AVP Kircher Provides Testimony to MN Senate Higher Ed Research Committee

On January 12, Associate Vice President for Research Amy Kircher provided testimony to the Minnesota Senate Higher Education Research Committee on the state of University of Minnesota research and technology commercialization.

Kircher's testimony highlighted many of the University's accomplishments outlined by Vice President for Research Shashank Priya in a recent report on the UMN research enterprise to the UMN Board of Regents, including affirming the University's position as part of the "billion-dollar research club." With a research portfolio of over a billion dollars, the University is in a group that includes only 23 other US research universities.

Other significant points of pride Kircher noted include:

Research Expenditures and Awards

  • Ranking among the top 15 US public universities for research expenditures (NSF HERD) (#14)
  • Saw significant research growth at: UMD (+13%); CFANS (52%); CLA (+62%)

Technology Commercialization

  • Record number of patents issued (241) and startups created (22)
  • UMN inventions have generated $241 million in revenue over the past 10 year

Research Is Teaching

  • 41% of UMN undergraduate students reported assisting faculty in conducting research

Watch AVP Kircher's testimony. Kircher testified along with Pres. Gabel, Myron Frans, and Julie Tonneson for the University's part of the agenda, which starts at roughly an hour and nine minutes.