Deputy commissioner: ‘Big changes on the horizon’ for research
By Keila Szpaller DAILY MONTANAN
The University of Montana was recently invited to apply for a National Science Foundation grant focused on forest and rangeland technology, and if the university is successful, the project could bring $160 million to this state and Idaho during the next decade.
That was just one example Deputy Commissioner Joe Thiel shared Thursday with the Montana Board of Regents of the Montana University System’s strength in research.
Montana ranks fifth in the U.S. for the growth of its research enterprise, he said. And in three of the past five years, he said, Montana has ranked in the top 10 for research growth.
Additionally, Thiel said the campuses of the system set a new record for research expenditures in 2024 of $427 million, led by Montana State University in Bozeman.
“To put that in context, you’ll see that’s more than double where we were seven, eight years ago,” Thiel said.
However, Thiel also said some programs Montana has prioritized in the past and that previously saw bipartisan support — “including support through our entire federal delegation” — have not received their full appropriation.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make vast changes to the federal government, and he will step into office in January 2025.
“And it’s unclear at this point what the change in administration, what the changeover in Congress, is going to mean for the continued funding of those programs, and it seems likely that some of the programs where we’ve seen great success may not receive their full freight of funding that was initially forecast,” Thiel said.
An analysis this week by Inside Higher Ed projected how the Trump administration could affect university research funding based on the Republican’s previous administration. It said Trump’s election concerns the scientific community, and he will likely focus on cuts, although Trump also has wanted to protect American research from China.
It said Trump repeatedly tried to cut federal research funding in the past, but, citing an officer of the Association of University Research Parks, said the Republican-controlled Congress might realize “taking a sledgehammer to research” might not get community support, especially in places that depend on research to drive local economies.
But Inside Higher Ed also said the National Science Foundation could get “caught in the crosshairs” of the Republican agenda against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
It said Trump may push research security and funding cuts as part of his agenda.
“In addition to the possibility of more stringent research security regulations, scientists may also have to compete even harder for research grants,” the story said.
Thiel, deputy commissioner of academic, research and student affairs in the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, gave the presentation at the Board of Regents meeting this week in Bozeman. The Regents didn’t hold significant discussions about the state of research or potential changes in the future immediately following his presentation, but Regent Loren Bough commented on the growth.
“I think it’s a remarkable number to, in that short amount of time, to have doubled what we’re doing as a state,” said Bough, also vice chairperson of the board.
Thiel said the research dollars have a direct benefit to students, some 2,000 across the state. He also said Montana has seen some declines in numbers of graduate degrees awarded, but where programs are supported by research dollars, it has seen “substantial growth.”
For example, his presentation noted that from 2014 to 2023, graduate degrees in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — increased 38%, and those in health increased 46%.
In addition to UM in Missoula being tapped for the potential grant for forestry and work on the human-wildlife interfaces, he pointed to Montana Technological University in Butte and its work on critical minerals.
Additionally, he highlighted the Headwaters Tech Hub, leveraged by the optics and photonics research at MSU. Photonics includes optical and laser technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Tim VanReken, head of the Tech Hub, said the idea with the hubs is that it’s time for the federal government to invest in research and development to keep up with advances in adversarial nations rather than let the private sector handle innovation on its own.
The money — $45.9 million for Montana including $41.3 million from the federal government — is intended to catalyze work that’s already taking place in an area, such as optics and photonics in Montana, VanReken said. Twenty-seven partners from the public and private sectors are involved in the project, including economic and workforce development teams.
The $41.3 million for Montana comes from the CHIPS and Science Act outgoing U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, supported in 2022. VanReken said the goal is to drive a $10 billion economic impact in the state at the end of a decade with the investment.
“We expect for this to be ambitious,” VanReken said.
The university system has leveraged federal grants well in the past to build Montana’s areas of strength, Thiel said. Montana has increased its success rates with grants and also the size of its grants, and that bodes well for “holding some of that research growth constant.”
His presentation listed Montana strengths that align with federal funding priorities as environmental management; precision forestry and agriculture; optics and photonics; quantum supply chain; and rare earth element recovery.
He said the National Science Foundation is remaking its EPSCoR program, which will affect Montana.
The university system describes EPSCoR is a federal and state partnership that aims to increase academic research and development in the context of Montana’s needs, with focuses including science and engineering, water and space.
In recent years, Thiel said, Montana has been “dramatically outperforming” neighboring states when it comes to research.
Going forward, Thiel said Montana’s campuses, private and public, tribal, and private research entities, all will need to think strategically and plan carefully if the state is to remain competitive.
“There’s some big changes on the horizon,” Thiel said.
