Universities and the Promise of Economic Growth

Several grants and support from the Office of the Vice President for Research have supported ongoing research by Roger Geiger (and Creso Sá, who joined the University of Toronto in 2006) on the links of universities with economic growth. This project has examined university contributions to innovation in industry, intellectual property and technology transfer, state policies promoting university contributions to economic growth, and the impact of these activities on universities and their organization. This project has produced a book by Geiger and Sá, Tapping the Riches of Science: Universities and the Promise of Economic Growth (Harvard University Press, 2008). Additional writings from this project can be found at http://www.tappingtherichesofscience.info, Geiger's work in 2007-08 focuses on university research for industry and resulted in a report to the Vice President for Research, Corporate Sponsored Research at Penn State (March 2008). Related to this project, Geiger is participating (2008-2009) in projects to develop graduate curricula in engineering design and innovation and exploration of new strategies to leverage university research for industrial competitiveness and growth.