University of Michigan Research and Creative Practice Review
Insights, Observations and Actions to Advance the Research Mission
The University of Michigan (U-M) is one of the world’s leading research universities. Its faculty, staff and students create, communicate, preserve and apply essential knowledge in innovative and impactful ways. Today, research activities at the university touch nearly all elements of modern life – from the discovery of new medicines, to advances in technology and automation, to clarifying the human condition and its connections to our quality of life.
With 19 schools and colleges, two major research institutes, two regional campuses and more than 100 centers and institutes, the university offers a comprehensive portfolio of programs and research opportunities that span most modern fields of inquiry – from business and engineering to medicine, social sciences, the arts and humanities.
By many measures, U-M has world-class strengths across a broad array of faculty, units, programs and disciplines. At the same time, there have been notable shifts in federal research priorities and trends that require informed future strategies.
To best position U-M for ongoing success, and as a complement to the university’s 2034 strategic visioning process, an internal committee was charged in Spring 2023 with assessing the current state of U-M’s broad research and creative practice portfolio and identifying challenges and opportunities.
As part of their work, the committee collected and analyzed extensive input from a variety of data sources, as well as qualitative feedback from hundreds of faculty across all tracks and groups, such as the Senate Assembly’s Research Advisory Committee, school and college leadership, staff and external partners. Important research-related information was also collected directly from 25 academic units across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.
Following the internal research review, in July 2023, President Santa J. Ono and Vice President for Research and Innovation Rebecca Cunningham convened an expert panel of external administrators and scholars to offer strategic guidance about increasing the competitiveness of the university’s research mission.
To advance its mission and support the Vision 2034 process, the external panel specifically highlighted U-M’s need for:
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- Bold, decisive leadership
- Overarching research goals supported by strong strategies
- Corresponding unit goals that leverage diverse unit strengths
- Leadership coordination at all levels (executive officers, deans, chairs and faculty)
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Together, the internal and external reviews identified U-M as a global research leader, producing excellence and groundbreaking discoveries in a wide diversity of areas, while serving as a critical training ground for many future research leaders.
The university is now engaged in a process to assess feasibility and plan next steps in response to the recommendations. This will include broader engagement with the research community, as various initiatives advance through planning stages.
We plan to implement a series of tactics and strategies to advance our research excellence and accelerate our groundbreaking discoveries, even as we continue to serve as a wellspring of education and training for future research leaders.
Actions to Advance the Research Mission
Based on recommendations from the U-M community, the internal review committee and the President’s External Advisory Panel, the university has identified the following actions.
Theme 1: University and Unit Research Goals, Accountability and Research Strategy
- Universitywide and Unit-level Research Goals
- Develop university-level and unit/school-level research goals
- Engage units and schools as part of the goal development process
- Incentives and Accountability for Research Goals
- Recognize the diverse ways that units assess research success and impact
- Track success transparently and regularly
- Forecasting of Research Opportunities
- Develop a proactive and sustained approach to engagement with funders
Theme 2: Internal Research Operations
- Funding Research, Innovation and Impact
- Align U-M’s strategic funding with university research goals
- Decrease barriers to large-scale research collaborations, innovative research institutes and U-M’s capacity for highly impactful research
- Internal Research Investments
- Assess and strategically align U-M’s substantial internal research investments with universitywide research goals
- Research Operations and Infrastructure
- Implement system-level improvements to better support research operations
- Lean into existing strengths in innovation and commercialization by developing an innovation district, with strong strategic alignment
- Research Space
- Create flexible research space outside any one unit to achieve interdisciplinarity goals
- Review how current research space is used to inform strategies regarding rehabilitation and new construction
Theme 3: Supporting our Researchers
- Faculty Recruitment and Retention
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- Implement strategic approaches around recruitment and retention to expand the research capacity of the institution, particularly those that cross units and align with research goals
- Strengthen career development opportunities and mentoring for junior- and mid-career faculty to enhance retention
- Recruit and support new faculty researchers
- Faculty Honorifics
- Develop strategies and services to increase external faculty honorifics, which can support recruitment, retention and other high-level objectives
Theme 4: Competitiveness and External Engagement
- Competitiveness for Large-Scale Grants
- Increase capacity and competitiveness for large-scale, cross-unit collaborative research
- Interdisciplinary Research Centers and Institutes
- Intentionally support and manage a dynamic and forward-looking portfolio of frontier defining research institutes that will lead the the world in defined areas of inquiry, attract the best students, faculty, and collaborators to U-M, direct the future of human knowledge and transform the globe through social and economic impact
- Regional Economic Development
- Enhance management and and support of relationships with key partners, including industry and state government, which can increase the university’s ability to promote and accelerate regional economic development
- National Labs
- Establish strong partnerships with national laboratories to establish or build U-M’s leadership in emerging research areas that are of high-value
Research and Creative Practice Council
The Council has been charged to advise and guide the research and creative practice enterprise, including next steps for implementing internal review and external panel recommendations across all three campuses.
