Community & Member Engagement
The Importance of University Based Research and Why It is Worth Saving
Part 1: Why Are We Doing All of This? Why Does Research Matter?
Why does research—and research administration—matter? The truth is the world is better off because of federally funded, university-based research. We need to tell people about its benefits and positive outcomes, and why it is worth protecting. The public good depends on it.
Research administration and management is not for the faint of heart. In recent years, the work has become increasingly complex and unpredictable. Administrators grapple to support researchers with navigating changing regulations and policies, often in high-pressure institutional environments that are being challenged to prove their value and balance limited resources. It can take its toll and sometimes make us lose sight of why our work matters. At a time when administrators fear losing their job or feel overwhelmed by the demands, some are saying “I feel like quitting this job before the other shoe drops. This is too much stress. Why in the world should I put up with this? Why am I doing this at all?”
It may remind you of an old Monty Python skit where the characters ask, “What have the Romans ever done for us?” The skit goes on to say, “Ok, besides the aqueduct, sanitation, the roads, irrigation, medicine, education…what have the Romans ever done for us!” How quickly one forgets.
Or, is it possible they never really knew?
Telling the Story of University Based Research
We need to tell the story, which requires big, existential questions rooted in the mission of higher education, knowledge creation, and research - and why these things are a public good and how research administrators contribute in significant ways. The public good can literally mean the difference between life and death and (not to trivialize mortality) provide advances that make our lives easier. The decades-long partnership between the federal government and higher education has been an engine for innovation, workforce training, and economic strength.
A quick visit to the National Science Foundation (NSF) History Wall, reveals the many discoveries developed through the agency’s funding support of colleges and university-based projects “that may seem like science fiction today, but which the public will take for granted tomorrow.” Like the Monty Python skit, it’s easy to take for granted that federal funding to colleges led to discoveries that gave us the internet, better web browsers, 3d printing, the cell phone, robotics, self-driving cars, and pre-school educational TV programming, etc.- to name a few. These discoveries have had an immense impact on society and the world.
The Association of American Universities (AAU) states that university based research matters because “It creates the foundation for major advances in such areas as health and medicine, communications, food, economics, energy, and national security. And it helps educate students to be scientific leaders and innovators.” This is not a trivial matter when a death is prevented by a life saving flu vaccine, or a statin drug that prevents a heart attack, or another drug that treats opioid dependency, or insulin to treat diabetes, or yet another drug to control HIV. Transformative Nobel Prize winning, university based discoveries have saved millions of lives around the world, most recently culminating in the development of vaccine technologies to combat modern pandemics. We should not take these discoveries for granted.
This short article is the first in a series exploring the importance of university-based research, why it is worth saving, and why research administrators are more critical than ever in serving this public good. Future articles will provide a brief history of the research enterprise in the United States, the related expansion of the field of research administration and the management of research, and culminate with a discussion on the value to society of having an informed public and a prepared workforce, both a result of the federal-higher education research partnership. The value to society—of university-based research is not a political matter, it benefits all of us, without borders, or discrimination. It is a public good. And we need to tell the story.
References
Association of American Universities. (2025, July 26). Why University Research Matters. https://www.aau.edu/research/why-university-research-matters
Association of American Universities. (2025). Basic Research Medicine [Infographic]. AAU.edu. https://www.aau.edu/sites/default/files/%40%20Files/Research%20and%20Scholarship/Why%20University%20Research%20Matters/Infographics/BASIC_RESEARCH_MEDICINE.pdf
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (2023, October 31). Nobel Prize Awarded for Research Leading to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/nobel-prize-awarded-research-leading-mrna-covid-19-vaccines
National Science Foundation. (2025, July 26). History Wall. https://nsf.widen.net/s/tnknqt9sz8/nsf_history_wall
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