Syracuse University’s new vice president for research will play a key role in obtaining more grants to support faculty and graduate student projects this year, as SU shifts toward the implementation of its major Academic Strategic Plan.

Zhanjiang “John” Liu, in a University Senate budget report published Wednesday, noted that aspects of SU’s research portfolio can be improved. Liu was hired by SU last year as the vice president for research.

“SU has low levels of foundation and industry support grants (about $6 million per annum) and receives fewer grants from mission-oriented funding agencies relative to peer institutions,” stated the report by the Senate’s Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs.

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During a Senate meeting last spring, Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly said the university needs to find “a niche” in terms of STEM research to brand itself in “a very crowded marketplace,” so it can provide academic experience to students, under the spirit of the Academic Strategic Plan.

A major component of Syverud’s strategic plan is to better support graduate student programs and improve the university’s research capabilities.

“When we have grants, we have more resources to support research and our graduate students. Once we have resources, we can grow the numbers and quality of Ph.D. students’ programs,” said Liu, in a recent interview with The Daily Orange.

Liu said one of his main jobs in coming months, as SU starts to implement the strategic plan, is better support faculty research, according to the Senate’s budget report.

And, in the future, SU plans on increasing the number of Ph.D. students in STEM and non-STEM areas through extramural funding and obtaining grants and contracts, Liu added.

These areas of focus tie into the university’s Research 1 designation. That designation, which was announced in early 2016, is set by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The prestigious designation is used as a benchmark by agencies such as the United States Department of Education in determining grant money awards.

“SU is vulnerable with regard to ranking, and continued growth of the research enterprise must be achieved,” the budget report stated, though.

The report noted concern that the vice president for research has historically been “very modestly funded.” The committee recommended that officials ensure the office of the vice president for research be adequately staffed and resourced so it may address goals including improvement of research support for faculty.

“Retention of R1 status is a critical goal that will be difficult to achieve without the appropriate research infrastructure,” the report stated.

In the current research environment, Liu said “global challenges” must be addressed through interdisciplinary work, rather than a “single department or a single college.” Collaboration between faculty on projects is key, he said. The university’s Academic Strategic Plan also promotes interdisciplinary research.

The vice president for research’s appointment came a month before SU’s announcement of Invest Syracuse, a $100 million academic initiative, this past summer.

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SU aims to hire a total of 20 professors per year over the course of five years as part of the Invest Syracuse initiative, said Michele Wheatly, the university’s vice chancellor and provost, last month.

Ramesh Raina, biology professor and chair of the biology department at SU, said Liu is a “fantastic person to work with.”

Raina said he appreciates that Liu seeks out the opinions of faculty researchers on campus when carrying out his duties, and that he looks forward to seeing Liu carry out his vision for strengthening research in all areas at SU.

Liu was hired by SU out of Auburn University last year, where he served as the university’s associate provost and associate vice president for research. While in Alabama, Liu was well-known for his ability to communicate with others, said John Jensen, a professor emeritus at Auburn and a former colleague of Liu’s.

“I still to this day don’t know how he did that, (he) handled 15 graduate students and he was an administrator. How do you do that and succeed? As far as I could tell he never slept,” Jensen said. “He’s a very hard worker, we’ve never seen anything like him.”

During his time there, Liu secured a tenured position as an associate professor, published several articles and received an award from Alabama Catfish Producers for his contributions to the state’s catfish industry, among other things, Jensen said.

Jensen said Liu was known for his commitment to bolstering research at Auburn. And, at SU, Liu said he already has ideas.

“The success of SU depends on the success of our graduates. If you guys are very successful, we are very successful,” he said. “My passion is to generate research opportunities for students and help them succeed.”

Published on February 25, 2018 at 8:19 pm