Report: URI needs to dramatically bolster research

PROVIDENCE—Rhode Island needs to dramatically bolster research to make the school more competitive and to boost the state’s economy.

The URI Commission for Research and Innovation in a report scheduled for release on Tuesday recommends a $100 million bond referendum in 2010 to attract 20 to 30 top researchers to URI and upgrade research infrastructure.

The report also urges the university to hire a new president who has experience encouraging research, and changing state regulations to give the university more autonomy and flexibility in hiring, pursuing grants and investing money.

Commission Chairman Robert Flanders says URI has largely missed a wave of research investment in the past decade.