Long before the Ducks made frequent trips to bowl games, the University of Oregon was known as a premier research institution. Since 2011, Kimberly Espy, vice president of research and innovation and dean of the graduate school, has made it her priority to keep that legacy alive.
After World War II, the United States government began investing a lot more heavily in research with big federal contributions to help move projects along, Provost Scott Coltrane said. One manifestation of this investment at the UO is The Institute of Molecular Biology, the first institute of its kind in the country founded in 1959.
Today there are more than 20 interdisciplinary research centers and institutes at the UO, ranging from specialties in the sciences to humanities. As VP, Espy oversees each of these areas, in addition to 70 graduate programs. Still, she looks forward to the end of her days where she can unwind in the lab.
“The time I am able to spend on my research is my favorite part of the week,” Espy said. “Because that’s actually who I am, I am a researcher and that’s what I care about.”
For the last 20 years, Espy has been a clinical neuroscientist specializing in the development of young children. She admits that not everyone wants to work with a bunch of three-year-olds but recalls having fun with her research.
As the VP of research, Espy still loves working at an institution where faculty are “discovering tomorrow’s knowledge today,” giving students the opportunity to learn new things first hand before reading about them in a textbook five years from now.
In her administrative role, Espy’s goal is to reduce stress on faculty so they can focus on discovery. However, her path has not been without challenges, including government shut downs, agency sequestrations and federal budget cuts.
In particular, having fewer dollars available for faculty research has created stress for faculty members, Espy said. Often, research faculty have to make tough decisions cutting the amount of work they had hoped to accomplish, the number of student workers they hoped to have, or spending more of their time applying for grants.
“[Regulations] are very detailed and difficult,” Espy said. “And shoot, faculty members just want to be focused on things they love the best: doing research and creating new knowledge that benefits students.”
Moving forward, the office of research hopes to integrate more collaboration with undergraduate students and to create a stronger presence on campus. Projects include launching a capstone program where students could work alongside faculty to carry out an independent research project. The university plans to officially announce this program later this spring and hopes to launch a pilot of the program next fall.
“If you do what you love, you’ll love what you’ll do,” said Espy. “Research is fundamentally about discovery. As I have found as my research has unfolded, there are always new questions to be asked that get me excited, and that propel you on to the next question … it’s a never ending process that feeds onto itself that I think is very exciting.”