Research Spending Is On Upswing


Dennis O'Shea
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Homewood News and Information

     Science and medical research spending at Johns Hopkins
exceeded $788 million last year, up slightly from a
nation-leading $784 million in 1994.

     The expenditure totals reflect the Hopkins faculty's work on
everything from cancer research to the discovery of black holes
millions of light-years away, from preventive health care for
at-risk children to the development of advanced robots to go
where humans cannot.

     Funding for the work comes from a wide range of federal
agencies--such as the National Institutes of Health, National
Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Defense--as well
as from corporate and other sponsors.

     Though rankings for fiscal year 1995 are not yet available,
Johns Hopkins has for years been far and away No. 1 among U.S.
colleges and universities in scientific research and development
spending. In the NSF's latest annual rankings, for fiscal 1994,
Hopkins' $784 million in science research activity was 82 percent
ahead of second-place University of Michigan's $431 million. The
University of Wisconsin-Madison was third at $393 million.

     Accounting for more than half of the university's total
fiscal 1995 budget of $1.45 billion, scientific research is a
major component of Johns Hopkins' contribution to the economy of
the areas where its employees work and live, particularly central
Maryland. About 45 percent of university-wide research spending
is for salaries.


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Most Outside Dollars 
Come From Federal Government

     It's the taxpayer who makes it possible for Johns Hopkins
researchers to find treatments for sickle cell anemia, teach
computers to talk and launch satellites to explore the solar
system.

     More than 80 percent of outside support for research at the
university comes from agencies in the federal government.

     Hopkins, for instance, is currently working on more than
$331 million worth of research grants for the National Institutes
of Health, 16 percent more than any other university. The
National Science Foundation funds nearly $95 million in research
at Hopkins, ranking the university 48th among its grantees.

     "The bulk of our research support comes from the federal
government, that is, from the American people," interim president
Daniel Nathans said. 

     "We thank Congress and the various federal agencies, such as
NIH, NSF, NASA and the Department of Defense, for this confidence
in Johns Hopkins University," he said. "Our  faculty and staff
recognize that we must earn that confidence on a continuous
basis."
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     "We do research because it encompasses the essence of our
three-part mission: discovery, education and service to society.
Hopkins research makes essential contributions to the well-being
of the nation and all mankind," said Daniel Nathans, interim
president of the university.

     "And it's also important not to ignore the direct economic
impact of nearly $800 million coming into the state of Maryland,
nearly all of it from outside sources," he said. "That money
creates jobs, and not only research jobs. Everyone benefits, from
university suppliers to supermarkets and corner hardware stores
in the many neighborhoods where our employees live."

     The university's economic impact also includes the use of
its discoveries to promote private enterprise, through both the
licensing of new technology and the creation of new small
businesses. Hopkins researchers reported 170 inventions in fiscal
1995. They applied for 44 patents, and 19 were granted during the
course of the year. The university concluded 42 licensing or
option agreements with businesses during the year, increasing to
199 the number of such agreements in effect.

     Science research accounts for the bulk of Hopkins' research
effort, but not for all of it. Counting research in
non-scientific fields, such as education and the humanities, the
university spent a total of $953 million on research and
development in fiscal 1995.