SIUC places 16 on list of most productive research schools in U.S.

SIUC came in 16th on a list of institutions for the number of inventions disclosed per $1 million in spending on research, beating Harvard and Yale by a long shot, as reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Generally, research is an important part of the mission at this University,” said John Koropchak, Graduate School dean and recently appointed vice chancellor for research. “It will have a lot of effect on the reputation of the University and will help attract faculty and students.”

Koropchak believes that the research will help to boost SIU’s reputation as well, increasing the value of degrees received.

The technology transfer is the transfer of ideas from the research stage to the idea stage, and from there the ideas may become patented to make products and possibly form companies. SIU has made enough headway in these areas to be recognized among the top 117 institutions in the U.S.

Jeff Myers, SIU’s technology transfer specialist, said SIU research teams are happy to compare favorably with other schools in some categories.

SIU has excelled in patenting ideas and processes in the Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Science, Liberal Arts, Medicine, Applied Sciences and Arts and others.

Koropchak expects SIU’s success to continue. He believes that the recognition, as well as the productivity, has been good for SIU faculty, students and citizens in Southern Illinois.

“We’ve seen growth in research productivity, and we’ve seen growth in graduate enrollment,” Koropchak said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to see continued growth.”

Even with all of the success, the technology transfer area at SIU is not going to slack off. In fact, they realize they must only work harder.

“We’re pleased with those numbers,” Myers said. “For us, that’s just a good starting point. We hope to improve in our technology transfer for some time to come.”

Reporter Arin Thompson can be reached at [email protected]