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Translational Plant Sciences
Targeted Investment in Excellence

The PMBB Program Chosen for one of OSU’s Targeted Investment in Excellence Initiatives

In 2006, The Ohio State University took a large step towards fulfilling its Academic Plan of fostering selected academic areas that are either already recognized or capable of achieving worldwide recognition. By initiating the Targeted Investment in Excellence (TIE) program, OSU took the latest step in fulfilling that mission. The program calls for the reallocation of some $50 million in central dollars over the next five years to support 10 high-impact initiatives chosen for Targeted Investment in Excellence funding. As stated by Provost Snyder: “TIE is our most concerted strategy to date for promoting and sustaining Ohio State's international prominence.” These funds are matched by the colleges representing the winning initiatives, for a total investment of at least $100 million. The PMBB Program was one of the 10 programs chosen for a TIE award and together with matching funds from the Colleges of Biological Sciences (CBS) and Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), the PMBB TIE represents an investment of over $ 6 million in new and recurring cash allocations. The TIE initiative, entitled “Translational Plant Sciences”, will fund efforts to leverage existing excellence in three subareas of molecular plant sciences to improve OSU’s ability to enhance applications in agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, and engineering. By hiring additional faculty who bridge between basic and applied plant science, installing large multi-user specialized instrumentation, providing fellowships to recruit the best graduate students, and providing funds for travel and conferences, the proposed program in Translational Pant Sciences will augment and enhance Ohio State’s reputation as a leader in the molecular plant sciences. A distinct advantage of the Translational Pant Sciences TIE initiative will involve the close association and synergy with other well-recognized PMBB-affiliated programs, such as the Ohio Third Frontier supported Ohio Bio-Products Innovation Center, the NSF-supported Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center, and large multi-university research programs (led by OSU faculty) funded by such agencies as the Gates Foundation, NSF, and DOE. The major goal of this TIE initiative, to create or “translate" new and existing synergy between basic and applied plant science across Colleges, will also serve to provide substantially enhanced graduate and undergraduate research opportunities for students in Ohio, the USA, and internationally via a novel PMBB-led joint international graduate program with the University of Sao Paulo and Rutgers University.

In summary, the Translational Pant Sciences TIE, in concert with an award from the Board of Regents, will provide funds for:

the hiring of new faculty that will strengthen molecular-based applied and basic research in emerging areas: (a) bioenergy and carbon sequestration, (b) sustainable bioresources and bioproducts, and (c) plant-microbial interactions. Each focus is an area targeted for future investment by national funding agencies (NSF, DOE, USDA). Our goal is to hire exceptional faculty members that will build strongly-funded research programs in the above areas, and that will bring international prominence. New hires will target strategic fields in each of the three areas to complement existing strengths and lead to team building. Their cutting edge basic research will in turn support, directly or indirectly, the needs and priorities of applied research, a synergy representing the “translational” impetus of the TIE initiative.
the hiring of additional support staff with highly specialized training to enable PMBB members and students to maximize the infusion of new post-genomic skills and instrumentation into ongoing and future research projects.
The purchasing of needed large equipment pieces to support competitive research in the three target areas and which fit the scope of the TIE proposal, and which may be used to support the staff positions.
the enhancement of the PMBB graduate program via the recruitment of highly qualified graduate students to compete for multi-year “Excellence in PMBB Graduate Fellowships”.
the establishment of a Summer Undergraduate Research (SURE) Program in Plant Science to enable students to spend 10 weeks to work in PMBB member laboratories. This program will provide an opportunity for motivated undergraduate students to explore what OSU has to offer for graduate education and interact with PMBB faculty members and current graduate students.
programming needs for the PMBB Program, which will, for example, contribute support to the Summer Genomics Workshop and the PMBB retreat. In addition, funds will be available to support travel for specialized training for graduate students and for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students to travel in association with the International Tripartite Graduate Program under development with the University of Sao Paulo and Rutgers University.


