External Review of the Collaborative Research Agreement Between Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc
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External Review of the Collaborative Research Agreement between Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc. and The Regents of the University of California Lawrence Busch, Principal Investigator Richard Allison, Co-Principal Investigator Craig Harris, Co-Principal Investigator Alan Rudy, Co-Principal Investigator Bradley T. Shaw, Co-Principal Investigator Toby Ten Eyck, Co-Principal Investigator Dawn Coppin, Research Associate Jason Konefal, Research Assistant Christopher Oliver, Research Assistant And James Fairweather, Advisor July 13, 2004 Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards (IFAS) Michigan State University 422 Berkey Hall East Lansing, MI 48824-1111 External Review of UCB-N © 2004 by the authors. The University of California has a non-exclusive license to use, publish or republish, or otherwise disseminate this document. The research reported in this document was supported with funds generously provided by the Regents of the University of California. Suggested Citation: Busch, Lawrence, Richard Allison, Craig Harris, Alan Rudy, Bradley T. Shaw, Toby Ten Eyck, Dawn Coppin, Jason Konefal, Christopher Oliver, with James Fairweather. 2004. External Review of the Collaborative Research Agreement between Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc. and The Regents of the University of California. East Lansing, MI: Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards, Michigan State University. 2 External Review of UCB-N Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system – ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society. Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow. – President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1961) 3 External Review of UCB-N Table of Contents Acknowledgements 8 Glossary of Acronyms 9 Executive Summary 10 I. Introduction 15 Central Principles 16 Tests and Trials 19 II. Chronology of Events 22 Plant and Microbial Biology’s Strategies 22 Auction Process 24 Enter Novartis 25 Negotiations 28 Emerging Opposition 30 Involvement of the Academic Senate 32 Signing of the Agreement 33 Continued Questioning 34 External Study 35 Reconfiguration of Novartis Agricultural Discovery 38 Institute, Inc. University of California, Berkeley Internal Review 39 Implementation of the Agreement 40 Aftermath 41 III. Points of Contention 45 Process 46 Substantive Concerns 49 Local Conditions 52 Broader Issues 53 Conclusion 55 IV. Overview and Analysis of the Agreement 55 V. The Agreement and the Public Stage: The Role of the Media 64 in Framing the University of California, Berkeley – Novartis Agreement The Two Roles of the Media 64 The Public Relations Campaign 66 Newspaper Coverage 69 Comments on the Coverage 74 Conclusions 76 4 External Review of UCB-N VI. The Effects of the University of California, 77 Berkeley – Novartis Agreement on the Department Plant and Microbial Biology Views on the Partner Selection Process 77 Justifications for Entering the Agreement 78 Reasons for Novartis’s Interests 79 Views on the Negotiation Process 82 Implementation of the Agreement 85 Benefits of the Agreement 90 Concerns Regarding the Agreement 94 Consequences of the Agreement 95 Intellectual Property Rights 105 Surrounding Controversy 116 Conclusions 117 VII. Impact and Significance of the University of California, 118 Berkeley – Novartis Agreement on the College of Natural Resources and the University of California, Berkeley as an Institution of Higher Education, Research, and Outreach The University of California and the College of Natural Resources 118 at the University of California Berkeley The Agricultural Sciences and the College of Natural 121 Resources at UCB Academic Freedom and Diversity 126 Collegiality 129 Reputation 130 Public Mission 131 Land Grant Mission 134 Conclusion 137 VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations 138 Rethinking the Role of Public and Land Grant Universities 138 in the 21st Century Future of the Land Grant Mission at the University of 141 California, Berkeley Conflicts of Interest and Conflicts of Mission 142 Visions of the University 147 Recommendations 152 References 157 Methods Appendices 173 Interview Methods 173 Media Data and Analysis 174 Consent Letters 176 Sample Interview Schedule 179 5 External Review of UCB-N Appendices 182 A. Project Title and Amount of Funding by Faculty Member 182 from the University of California, Berkeley – Novartis Agreement B. Plant and Microbial Biology Graduate Program Numbers 184 C. Number of Undergraduate Majors in Comparable Departments 185 to Plant and Microbial Biology D. Summary of Provisions of the University of California, 186 Berkeley – Novartis Agreement 6 External Review of UCB-N List of Tables Table 1. Syngenta Financial Highlights, 1999-2003 38 Table 2. Chronology of Events 44 Table 3. News Frames, 1998-2002 70 Table 4. Coverage Characteristics 71 Table 5. Number of Passages Coded as Justifications for Entering 78 UCB-N by Interviewee Position Table 6. UCB-N Funding by Faculty Member per year, 89 Ranked by total received in $1000 Table 7. Number of Passages Coded as Benefits from Entering 91 UCB-N by Interviewee Position Table 8. Funds Received by Selected Bioscience Departments, 98 1995-1998, 1999-2002 Table 9. Combined PMB Graduate Program 184 Table 10. Plant Biology Division Graduate Program 184 Table 11. Microbial Biology Graduate Program 184 Table 12. Undergraduate Majors (Fall-Spring Average) 185 List of Figures Figure 1. Number of UCB-N Grants Awarded Each 96 Year by Funding Amount Figure 2. Expenditures for Life Science Academic R&D, 100 1990-2001, Millions Constant Dollars Figure 3. PMB Graduate Student Applications, Admissions, 101 Matriculation, 1995-2004 Figure 4. Number of Regularly Scheduled Undergraduate 102 PMB Classes, by AY Figure 5. Number of PMB Undergraduate Majors, by AY 103 7 External Review of UCB-N Acknowledgements A study of this sort is always the result of the support and help of a wide variety of people. We wish to take the space here to thank those who enabled this report to be much more than it otherwise might have been. Dr. Anne MacLachlan of the Center for Studies in Higher Education was our designated contact at the University of California, Berkeley and she more than lived up to her role. Anne provided us with help in locating persons and documents, in identifying paths to go down that might otherwise have been missed, and with amazing insights into the workings of the University. Dr. Jean Lave’s willingness to provide space in which to house our Research Associate, Dr. Dawn Coppin, is greatly appreciated, as is her tenacity in ensuring this project went ahead. We also had the good fortune of working with a Liaison Committee at the University of California, Berkeley who sought to smooth any bumps we might encounter in conducting this study. In this capacity our thanks go to Dr. Bob Spear, chair; Dr. Jim Evans; Dr. Jean Lave; Dr. Steve Lindow; Dr. Anne MacLachlan; and Dr. Karen de Valois. It almost goes without saying that this study would not have been possible without the willingness of so many people at Berkeley – faculty, students, staff, administrators – as well as people off campus to take the time to talk with us about their concerns and involvement with, and thoughts about, the University of California, Berkeley – Novartis agreement itself. We are deeply grateful for their participation and hope we have not misinterpreted their comments, although the conclusions we draw may not be entirely to their liking. Dr. Daniel Kleinman and Dr. Jim Fairweather provided helpful detailed comments on various parts of the manuscript. We thank them for taking the time to review a rather lengthy document. We would also like to thank Dr. Ann Austin for her assistance in the development of this project. Finally, we are grateful to the University of California, Berkeley for the funds that made this study possible. Without their generous support, the study would never have been conducted. Of course, the findings, interpretations, and conclusions drawn here remain the responsibility of the authors. East Lansing, Michigan July 13, 2004 8 External Review of UCB-N Glossary of Acronyms ARE Agriculture and Resource