The University of Maryland has moved rapidly to a new level of distinction and excellence. To accommodate the research generated by our outstanding faculty and to guarantee the highest quality education for our undergraduate and graduate students, we must provide physical facilities appropriate to the needs of a modern university.

Two priorities for capital funding are FY05 construction funds for the biosciences research building and funds for equipment for the new Kim Engineering and Applied Sciences Building.

1. Biosciences Research Building

Funding for bioscience research remains a top priority for the government. Bioscience research has fueled medical breakthroughs that are benefitting the quality and length of life of people everywhere; bioscience research supports and facilitates the biotech industry, in which the United States is currently a leader; and bioscience research will play a key role in helping the government detect and prevent worst case scenarios of bio-terrorism. All major universities in the coming decade will be strong in biosciences, and the University of Maryland is committed to building its strength to a competitive level with other major research universities.

The impact of strong biosciences on the economic development of a region is clear. According to a report from the Brookings Institution (Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S., 2002), "Biotechnology, an industry built on fundamental breakthroughs in the understanding of genetic processes... is the next great frontier of scientific advancement that will bring with it whole new industries ... and potential economic impacts... seem to be huge." To tap into this new economic driver, partnerships are being built between universities and federal agencies and universities and industries. These partnerships contribute to a vibrant economy of technology transfer.

Strength in biosciences is the key to the future of the State's economy, key to the future of the University, and key to the faculty's ability to capture a share of the huge amount of federal funding pouring into biosciences. UMCP has strength and depth in basic biosciences research and in supporting sciences such as advanced computer science that give it great potential to lead in this field.

Over the past five years, the University has made strong biosciences a priority. Our investment has paid off: research activities have surged; partnerships and collaborations are on the increase; and the students we are preparing for work in a specialized field are more talented than ever.

The biosciences research building is essential to our carefully developed strategy to build a biosciences program that will fuel State leadership in this area. The report of our progress in the paragraphs below points to an explosion of activity in the biosciences. The current facilities provide barely acceptable space for research. As a consequence, the possibilities of extending research projects or accepting funding for new ones is severely circumscribed. Without the bioscience research building, we will not be able to give undergraduates and graduate students appropriate facilities for a top quality education in these fields. University laboratories are crowded and not appropriate for the latest technology for either teaching or research purposes.

Building Momentum in the Life Sciences— 1998 to Present

With substantial University funds committed to hiring new faculty, the College of Life Sciences has hired 38 new tenured/tenure-track faculty members since the Fall of 1998 with research interests that cover some of the most important areas of study in the biosciences today. Because of a significant number of retirements during the same period, there has been a net increase of just seven faculty members. Because we are replacing research inactive faculty who don't need lab space with research active faculty, this modest increase has virtually exhausted the lab space for new faculty. Given the time requirements for completing an appropriate new facility to house our research, we must keep construction of the bioscience research building on schedule. When funds are available we intend to enter the job market for top scientists and up and coming stars and realize our long-range plans of hiring additional faculty in targeted areas to propel us into national leadership.

Hires at the senior level include Dr. George Lorimer, world-renowned specialist in protein folding and a member of the National Academy of Sciences; Dr. William Jeffery, an internationally recognized expert on the evolution of development; and as Dean of the College of Life Sciences, Dr. Norma Allewell, a distinguished biochemist and seasoned administrator from Harvard University. Recent hires at the assistant professor level include Drs. Sarah Tishkoff and Victor Muņoz, both of whom were awarded $625K David and Lucile Packard Foundation fellowships in Fall 2001. Dr. Muņoz was also named a Searle Scholar, and Dr. Tishkoff was named one of the nation's 10 Most Brilliant young scholars by Popular Science magazine. Hired this year, Dr. Hey-Kyoung Lee has just been named a Sloan Research Fellow.

The level of excellence in recent hires has helped to transform and invigorate the overall research productivity of the College of Life Sciences, as is evident from the huge increases in research activity.

• Research expenditures have increased 98% since FY98, reaching $21M in FY2003.
• The average sponsored research per faculty member nearly doubled.
• The total multi-year grant funding held by the 38 hires made since FY98 exceeds $30 million from federal sources as well as private foundations.