Turning Notre Dame research into good jobs for the local economy

Nine years later, is Notre Dame living up to Jenkins’ promise?

From a dollars-and-cents perspective, the progress has been dramatic. In fact, the university’s research grants and spending have soared in the past decade. Total spending on research increased 140 percent over an eight-year period — from $73 million in fiscal year 2005 to $175.2 million in fiscal year 2013, according to data from the Association of University Technology Managers. 

The spending in 2013 placed Notre Dame in the top 25 percent among 67 U.S. research universities without medical schools that reported their totals. Universities with medical schools draw the highest amounts of federal research funding.

Spending is one thing; turning that money into patents and, eventually, jobs is another. And on that front, the numbers are far less dramatic:

• Notre Dame received six U.S. patents for its research in fiscal year 2005, according to the AUTM database. (The data is submitted by the universities.) Since then, the number has ranged from as low as 2 in 2009 to a high of 12 in 2013. By comparison, Princeton University reported 29 patents in 2013, and Rice University reported 53. Those two universities are in the same range as Notre Dame for research spending.

• Since 2005, the number of company startups based on Notre Dame research has ranged from zero to a high of 4 in 2012.