Summary of Table Responses
SUNY Research and Innovation Symposium
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT)
Stony Brook University Research and Development Park

Table of Contents

Questions for the Working Group Discussion	3
Table #1					4
Table #3					5
Table #4					7
Table #5					10
Table #6					12
Table #7					14
Table #8					15
Table #9					16
Table #10					18
White Board Notes				20


Questions for the Working Group Discussion


1.	Describe what the research environment will look like in ten years and identify structures 
and resources SUNY will need to employ to be a leader in the changed environment. 
2.	When you think of research at SUNY, what are the specific areas of strength that come to 
mind? Which are the most compelling, and why? 
3.	What are areas where we can leverage the size and strengths of our system to increase 
our competitiveness for external funding and to provide the innovative research that New 
York needs for the future? 
4.	Identify ways to build SUNY's commitment to discovery and encourage the seamless 
movement of discoveries and innovation across schools and into the marketplace. 
5.	Based on the above can you identify three big hairy audacious goals for SUNY in research 
that would truly position us to help lead the new economy in New York State? 
 


Table #1

Importance of leverage to federal agencies.  University/industry partnerships attractive to funding 
agencies - more information.

Question #5
Goals: Suggestions:
i)	Why can't SUNY aspire to be #1 in federally funded public system in the US?
ii)	Lead in making NYS #1 in federal funding.
Need system wide effort to train/orient/assist faculty and students to be more effective grant 
getters.
Identify research strengths within SUNY and to build on these as a base with partnerships like 
REACH.  Do this regionally.
Identify and exploit regional strengths through coalitions fed by SUNY institutions.  Do this through 
proactive initiatives from SUNY.
"Pipeline" - Develop a generation of tech-ready high school graduates through SUNY leadership.
Goal #1:  SUNY to develop training programs from entrepreneurship.
Goal #2:  Use SUNY's large clinical cohort base to propel SUNY to #1 clinical research performer.
Goal #3:  #1 producer of researchers from under-represented populations.
Goal #4:  All SUNY campuses to have Internet access - Use IT to drive coalitions to achieve 
regional goals.
Collaboration - We need to work together!



Table #3
Question #1
De-emphasize departments.
Cross disciplinary "pillars."
Interdisciplinary graduate program - Dual appointment hires
Invest SUNY dollars in an interdisciplinary research but in a focused manner on existing strengths, 
within the system. SUNY Reach beyond health centers - Highly collaborative - and reach out to 
private/federal investors and company. 
Leverage outside NY and international - Global.

Question #2
Medical centers have defined that SUNY Reach Global Health.
Computer science.
Engineering - Nano.
Marine and Great Lakes.

Question #3
Focus on existing strengths in question #2.
Human capital at community colleges.
Strength in response time.
Collaborations - technology innovation.

Question #4
Subsidize start ups - realistically.
Incubators.
Encourage faculty and students to be entrepreneurial.
Question #5
Incentive to faculty (promotion and tenure).
New ways to do business with faculty.
Resources that allow exploring / innovation.
Change the mind set through education.
Increase the number of empire scholars.
SUNY INC.


