MSU reports record-breaking research expenditures

MSU conducted a record-breaking $200 million worth of research in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, vastly outpacing its rival University of Montana and firmly cementing its status as Bozeman’s dominant economic anchor.

The ground-breaking work of MSU’s faculty and grad students has not only succeeded in attracting a tsunami of grant cash, but also a swarm of industrial partners hungry for talent and intellectual property. Be it the Department of Defense, the Montana Seed Growers Association or Aurora self-driving cars, the message is the same: we want what MSU’s got.

Positioned within arm’s reach of Waded Crusado’s Montana Hall office, the Office of Research and Economic Development oversees the entire lifespan of research projects at MSU from idea, to grant application, to the laboratory, to — lastly and most crucially — the dissemination of findings.

Vice President of Research and Economic Development Alison Harmon was keen to point out that the $200 million was not raised by local taxes or student tuition. “That’s dollars that (our researchers) have attracted from outside of Montana,” Harmon said, “most of it comes from the federal government.”

MSU receives 89% of its research funding from highly competitive grants offered by federal agencies like the USDA or NASA, according to the university. MSU researchers posit their ideas for research by responding to Requests for Proposals or by publishing “white papers.” In either case, researchers have the opportunity to stake out their own visions for new projects. “Here’s what we think Montana needs, here’s what we think the nation needs, here’s what we can do here,” Harmon said.

After the drawn-out award decision process, successful grant recipients access their awards from the Office of Sponsored Programs, where their grant cash is held, Harmon said. As researchers withdraw money for staffing, travel and equipment, their withdrawals are tallied into an annual total research expenditure. This is how the university tracks research activity, since grants awarded in a certain year may be expended over the course of many years.

As dictated by its land-grant charter, a sizable portion of MSU’s research is in the fields of agriculture, engineering and military technology. Also stipulated in the charter is the university’s responsibility to disseminate its research back to the public.

Sometimes, the research findings are returned to the same entities that offered the grant in a transactional manner. Other findings are published in academic journals. However in some instances —332 times last academic year —MSU research produced marketable intellectual property, Harmon said.

Harmon said that the Montana State Seed Lab offers one example of how the university might reap the fruits of its labor. Once plant scientists finish developing a viable new breed of crop, the seed becomes the intellectual property of the university. The university could then license the seed to agricultural companies in exchange for royalties.

In this example the research pays for itself since the royalty revenue gets reinvested back into the program. However, Harmon made sure to distinguish this enterprise from that of a business. “MSU also produces seeds that we distribute freely, so it isn’t always about making money,” she said, “We are doing a service for the state of Montana.”

Bozeman has emerged as a burgeoning western outpost of industry, attracting cutting-edge firms which have traditionally clung to the nation’s coasts. The main catalyst for this local economic explosion has been the optics and photonics industry, an industry derived from MSU research.

The Montana Photonics Alliance, a local industry advocacy group, boasts of 35 firms and 800 employees in the Bozeman area. Firms like Advanced Electronics Designs and Laser Lab Source make their fortunes by licensing the university’s intellectual property through the Office of Tech Transfer. It’s a lucrative industry. One firm, Ascent Vision Technologies, was recently awarded a $23 million contract to develop truck-mounted “counter-drone” systems capable of downing a drone with pulses of electromagnetic radiation for the Air Force, according to a company press release.

Even those who do not directly depend on the university’s research still rely on a steady stream of freshly minted engineering undergrads and Ph.D. physicists to fill their payroll. The need has proven so great that even Gallatin College has begun offering a two-year degree to train the next generation of photonics professionals.

“It’s a nice continuum. That industry is born from the expertise that people got when they were students at MSU,” Harmon said. “That industry depends upon a workforce that MSU is creating.” 

As research expenditures continue to grow, the campus is encircled by a web of entrepreneurs and government agencies clamoring for first dibs at university innovations and innovators, Harmon said. In the interest of supporting these relationships, MSU is developing a 42-acre “Innovation Campus” on a university-owned parcel just west of 19th avenue. Much like the existing “Research Park” south of Bobcat Stadium, the stated goals of the Innovation Campus are to “support the research, technology transfer, entrepreneurial, and economic development activities of the university, the region and the state,” Harmon said. 

The Innovation Campus will provide a “landing space” for “industries that Montana would like to see take root in this region,” Harmon said. “Think of that Innovation Campus as a seed bed. It’s private industry, but it’s tied in physically with MSU’s location here, and it makes the collaboration really smooth.”

To this end, the Innovation Campus has already been a success; the autonomous vehicle company Aurora had just broken ground on a new research facility this year. Aurora hopes to tap into MSU’s understanding of optics and photonics for its autonomous vehicles. As the local tech industry grows, so, too, does the demand for experts in the field.  MSU’s researchers will play an increasingly crucial role in the growth of the region’s economy.