The North Dakota Centers of Excellence Commission and the State Economic Development Foundation have given the nod to $9.6 million in state money for research and private-sector partnerships at the University of North Dakota to create higher paying jobs and new business opportunities in the state. There are a number of additional steps that the recommendations must go through before funding ultimately is approved.

The Centers of Excellence Commission convened on Aug. 29, for the fifth round of the awards, and recommended the funding go to four UND-based research projects. Those recommendations were forwarded to the State Economic Development Foundation, which approved the proposals Monday.

The UND projects are:

1) SUNRISE BioProducts, which was recommended to receive all of the $2.95 million in COE funds it had requested, is a center of excellence that develops green industrial chemicals, polymers and fiber composites out of crop oils. It promotes the development and improvement of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels to solve complex energy-related problems. Some of the center's private-sector partners include Bayer Cropscience, Northwood Mills, Global Agricultural Solutions, and Kadrmas, Lee and Jackson.

2) The UND Center of Excellence in Space Technology and Operations is recommended to get $1 million of the $1.6 million it had requested.  This center aims to bring an aerospace company to North Dakota, creating new high-value jobs, as well as expand the field of aerospace in North Dakota such that spacecraft operations can become a major part of research and economic development in the state. It is teaming with GeoOptics LLC and Broad-Reach Engineering from the private sector.

3) The UND Petroleum Research, Education and Entrepreneurship Center of Excellence is recommended to take in all of the $3 million it had requested in COE funds. This center is working to improve understanding of geology, geophysics and petroleum engineering characteristics in the Williston Basin of North Dakota. It also is enhancing ways to recover oil from the area, specifically in the so-called "Bakken Formation," which recently has yielded great promise with its potential for oil extraction. This center is working with a number of private-sector partners, including, Schlumberger, IHS, American Petroleum Institute, Hess Corp., and Marathon Oil Corp, to name but a few.

4) The UND Center of Excellence for Passive Therapeutics is recommended to receive all of the $2.65 million it requested from the COE Commission. This center is developing passive (antibodies) therapeutics for people who have been exposed to or who have infectious diseases using value-added agricultural products. Once it is shown to work in preclinical and clinical trials, products using antibodies from goose eggs will be made entirely in North Dakota. The center is teaming with Avianax, Aldevron, Schiltz Goose R&D, Schlitz Goose Farms - North from the private sector.

The UND proposals and those of other North Dakota University System institutions are trying to secure portions of about in $14 million set a aside by the state for COE projects. UND's proposals, when combined, would bring more than $30 million in private-sector matching investments to the table.

"This significant amount of funding recommended by North Dakota Centers of Excellence Commission and the North Dakota Economic Development Foundation for the University of North Dakota is a powerful indication of the confidence that the commissions have in the University to take on state resources and investment and to turn it into innovative, creative and entrepreneurial enterprises that benefit the entire state," said UND President Robert O. Kelley.

Gary Johnson, interim UND vice president for research, called the COE Commission's recommendations "outstanding news" for the University. He said it follows a soon-to-be released report on another record-setting year for research expenditures at the University.

"These four centers will further advance the agenda of the UND research enterprise," Johnson said. "The recommended $9.6 million in funding and the additional commitments of partner organizations will further the economic development of Grand Forks, the state of North Dakota and the surrounding region. The credit for this outstanding record of research accomplishments belong to UND's faculty and staff members who have embraced a research culture and have aggressively pursued research opportunities."

The projects will now be reviewed by the State Board of Higher Education on Thursday, followed by the Emergency Commission on Monday and the Budget Section on Thursday, Sept. 25. Projects totaling $10 million were approved in fall 2007, but two of them have withdrawn their request for funding. Therefore, those funds have become available for use during this round of funding.

The North Dakota Centers of Excellence program is the product of Gov. John Hoeven's initiative to combine education and economic development to create higher-paying jobs and new business opportunities for North Dakota citizens. The Centers are hubs of research and private-sector development on the campuses of North Dakota's 11 colleges and universities. State Centers of Excellence already have brought more than $20 million to North Dakota's campuses for public/private-sector partnerships.

“The projects demonstrate how our North Dakota universities are skillfully combining education and economic development to create higher paying jobs and new business opportunities in our state,” Hoeven said. “The quality and diversity of the projects reviewed, reflects the level of leadership and innovation at work on our campuses and in our business communities.”

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