Table #4
Question #1
A)  Major federal research investments will continue to be made in healthcare and biomedicine 
and in energy. Environmental issues including climate change will remain a focus of concern but 
the funding picture is less predictable.
B)   At least at NIH, individual investigator-initiated research will continue to lose ground to 
programmatic and targeted, categorical research programs.
C)  Federal sponsors will continue to/increasingly expect to see research programs and projects 
receive support from other sources, e.g., state investments as well as institutional cost-sharing.
D)  Interdisciplinary approaches will accelerate in the conduct of research. For example, a major 
longitudinal study being performed by the School of Criminal Justice at Albany has a key 
collaboration with biomedical researchers to explore possible genetic bases for violent behavior.
Question #4
A)  Achieving this purpose will require major changes in the way SUNY's business is done:
	i.)  Resource allocation should be driven by strategic decision-making based on strategic 
priorities rather than by formula.
	ii.)  Maximize return of resources to campus research programs by re-examining current 
campus-level and SUNY Central/RF Central-level formulas (see 4.i. above) including those for 
indirect cost return.
	iii.) Set as a goal achieving the lowest administrative overhead, as a component of the 
indirect cost rate, among leading public and private research universities in the nation, while 
maintaining appropriate IDC return, to free up resources to invest in research and faculty.
      iv.) Expand the flexibility with which SUNY resources, including the workforce, can be 
managed at the system and campus levels;
B)  And major changes in SUNY's role in critical forums, e.g. 
      v.)  Develop and implement a methodical process to place appropriate SUNY research 
leaders on national bodies that make federal research funding allocation decisions and 
recommendations.
      vi.) Make appropriate investments in achieving recognition of SUNY's value to New York 
State by the state's public and private sector leaders.
Note: Issues of conflict of interest and conflict of commitment inevitably arise when faculty 
members are encouraged to play multiple roles, including contributing to the movement of their 
discoveries and inventions to the marketplace. Although campuses, which have had fifteen years 
of experience responding to federal expectations regarding conflict of interest management and 
the policies and procedures governing it, differ in culture and appropriate means of 
communication, it would be useful for SUNY Central and RF Central to assist the acquisition or 
development of a SUNY-wide COI education program analogous to the online program used for 
investigators engaged in research involving human subjects. The group wishes to record its 
unanimous consensus that the emergence of such conflicts is an inevitable result of the expanded 
catalog of roles faculty in a contemporary research university are expected to fulfill and does not 
in itself constitute an ethical lapse.
Question #5
A)  Build on strength to raise SUNY research to the level of the nation's top public research 
university systems. SUNY's current position as a system is comparable to and even exceeds the 
flagship campuses of systems including Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota, Florida, and Urbana-
Champaign (according to the FY2007 NSF rankings), but SUNY's own research campuses rank well 
below these publicly perceived powerhouses. It will take a 50% increase in faculty to raise 
research activity to the level the Empire State needs and deserves. Achieving this goal may require 
innovations in hiring and supporting faculty.
B)  Become a premier national research and development resource, distinguished for integration 
of breakthrough discovery and invention, technology development, commercialization and clinical 
application, workforce development and training, and impact assessment, by building on, building 
up and collaboratively leveraging the diverse strengths across the SUNY system in:
	i.) Healthcare and biomedicine with focused emphases enabled by nanomedicine
	     Vision: The SUNY-REACH initiative is an excellent foundation for focusing SUNY-wide 
efforts on specific areas of established strength - cancer, infectious diseases/emerging pathogens, 
disorders of the nervous system, and diabetes and cardiovascular diseases - and capitalizing on 
SUNY's unique capacity in New York State to collaborate across campuses, amplifying the critical 
mass for leading-edge biomedical and device discovery and invention, including the development 
of new research tools, as well as providing an unparalleled capability for drug development, 
clinical trials and commercialization, and management development and workforce training.
    	   Strengths: Downstate, UB, Stony Brook, and Upstate medical schools - whose basic and 
clinical research enterprise would need to be sustained and enhanced to secure a foundation of 
excellence for continuing discovery - and their affiliated hospitals, whose combined, diverse 
population bases would constitute a singular resource for large scale epidemiologic or drug trial 
studies; Centers of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (UB), Small Scale Systems 
Integration (Binghamton), Nanoscience (Albany), Wireless and Information Technology (SBU); 
CATs in biomedical devices (UB), medical biotech (SBU), sensors (SBU), Integrated Electronics 
(Binghamton); SPIR at Binghamton, UB, SBU; highly ranked life sciences programs at four-year 
colleges; articulated health and life sciences Associates degree programs and biomedical research 
and healthcare training programs at two-year colleges; policy, human behavior and other 
specialized programs at diverse levels and locations. The New York Blue supercomputer at 
Brookhaven National Laboratory, as well as its abundance of other world-class specialized 
facilities, including the National Synchrotron Light Source and the Center for Functional 
Nanomaterials, should be regarded as a SUNY resource. In addition, the New York presence of 
Pfizer, Forest Laboratories, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and more than 500 other drug, pharmaceutical 
and medical device companies provides a wealth of potential research and commercialization 
partners, creating the potential for significant job creation.
	ii.) Energy: The Smart Grid
	      Vision: Current initiatives including the Advanced Energy Research and Technology 
Center, the New York State Smart Grid Consortium and the New York Energy Policy Institute 
provides the foundation to make SUNY a leading international center for the science and 
engineering breakthroughs that will drive the global development and deployment of the Smart 
Grid, the biggest energy technology revolution in a century, which is essential to reduce energy 
consumption and costs and integrate renewable sources as the world strives to become carbon-
free.
	     Strengths: SUNY has substantial information technology, wireless, cyber-security, 
advanced power microelectronics and semiconductors, sensor systems, materials, simulation and 
modeling, batteries and stationary storage expertise. This includes the Energy and Environmental 
Technology Applications Center (E2TAC), Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and Nanocenter 
complex at Albany; the Integrated Electronics Engineering Center and other programs at 
Binghamton; the Energy Systems Institute and other programs at Buffalo; and the Advanced 
Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), New York State Center of Excellence in Wireless 
and Information Technology (CEWIT), the NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center for 
Information Protection, and the DOE Energy Frontier Research Center in Chemical Storage at 
Stony Brook; SPIR at Binghamton, UB, SBU; highly ranked programs at four-year colleges; 
articulated engineering and information technology Associates degree and training programs at 
two-year colleges; policy, human behavior and other specialized programs at diverse levels and 
locations.. Brookhaven Laboratory has an EFRC for Emergent Superconductivity and significant 
additional resources. In addition, major New York companies, including GE, IBM and CA, as well as 
thousands of information technology and electronics companies, are current and prospective 
research, development and commercialization partners, creating the potential for significant job 
creation.
Despite a challenging federal fiscal environment through 2015 and a declining trend in industry 
research investments, significant increases in federal funding are anticipated in both of these 
areas going forward. The broad, interdisciplinary area of environmental sciences and climate 
change is a third major area of need where there are notable SUNY resources, including the 
College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, the Great Lakes Institute and Research 
Consortium based in Buffalo, and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, home to the 
SUNY-wide Marine Sciences Research Center, at Stony Brook; partly because of the breadth of this 
area, the future funding outlook is less clear.
Note: The goals summarized above reflect a consensus on some of SUNY's greatest strengths and 
prospective areas for leveraging them and providing for New York's future, as the group was 
asked to address in Questions 2 and 3.


