… in the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that the most charitable description of what’s been going on at the clubby University of Minnesota medical school would be “bizarre.”
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Ah, those Badgers… It’s Bad Enough That They Beat Us In Football, but Biofuels?
From the Daily:
Research Funding
July 3, 2007
July 3, 2007
U loses bid for biofuel grant Some officials criticized the Department of Energy's ties with the winning institutions.
By Justin Horwath
The Department of Energy announced three recipients of the most-coveted biofuel grants in the nation last week. The University applied for the funding but did not receive it. Some University officials involved in the application process criticized the selections because of the DOE's ties to research teams receiving funds.
Two of the teams that received the grant are headed by national labs - one in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, in Berkeley, Calif.
The third team that received one of the $125 million grants, a University of Wisconsin-Madison team, is not headed by a national lab, but is collaborating with two national labs.
Bob Elde, dean of the College of Biological Sciences, said he was "disappointed, but not shocked," by the announcement.
The Department of Energy's three Bioenergy Research Centers will include:
• The DOE BioEnergy Science Center led by the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Collaborators include: Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.; University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.; Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.; and the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, Tenn.
• The DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will be led by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., in close collaboration with Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Collaborators include: DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.; Lucigen Corporation in Middleton, Wis.; University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.; DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Illinois State University in Normal, Ill.; and Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
• The DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute will be led by DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The institute director will be Jay Keasling, and collaborators include: Sandia National Laboratories; DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; University of California-Berkeley; University of California-Davis; and Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.
"It's really clear that the intramural programs of the Department of Energy were themselves highly valued as the lead in partner research organizations for the kind of work that would be done," he said. "I think it reflects the tendency of the Department of Energy to take care of its own facilities and scientists first."
Todd Reubold, associate director of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment - which brings together faculty and staff at the University to work on renewable energy - said although the science and quality of research was crucial in the selection process, there was a political element. "In the end it was the fact that some of the other institutions had stronger connections to national laboratories, which tipped the scales," he said.
A media contact at the DOE, Megan Barnett, cited comments made by Secretary of Energy, Samuel Bodman, at a June 26 press conference in reference to the DOE's purported ties to grant recipients. "The proposals were thoroughly analyzed and discussed. The three that rose to the top are truly extraordinary," according to an e-mail sent to the Daily containing Bodman's comments. "The quality of the scientific teams that they have assembled … are as good as it gets."
Timothy Donohue, a professor in the bacteriology department at Madison, who will be in charge of the DOE Great Lakes Bioresearch Center lab, said in looking for partners in the proposal, his team thought about the "science we wanted and the issues we wanted to address." "We were not looking for any specific partner," he said. "It was all about science; it wasn't about political positioning."
The ambitious aspiration of the BigU administration to become one of the top three public research institutions in the world seems less and less likely. Competition is extremely tough and even our neighbors, the Badgers, will be difficult to surpass given their excellent track record. Congratulations to them for this extraordinary achievement.
Happy 4th! Bonzo
Two of the teams that received the grant are headed by national labs - one in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, in Berkeley, Calif.
The third team that received one of the $125 million grants, a University of Wisconsin-Madison team, is not headed by a national lab, but is collaborating with two national labs.
Bob Elde, dean of the College of Biological Sciences, said he was "disappointed, but not shocked," by the announcement.
The Department of Energy's three Bioenergy Research Centers will include:
• The DOE BioEnergy Science Center led by the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Collaborators include: Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.; University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.; Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.; and the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, Tenn.
• The DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will be led by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., in close collaboration with Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Collaborators include: DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.; Lucigen Corporation in Middleton, Wis.; University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.; DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Illinois State University in Normal, Ill.; and Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
• The DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute will be led by DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The institute director will be Jay Keasling, and collaborators include: Sandia National Laboratories; DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; University of California-Berkeley; University of California-Davis; and Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.
"It's really clear that the intramural programs of the Department of Energy were themselves highly valued as the lead in partner research organizations for the kind of work that would be done," he said. "I think it reflects the tendency of the Department of Energy to take care of its own facilities and scientists first."
Todd Reubold, associate director of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment - which brings together faculty and staff at the University to work on renewable energy - said although the science and quality of research was crucial in the selection process, there was a political element. "In the end it was the fact that some of the other institutions had stronger connections to national laboratories, which tipped the scales," he said.
A media contact at the DOE, Megan Barnett, cited comments made by Secretary of Energy, Samuel Bodman, at a June 26 press conference in reference to the DOE's purported ties to grant recipients. "The proposals were thoroughly analyzed and discussed. The three that rose to the top are truly extraordinary," according to an e-mail sent to the Daily containing Bodman's comments. "The quality of the scientific teams that they have assembled … are as good as it gets."
Timothy Donohue, a professor in the bacteriology department at Madison, who will be in charge of the DOE Great Lakes Bioresearch Center lab, said in looking for partners in the proposal, his team thought about the "science we wanted and the issues we wanted to address." "We were not looking for any specific partner," he said. "It was all about science; it wasn't about political positioning."
The ambitious aspiration of the BigU administration to become one of the top three public research institutions in the world seems less and less likely. Competition is extremely tough and even our neighbors, the Badgers, will be difficult to surpass given their excellent track record. Congratulations to them for this extraordinary achievement.
Happy 4th! Bonzo
