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Wyoming R1 university

Wait, UW was not a tier 1 research university before? I did not realize that.

To be the only university in the state and not be tier 1 is kind of sad. I suppose it is better late than never though.
 
TheRealUW said:
Wait, UW was not a tier 1 research university before? I did not realize that.

To be the only university in the state and not be tier 1 is kind of sad. I suppose it is better late than never though.
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We were R2. They revamped the formula this year to make it simpler. I think the previous classification system tried to keep a balance of r2 and r1. It was complex; I honestly don't know exactly how it worked.

This year it changed to minimum 70 Ph.D awarded annually and x$ spent on research annually (I don't remember exact amount). Several state schools now qualified.
 
ragtimejoe1 said:
We were R2. They revamped the formula this year to make it simpler. I think the previous classification system tried to keep a balance of r2 and r1. It was complex; I honestly don't know exactly how it worked.

This year it changed to minimum 70 Ph.D awarded annually and x$ spent on research annually (I don't remember exact amount). Several state schools now qualified.
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Thanks for the information.

Sounds more like a change to the definition than UW actually making improvements in their research programs.
 
TheRealUW said:
Thanks for the information.

Sounds more like a change to the definition than UW actually making improvements in their research programs.
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It’s actually largely a matter of federal grant funding for research. Wyoming had to top $50 million in annual research spending to qualify. We had never had the requisite level of research funding to qualify to my knowledge. School of Energy Resources impressive ability to bring in research dollars has been the biggest reason from my perspective. But I’m not sure how long that level of funding will remain with the federal government turmoil.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
It’s actually largely a matter of federal grant funding for research. Wyoming had to top $50 million in annual research spending to qualify. We had never had the requisite level of research funding to qualify to my knowledge. School of Energy Resources impressive ability to bring in research dollars has been the biggest reason from my perspective. But I’m not sure how long that level of funding will remain with the federal government turmoil.
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There were like 8 or 10 variables they evaluated. This is first year it basically boiled down to phd and research dollars.
 
ragtimejoe1 said:
We were R2. They revamped the formula this year to make it simpler. I think the previous classification system tried to keep a balance of r2 and r1. It was complex; I honestly don't know exactly how it worked.

This year it changed to minimum 70 Ph.D awarded annually and x$ spent on research annually (I don't remember exact amount). Several state schools now qualified.
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My understanding was that CSU and New Mexico were R1 and we were R2. It always irked me.
 
ragtimejoe1 said:
I'm thinking their vet school and med school helped? I really don't know exactly how they calculated before. New system is better and glad we're finally in!
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Agreed that we should strive to be in the top tier of research. Also agree that we likely won't stay there for long given that federal funding for research will likely dry up. And given our legislature has new found political control over our school, it seems like any research the small minds don't like will be in the cross hairs. I'm sure ol Steinmetz, the author of the make carbon dioxide great again bill just loves scientific research. For that matter, I'm sure the freedom caucus in general just loves scientific research. Hard to imagine they're not all young earth creationists that get all their "science" from Ken Hamm.
 
bullbugle307 said:
Agreed that we should strive to be in the top tier of research. Also agree that we likely won't stay there for long given that federal funding for research will likely dry up. And given our legislature has new found political control over our school, it seems like any research the small minds don't like will be in the cross hairs. I'm sure ol Steinmetz, the author of the make carbon dioxide great again bill just loves scientific research. For that matter, I'm sure the freedom caucus in general just loves scientific research. Hard to imagine they're not all young earth creationists that get all their "science" from Ken Hamm.
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🤣 the apocalypse is here. Too funny
 
bullbugle307 said:
Agreed that we should strive to be in the top tier of research. Also agree that we likely won't stay there for long given that federal funding for research will likely dry up. And given our legislature has new found political control over our school, it seems like any research the small minds don't like will be in the cross hairs. I'm sure ol Steinmetz, the author of the make carbon dioxide great again bill just loves scientific research. For that matter, I'm sure the freedom caucus in general just loves scientific research. Hard to imagine they're not all young earth creationists that get all their "science" from Ken Hamm.
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The I Heart CO2 bill is more founded in scientific fact than “climate science”.
 
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The R1 move is mostly form over substance. The metrics shifted and we caught lightening in a bottle with Dr. Pirri and the mountains of cash he brings in. Assuming Old Main, the BOT, SER, and their ilk continue to gut the good doc and push him to leave, we will be back in our rightful R2 spot again soon enough. Add in the declines in federal research grants, loss of state matching funds, slashing of the core block grant amount and the Legislature wanting line-item funding authority over colleges and research (which will never attract anyone with a pulse to want to be here) - we will be lucky if we can maintain R2 status in a decade. The sooner UW weans itself off of the state teat, the better. They won't, as they really don't know how to operate in the private funding world and couldn't find excellence to justify private investment if they were given a map. But I digress.
 