Table #5
Question #1
Looks like:
1)	Cross campus / collaborative - new and expanded.
2)	Bigger.
3)	Interdisciplinary.
SUNY Structure needs:
1)	Need IT to make talk easier.
a.	Distance (campuses; other; global).
b.	Encourage new collaboration.
2)	Still need forums to meet in person.
Resources:
1)	Reinvestment of Funds / Seed Money
a.	Seed funds
i.	SUNY
ii.	Philanthropy
iii.	Other
b.	Systems needed to facilitate this, structural and resources.

Question #2
1)	Biomedical (health, clinical, basic science, policy, population, translational)
2)	Energy
3)	Nano Science
4)	Agriculture
5)	Trainees - SUNY Breadth to train students to implement this research.
6)	Translational

Question #3
 (See #2 areas)

Question #4
1)	Get community understanding, interest and support.
2)	Increase visibility of research and impact of research and its importance on NYS and 
beyond.
3)	Starts at top:
a.	Invest in these areas.
b.	Reward discovery.
c.	Set it as a priority.
d.	Strategic planning.

Question #5
1)	Take SUNY Reach model and do one for each priority area.
2)	Set our intention to be World Leader in several focused areas.
3)	Raise SUNY Profile as Whole system within NYS and worldwide.
Empire Scholar Type Planning, long-term commitment of funding for high end impact areas.





Table #6

Endowment - SUNY System Endowment
Energy generation, conservation, and storage

Question #1
Research teams (interdisciplinary, large).
Cross-campus (Inter campus) team science.
Basic scientists with clinical scientists.
Dependence on high-end technology.
Less dependence on state (and federal) funding.
Tying basic (and clinical and translational) research to economic impact / goals.

Question #2
Clinical Research Pillars
Nanosciences
AM& CVD
Cancer
I.D.
These are particular strengths. Size and Scope of SUNY academic health care is impressive.
Nanotechnology
Bio-informatics
Energy generation, conservation and storage



Question #5
Big Hairy Audacious Goals
1)	SUNY System Endowment(s) - serious development efforts for targeted programs; 
industrial partnerships; branding / Centralization.
2)	Melding Academic Health care centers with Nanotechnology - Translational Research.
3)	Leading the country in energy solutions (including energy generation, conversation and 
storage).
4)	Entrepreneurial training on each campus.




Table #7
Question #1
Collaborative, targeted, accelerated, limited resources, internationalized - this is the future.
Responses - SUNY has to be innovative value what has been done in the past but develop new 
values to match the changing environment.

Question #5
1) Aligning values of SUNY with the changing research environment.
2) Leverage all SUNY resources, including research training treatment and outreach to attack 
complex problems, such as elimination of heart disease.
3) Incentivize research to support the new NYS economy - become the world leader in having 
research drive the economy.


Table #8
Summary:  we focused on identifying research and innovation goals. To answer this question we 
recommend that SUNY, as an institute, focus and identify 3-6 needs of society as a whole and 
develop R and D programs around them.  As an example we identified 3 possible research areas:

1) Medical concerns
?	Aging
?	Infectious disease
?	Chronic disease

2) Energy
?	Sustainable energy source

3) Security
?	Internet
?	Homeland

Many of these areas are already areas of excellence or research focus presently.

Guiding Principles:
1.	Emphasis on development to promote research.
2.	Encourage collaboration across SUNY campuses and industry.
3.	Re-allocate resources to these areas of concerns.
4.	Look to leverage development to support research.
5.	Globalization.