Kate Cagney
Director, Institute for Social Research; Research Professor, Survey Research Center; Research Professor, Population Studies Center; Professor of Sociology
Steve Ceccio
Interim Dean, College of Engineering; Vincent T and Gloria M Gorguze Professor of Engineering; Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
DuBois Bowman
Dean, School of Public Health; Roderick Joseph Little Collegiate Professor of Public Health; Professor of Biostatistics
Roger Cone
Vice Provost of Biosciences; Asa Gray Collegiate Professor of the Life Sciences; Mary Sue Coleman Director of the Life Sciences Institute; Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology; Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Anne Curzan
Dean, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature, Linguistics and Education; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Professor of English Language and Literature; Professor of Linguistics; Professor of Education
Tom Finholt
Vice Provost for Academic and Budgetary Affairs, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; Professor of Information
Steve Kunkel
Executive Vice Dean for Research, U-M Medical School; Peter A. Ward Distinguished University Professor; Endowed Professor of Pathology Research, Professor of Pathology
Arthur Lupia
Associate Vice President for Research – Large-Scale Strategy; Gerald R. Ford Distinguished University Professor; Research Professor, Institute for Social Research
Jonathan Massey
Dean, College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Professor of Architecture
Armen Zakarian
Vice Provost for Research, UM-Dearborn; Chair and Professor, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering; Professor of Computer Science
Internal Research and Creative Practice Review Committee
| Roger Cone (Co-Chair) |
Vice Provost of Biosciences; Asa Gray Collegiate Professor of the Life Sciences; Mary Sue Coleman Director of the Life Sciences Institute; Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology; Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology |
| Alec Gallimore (Co-Chair) |
Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor of Engineering; Professor of Aerospace Engineering (Dr. Gallimore is now the Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Duke University) |
| DuBois Bowman | Dean, School of Public Health; Roderick Joseph Little Collegiate Professor of Public Health; Professor of Biostatistics |
| Kate Cagney | Director, Institute for Social Research; Research Professor, Survey Research Center; Research Professor, Population Studies Center; Professor of Sociology |
| Anne Curzan | Dean, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature, Linguistics and Education; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Professor of English Language and Literature; Professor of Linguistics; Professor of Education |
| Tom Finholt | Vice Provost for Academic and Budgetary Affairs, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; Professor of Information |
| Steve Kunkel | Executive Vice Dean for Research, U-M Medical School; Peter A. Ward Distinguished University Professor; Endowed Professor of Pathology Research, Professor of Pathology |
| Arthur Lupia | Associate Vice President for Research – Large-Scale Strategy; Gerald R. Ford Distinguished University Professor; Research Professor, Institute for Social Research |
| Jason Owen-Smith | Executive Director of Research Analytics, Office of the Vice President for Research; Professor of Sociology; Research Professor, Survey Research Center; Professor of Public Policy; Executive Director, Institute for Research on Innovation & Science |
| Armen Zakarian | Vice Provost for Research, UM-Dearborn; Chair and Professor, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering; Professor of Computer Science |
External Review Panel Membership
| E. Dale Abel | Chair and Executive Medical Director, Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles |
| Nancy Andrews | Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Boston Children’s Hospital |
| Nadine Aubry | Professor of Mechanical Engineering, former Provost and Senior Vice President, Tufts University |
| Barbara Entwisle | Kenan Distinguished Professor of Social Science; former Vice Chancellor for Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Katherine E. Fleming | President, Getty Trust; Former Provost and Alexander S. Onassis Professor of Hellenic Culture & Civilization, New York University |
| Robert M. Groves | Executive Vice President and Provost, Gerard Campbell SJ Professor of Mathematics, Statistics, and Sociology, Georgetown University; Former Director of the US Census Bureau |
| Eric Isaacs | President, Carnegie Institution of Science; former Provost and Executive Vice President for Research, Innovation and National Laboratories, University of Chicago |
| Mahta Moghaddam | Vice Dean for Research; Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California |
| Alondra Nelson | Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study; Former Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director for Science and Society, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy |
| Corinne Peek-Asa | Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Vice Chancellor for Research, University of California, San Diego |
| Randy Schekman | Howard Hughes Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology; 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, University of California, Berkeley |
| Pauline Yu | President Emeritus, American Council of Learned Societies |
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