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dailynebraskan.com
monday, november 18, 2013 volume 113, issue 059
Inside Coverage
‘A place for Tax dollars, themselves’ private funds Bosnian youth group builds connections
5
Columnists look at question of research funding
Losing ground
4
Michigan State beat Nebraska 41-28 on Saturday, elminating the Huskers from the Legends division title. Nebraska’s offense out-produced the Spartans but gave up five turnovers in the game. photo by morgan spiehs
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The realities of research Two years after losing a prestigious designation, UNL strives to boost its national reputation through research
s t o r y
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M a r a
K l e c k e r
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T i a g o
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Professor Shane Farritor, a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering since 1998, points to pictures from the honors’ wall at Nebraska Hall.
2012
$25,354,946
2011
NON-RESEARCH INTENSIVE COLLEGES
$24,932,448
$253,320,561
ALL COLLEGES
$235,296,157
Total research spending by UNL Colleges in 2012 College of Education & Human Sciences $13,321,231 College of Engineering $37,553,016
2011 2012
College of Arts & Sciences $69,246,965
Total research expenditures by non-research colleges in 2012 University Libraries
$1,790,277
Hixson-Lied College of Fine & Performing Arts
$2,233,186
College of Law
$1,896,819
College of Journalism & Mass Communications College of Business Administration College of Architecture Other units
$457,323
TOTAL $253,320,561
Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources $107,844,403
OTHER $25,354,946
$5,787,492 $678,964 $12,510,885
research: see page 2
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I
n April 2011, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln gained a title unique among American institutions of higher education. It was the first school ever booted from the Association of American Universities. A vote ended UNL’s 102 years in the members-only club of the nation’s top academic research programs. By a margin of two votes, UNL became the only Big Ten school that wasn’t an AAU member. Two and a half years later, administrators maintain that the removal from the 62-member institution wasn’t a reflection of the university’s quality as a research institution. The removal, the administrators say, was linked to the AAU’s ranking system, which does not include all types of agricultural research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — and agricultural research makes up more than 42 percent of UNL’s research expenditures. What’s more, UNL gets no credit for medical research conducted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center because the two are separate institutions. And although UNL trails Forbes’ list of top research universities at No. 119, the university’s research leaders say it’s an important player in the research world – and it will become even more important as multi-million dollar projects such as Innovation Campus, the Water for Food Center, the Brain, Biology and Behavior Center and UNL’s partnership with the Department of Defense come to fruition. In 2000, the Future Nebraska Task