Table #9
Goals:
Question #1
?	A better question is: What should it look like?  Can we influence that?
?	Research environment will move towards greater integration with industry - more important 
to have business sense in researchers.
?	Stronger collaboration between:  campuses (SUNY) and campus and industry.
?	Develop single system for research in SUNY - currently 64 systems.
?	Mechanisms to reward research that spans multiple campuses.
?	SUNY intranet: Use for collaboration... bring disciplines together regularly.
?	Database of research profiles of all faculty.
?	SUNY board to announce grants and publications by faculty

Need to grow research at SUNY: strategic growth
?	Where to best direct resources?
?	Geographically dispersed workforce/campuses/opportunities.
?	Small business development.
?	Figure out how to grow research at campuses that seek to grow their research portfolios.

Question #2
?	Greater access to people who have meaningful contacts in Washington DC. Government 
relations office in Washington DC.  Not well known
?	Research foundation: acts as gatekeepers... need to act as facilitators. How to get around 
obstacles?
Audacious Goal: Framework for more inter-campus collaboration... using technology
Need for feeling of "Part of a Family".
Summary:
?	Research and industry couples more every year.
?	Encourage and reward inter-campus research efforts.  Especially valuable as we grown 
research capabilities at campuses other than research centers.
?	Strategic growth.
?	Small business.
?	Database, publications.
?	Small campuses to grow.
?	Target certain campuses as epicenters for research in their area. Responsible to do that!
?	Leverage our size.
?	Shared grants facilitated centrally.


Table #10
Question #1
Inter-discipline nature of research.
Much more collaboration.
Increased emphasis on practicality.
Break Silo Structures - Faculty need to be able to collaborate on research across campuses
The Spin System
?	Faculty can identify themselves and research projects
?	Social Network - Research Network
?	Facebook - SUNYbook
Trust and Contribution - Interact personally - Nurture these relationships.
SUNY should provide opportunities for these conversations among the faculty.
Conferences/presentations/change of attitude.
Going beyond collaboration to marketability - not all scientists are interested in doing this.  They 
should not be left out.  People need to be able to do what they do well and collaborate.
Scientists and Entrepreneurs and Marketing and Politics.

Question #2
SPIP Program
Changing the culture. 
?	Department level.
?	Collaborative teams with different skill sets.
?	Organizers necessary to facilitate collaboration who can facilitate and package.
?	Make this kind of work a part of the curriculum.
?	Collaboration across the sectors and with industry.

Question #5
Biomedical Research.
Green Energy.
Environmental Issues.
Building up a clinical database - infrastructure - away of accumulating information on clinical 
trials.
Data management - statistical core.
Green Energy - Electric Power Grid - Building working relationships with the utilities.
Simulation Modeling important for all 3.
Sustainability Engineer a must - Integrating campuses.
?	What are we good at?
?	Take advantage of high standard of undergrad education in NYS - Break cultural barrier 
between undergrad and graduate school.
?	What are we good at is a dynamic education (part of our grade is Challenging the Teacher).
?	Bring these students into our own graduate programs.
?	Make possibilities more visible.
?	Students need to see the big picture.
?	For example - getting grants - what do they need to know to get that grant?



White Board Notes
Table #7
Need for more collaborations, targeted areas, federal priorities
Goals:
1)	Alignment of value systems, clear as community, new evaluations, policies and procedures
2)	Act like a system; leverage all of  SUNY  resources; societal challenges and issues
3)	Relationship between research and economic; world leaders and have research drive the 
economy in NYS and beyond
Table #4
SUNY is huge university - sometimes an obstacle but also an opportunity! Can collaborate across 
campuses.   SUNY Research concept
BHAG:
1)	identify and expand areas of collaboration
2)	Integrate and synergy
3)	Increase research faculty by 50% - ways to fund
-	Allocate resources strategically
-	Maximize research resources, across campuses

Table #10
Strengths of SUNY - strong undergrad and graduate programs - attractive to public and private 
funding sources
10 years? Interdisciplinary, practicality - need to build on strengths
Computerized programs - research activities on different campuses - not locality - find partners 
outside the laboratory
BHAG
1)	Green energy and sustainability, climate change
2)	Biomedical, computer science, marine and great lake research
Importance of highly collaborative research - global
Look inside to subsidize start ups
Encourage faculty and students to be entrepreneurs teach business, incentives and rewards
SUNY, Inc - Incentives for New Companies
Starts with students and faculty, identify strengths - outside NY and across the globe

Table #3
Deemphasized programs that exist, encourage new, bio medical, computer science, marine and 
great lakes
Importance of highly collaborative research - global
Look inside to subsidize start ups
Encourage faculty and students to be entrepreneurs
Teach business, rewards/incentives
SUNY, Inc. - Incentives for New Companies
Start with students and faculty; indentify strengths - outside NY and across the globe


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