	Translational Plant Sciences Targeted Investment in Excellence The PMBB Program Chosen for one of OSU’s Targeted Investment in Excellence Initiatives In 2006, The Ohio State University took a large step towards fulfilling its Academic Plan of fostering selected academic areas that are either already recognized or capable of achieving worldwide recognition. By initiating the Targeted Investment in Excellence (TIE) program, OSU took the latest step in fulfilling that mission. The program calls for the reallocation of some $50 million in central dollars over the next five years to support 10 high-impact initiatives chosen for Targeted Investment in Excellence funding. As stated by Provost Snyder: “TIE is our most concerted strategy to date for promoting and sustaining Ohio State's international prominence.” These funds are matched by the colleges representing the winning initiatives, for a total investment of at least $100 million. The PMBB Program was one of the 10 programs chosen for a TIE award and together with matching funds from the Colleges of Biological Sciences (CBS) and Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), the PMBB TIE represents an investment of over $ 6 million in new and recurring cash allocations. The TIE initiative, entitled “Translational Plant Sciences”, will fund efforts to leverage existing excellence in three subareas of molecular plant sciences to improve OSU’s ability to enhance applications in agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, and engineering. By hiring additional faculty who bridge between basic and applied plant science, installing large multi-user specialized instrumentation, providing fellowships to recruit the best graduate students, and providing funds for travel and conferences, the proposed program in Translational Pant Sciences will augment and enhance Ohio State’s reputation as a leader in the molecular plant sciences. A distinct advantage of the Translational Pant Sciences TIE initiative will involve the close association and synergy with other well-recognized PMBB-affiliated programs, such as the Ohio Third Frontier supported Ohio Bio-Products Innovation Center, the NSF-supported Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center, and large multi-university research programs (led by OSU faculty) funded by such agencies as the Gates Foundation, NSF, and DOE. The major goal of this TIE initiative, to create or “translate" new and existing synergy between basic and applied plant science across Colleges, will also serve to provide substantially enhanced graduate and undergraduate research opportunities for students in Ohio, the USA, and internationally via a novel PMBB-led joint international graduate program with the University of Sao Paulo and Rutgers University. In summary, the Translational Pant Sciences TIE, in concert with an award from the Board of Regents, will provide funds for: the hiring of new faculty that will strengthen molecular-based applied and basic research in emerging areas: (a) bioenergy and carbon sequestration, (b) sustainable bioresources and bioproducts, and (c) plant-microbial interactions. Each focus is an area targeted for future investment by national funding agencies (NSF, DOE, USDA). Our goal is to hire exceptional faculty members that will build strongly-funded research programs in the above areas, and that will bring international prominence. New hires will target strategic fields in each of the three areas to complement existing strengths and lead to team building. Their cutting edge basic research will in turn support, directly or indirectly, the needs and priorities of applied research, a synergy representing the “translational” impetus of the TIE initiative. the hiring of additional support staff with highly specialized training to enable PMBB members and students to maximize the infusion of new post-genomic skills and instrumentation into ongoing and future research projects. The purchasing of needed large equipment pieces to support competitive research in the three target areas and which fit the scope of the TIE proposal, and which may be used to support the staff positions. the enhancement of the PMBB graduate program via the recruitment of highly qualified graduate students to compete for multi-year “Excellence in PMBB Graduate Fellowships”. the establishment of a Summer Undergraduate Research (SURE) Program in Plant Science to enable students to spend 10 weeks to work in PMBB member laboratories. This program will provide an opportunity for motivated undergraduate students to explore what OSU has to offer for graduate education and interact with PMBB faculty members and current graduate students. programming needs for the PMBB Program, which will, for example, contribute support to the Summer Genomics Workshop and the PMBB retreat. In addition, funds will be available to support travel for specialized training for graduate students and for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students to travel in association with the International Tripartite Graduate Program under development with the University of Sao Paulo and Rutgers University.
PMBB Program The Ohio State University 704 Riffe Building 496 West 12th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210-1292 Phone: 614-247-6098 FAX: 614-292-6337 Webmaster: Eduardo Acosta

Translational Plant Sciences Targeted Investment in Excellence

Translational Plant Sciences
Targeted Investment in Excellence