive impressions of the project. One content specialist commented, ‘the CMC IGERT at LSU has crafted a truly outstanding program that brings this integrative natureto the forefront and incorporates added benefits for the students' graduate training that well prepares them for careers in science, whether academia or industry or other.’ “

“The project proposed to fund students for their entire graduate career. However, the PI learned at an IGERT PI meeting that the intention of the grant was not to fund trainees for 5 years. With this in mind, he chose to “gap” students rather than simply cut off their funding near the end of their training. When “gapped,” a student is taken off IGERT funding for one semester. During this time, students revert to the funding mechanism that is in place for other graduate students in their department, and often take on teaching or research assistantships. While the practice of gapping has caused some stress and uncertainty among the students, they all report that they found replacement funding and that, in the end, it did not adversely affect their progress in the program. Currently, the project funds students for their entire graduate careers, except for these gaps.”

We do know the solution to this now—it is partly implemented for recently-admitted students. Future LSU IGERT’s will have even better policy, although other structural problems remain for LSU administration to ponder.

“The establishment of an interdisciplinary

institute would ensure that the lessons earned during the initial stages of this project would not have to be relearned by those administering future interdisciplinary training grants.”

It is time to do it. Rapidly shifting administrative sands last year.There are risks associated with this, and noplace on earth is more risk-averse than LSU. Still…

Promised Match: $539,200

“LSU has provided even more funds beyondthis promised match (approximately 30% more funding). The PI reports that they will use these funds largely to fund more students.”

Future LSU IGERT PI’s are well-advised to negotiate for the USM deal instead (or on top of this).

“Many students, however, reported having difficulty establishing their research teams; several of the research efforts only have one student working on them at present, and are continuing to search for an additional team member. Defining topics for study that appealed to all team members and the logistics of bringing together the team were two commonly cited difficulties.”

We know how to fix this now—discuss

tomorrow.

Intriguing mixture of problems & kudos are found in the Abt report

—will cover them tomorrow morning, along with solutions to

the problems.

Prussian police report on Karl Marx:

“…he is an extremely disorderly cynical human being, and a bad host. He leads a real gypsy existence. He has no fixed times for going to sleep and waking up. He often stays up all night…”

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUmarx.htmhttp://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/photo/marx/index.htm

1861 1869

Revolutionary?

Thanks, enjoy dinner, get some rest.

Just by being here, you have helped us accomplish much.