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Proposal to Create a Center for Molecular Plant Sciences

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Proposal to Create a Center for Molecular Plant Sciences PROPOSAL TO CREATE A CENTER FOR MOLECULAR PLANT SCIENCES I. Long-term Objective. The success of the interdisciplinary Plant Molecular Biology/Biotechnology (PMBB) Program has evolved to the point that a College-wide (CBMPS and CFAES) Center for Molecular Plant Sciences is needed to better focus interdisciplinary efforts in the molecular plant sciences at OSU. A formalized Center would be a natural and desired progression from the successful interdisciplinary dual- college PMBB Program effort initiated nearly 15 years ago. II. Introduction. Basic plant sciences at The Ohio State University, particularly molecular-based studies, are very strong and are highly ranked amongst land-grant universities. The majority of faculty conducting plant-related research reside in various departments of the new College of Biological, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CBMPS) and College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). Other colleges, i.e., Pharmacy, Medicine, and Engineering, also contribute to the overall excellence in plant-related research on campus. Several years ago (mid 1990’s), the interdisciplinary Plant Molecular Biology/Biotechnology (PMBB) Program was created to provide leadership in accelerating the trend towards interdisciplinary plant molecular biology research. To date, PMBB is a voluntary association created by a grass-roots effort of faculty from both Colleges. The Deans and Central Administration provided strategic support for the PMBB Program at its inception. PMBB, along with the Plant Biotechnology Center, and the Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility, now consists of a vibrant, productive, and collegial community of 29 plant-related researchers. Early on, PMBB successfully competed for positions supported by the Molecular Life Sciences initiative. The resulting 6 strong hires in turn stimulated the participating departments to contribute additional positions. This resulted in the two Colleges adding several additional stellar scientists in the field of molecular plant science. More recently, PMBB was awarded a Targeted Initiative in Excellence in Translational Plant Sciences (TIE- TPS) by OSU. This ongoing initiative has already led to the hiring of two new faculty, with three additional faculty searches that are currently underway. Moreover, PMBB members have garnered extremely competitive high visibility grants (from the Gates Foundation, NSF’s 2010 Project and Plant Genome Program, USDA-NRI, DOE Genomes to Life, and Ohio’s Third Frontier Program). The total expenditures of PMBB member grants exceeded $9 million in FY07. Clearly, PMBB faculty members lead active and productive research programs, also exemplified by published work in prestigious general journals such as Cell, Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Current Biology and EMBO Journal as well as top journals in their respective fields including Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. PMBB members train large numbers of graduate students and many of these individuals have played significant roles in contributing to the overall productivity of PMBB member laboratories. The PMBB community has also been instrumental in driving the formation of several interdepartmental and inter-campus instrumentation centers to optimize the cost effective productivity of the plant science community. These include the Molecular and Cellular Imaging Center (MCIC) at the Wooster Campus, the Plant Microbe Genomics Facility (PMGF) at the Columbus Campus, and the beginning of a Metabolomics Laboratory branch of PMGF in Rightmire Hall. Recently another resource for shared instrumentation was developed in Kottman Hall on Columbus Campus that includes an additional node for genomics and metabolomics work. Likewise, PMBB has endorsed and led several efforts over the past few years to increase the video-linking capacity of member departments and the linking of seminars 1 and teaching of classes between Wooster and Columbus campuses. This latter effort has greatly enhanced enrollment in our classes and the productivity of our graduate students in that they no longer are burdened by extensive travel which is disruptive to their thesis research. Video-linking courses taught by PMBB faulty has also tremendously enhanced the educational breath of the Wooster students, helping insure their competitiveness in future job prospects. This video-linking capability will also play an important role in the development of our novel international tripartite graduate program with the University of Sao Paulo and Rutgers University (fully described in TIE- related documents). III. Rationale. PMBB does not receive an annual budget and the one-time funding associated with the establishment of PMBB will soon run out. As noted above, PMBB has been a very productive venture, bringing in many new top-notch faculty with high profile research programs and extramural funding. In addition, PMBB has served as a focal point for the development of several interdisciplinary and cooperative research and graduate training efforts. In light of the current university-wide strategic planning process and the planned merger of the departments of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics, we thus feel it is an appropriate time to reaffirm college commitments to PMBB through the establishment of a more formal college-wide Center for Molecular Plant Sciences (CMPS). The Center will maintain and strengthen the momentum achieved by the highly productive PMBB Program by providing a permanently funded and stable umbrella organization. The organizational structure of a Center is critical in maintaining a strong plant molecular biology community focused on cutting-edge basic and applied plant research and the training of graduate students. The Center will also be an important recruitment tool when hiring future faculty and also play an important role in retaining our current faculty. In addition, a formalized Center will be a much more effective vehicle to mobilize other researches on campus that work with plant systems, and whose research capabilities might be effectively merged with the efforts of current PMBB members. For example, there is a strong natural products group in the College of Pharmacy that works closely with current PMBB members and several members of the PMBB group have initiated joint efforts with colleagues in Engineering. Certainly the new divisional structure in CBMPS has already facilitated closer collaborations between the Department of Chemistry and the current Translational Plant Sciences TIE. This collaboration has already paid dividends in that CBMPS, CFAES and Engineering successfully collaborated on an Ohio Research Scholars Proposal. The ORSP submission proposed hiring a new faculty member in FAES to engineer new plants which are rich in organic chemicals, a faculty member in synthetic Organic Chemistry who will transform plant-derived chemicals into versatile new building blocks and a faculty member in Engineering who can develop new methods of polymerization of the renewable and synthetically transformed feedstock chemicals. ORSP funded two endowed faculty positions and the three colleges will collaborate on self-funding the third. These types of collaborations will be much more prevalent and maximized with the establishment of a formalized Center that could focus on such joint efforts. Finally, we also envision that a strong molecular plant science Center at OSU will provide the needed leadership in state-wide efforts in emerging fields such as plant biotechnology, phytopharmaceuticals, biofuels, and alternative energy-related projects. IV. Administration of the Center/Governance and Oversight Structure. Currently, the PMBB program is headed by a Director, who serves for a three year term, responsible to the CBMPS and CFAES Deans. Dean Matt Platz (CBS) is Lead Dean for 2 the current Translational Plant Sciences TIE, and thus is ultimately responsible for fiscal oversight; we envision that some form of similar agreement may be established with the two Colleges who would administer the proposed new Center. In addition, in the current PMBB Program, a PMBB Council consisting of four PMBB faculty is elected by the PMBB Program members. Each member of the Council serves two years before rotating off. Membership is staggered so that two new Council members are elected to replace two out-going members each year. This assures continuity of leadership on Council, with the Director as an ex-officio member. The Council was established to assist and form a communication bridge between the Director and the PMBB members. In particular, the Council helps to organize and monitor the activities of the various committees that are responsible for PMBB-related functions. We propose that a similar arrangement be established to govern the new Molecular Plant Sciences Center. All proposed actions that are to be made relative to the Center will first be vetted by the Director and Council and then brought to the whole Center membership for discussion and ratification. Good examples that well illustrate this approach are the new Graduate Fellowship and SURE undergraduate research programs established by PMBB, along with recent and current planning for the upcoming technical personnel hires and equipment purchases through the TIE. As in PMBB, all faculty hires supported by the Center will be accomplished using Search Committees comprised of Center members along with other individuals from
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