LawPoke said:
The R1 move is mostly form over substance. The metrics shifted and we caught lightening in a bottle with Dr. Pirri and the mountains of cash he brings in. Assuming Old Main, the BOT, SER, and their ilk continue to gut the good doc and push him to leave, we will be back in our rightful R2 spot again soon enough. Add in the declines in federal research grants, loss of state matching funds, slashing of the core block grant amount and the Legislature wanting line-item funding authority over colleges and research (which will never attract anyone with a pulse to want to be here) - we will be lucky if we can maintain R2 status in a decade. The sooner UW weans itself off of the state teat, the better. They won't, as they really don't know how to operate in the private funding world and couldn't find excellence to justify private investment if they were given a map. But I digress.
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This is a mind boggling take. First - I believe you are referring to ‘Dr. Piri.’ Dr. Piri has been great when it comes to research in oil and gas recovery from tight formations. But the amount of research money he brings in does not seem to compare to the amounts of research dollars SER and others bring in . I believe just 2 years ago just a single grant SER brought in was for $40.5 million over 3 years.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
This is a mind boggling take. First - I believe you are referring to ‘Dr. Piri.’ Dr. Piri has been great when it comes to research in oil and gas recovery from tight formations. But the amount of research money he brings in does not seem to compare to the amounts of research dollars SER and others bring in . I believe just 2 years ago just a single grant SER brought in was for $40.5 million over 3 years.
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Where is that SER grant from? State funds? Federal? How much is private? I know a significant source of funding has been state grants through Wyoming Energy Authority.

Piri (yes I misspelled his name) is a force and drives a lot of private investment in UW.

Per UW’s website:

Prof. Piri’s external research funding exceeds $24 million. His research group currently includes twenty-seven (27) Ph.D. students, fourteen (14) post-doctoral research
associates, and four (4) staff members. In this period, Prof. Piri recruited at least ten (10) high-caliber Ph.D. students, most of whom have significant opportunities to also learn from graduating students. During the calendar
year 2022, COIFPM held numerous preliminary exams and final thesis defense sessions for its Ph.D. students.
Prof. Piri graduated, in collaboration with his colleagues at UW, seven (7) Ph.D. students.
 
LawPoke said:
Where is that SER grant from? State funds? Federal? How much is private? I know a significant source of funding has been state grants through Wyoming Energy Authority.

Piri (yes I misspelled his name) is a force and drives a lot of private investment in UW.

Per UW’s website:

Prof. Piri’s external research funding exceeds $24 million. His research group currently includes twenty-seven (27) Ph.D. students, fourteen (14) post-doctoral research
associates, and four (4) staff members. In this period, Prof. Piri recruited at least ten (10) high-caliber Ph.D. students, most of whom have significant opportunities to also learn from graduating students. During the calendar
year 2022, COIFPM held numerous preliminary exams and final thesis defense sessions for its Ph.D. students.
Prof. Piri graduated, in collaboration with his colleagues at UW, seven (7) Ph.D. students.
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The $40.5 million single grant to SER is the largest in the history of the University. It came from DOE thus my comment on federal turmoil being problematic for Wyoming’s R1 status. But SER has many other grants/partnerships that pretty much dwarf the single Professor you cite. Probably the most unique is the 1 cent it receives from Peabody for every ton of coal sold.

Note - this isn’t a knock on Piri’s research and dollars he has brought in. It just doesn’t appear true to cite him as the main reason for Wyoming’s recent large increases in research funding.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
The $40.5 million single grant to SER is the largest in the history of the University. It came from DOE thus my comment on federal turmoil being problematic for Wyoming’s R1 status. But SER has many other grants/partnerships that pretty much dwarf the single Professor you cite. Probably the most unique is the 1 cent it receives from Peabody for every ton of coal sold.

Note - this isn’t a knock on Piri’s research and dollars he has brought in. It just doesn’t appear true to cite him as the main reason for Wyoming’s recent large increases in research funding.
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I am dubious about SER. My point is, the metrics for R1 rely heavily on funding and PhDs. I think Piri churns out over half of all PhDs in Engineering. Maybe wrong. Dunno. Pretty good source but I don’t have independent corroboration.

Irrespective of my concerns about SER, the reality is that R1 might be fleeting because of federal cuts and the internal angst directed by faculty and admin toward Piri and those like him.
 
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