The first finalist for Iowa State’s next Vice President for Research plans to provide more funding for research and to expand the university’s studies if he receives the position.

Shashank Priya, associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives in the Office of the Vice President for Research at Pennsylvania State University, delivered his open forum address at 3 p.m. on Monday in Howe Hall.

Throughout his talk, Priya emphasized how he would provide resources to researchers on campus and transplant initiatives from his current university to Iowa State.

“Our role as administrative organizations is how we can simplify [researchers’] lives, so they can spend more time researching,” Priya said.

Priya’s goals for the university include increasing the number of sponsors, encouraging interdepartmental research efforts, collaborating with international institutions, providing funding for riskier research and expanding efforts to include women and minorities in STEM.

Priya dedicated the first portion of his time to discuss how Iowa State could receive more funding from government sponsors like the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and private shareholders. Priya aims to increase Iowa State’s funding as much as possible.

“We have to expand our pull size,” Priya said. “We are not all competing in the same agencies.”

Priya said Iowa State ranks 70th in the nation for research funding, and Priya’s current university, Pennsylvania State University, generates $165 million more per year than Iowa State.

A specific area Priya mentioned to increase funding was his proposed initiative to provide funding for riskier studies. These investigations include graduate and postdoctoral investigations on topics where a finding may be delayed.

“We have to provide the safety net that two years from now, let’s say your experiments aren’t working, we’ll give you the time needed for your Ph.D work, masters, to do your postdoc and to transition to the next phase of your career,” Priya said.

Pryia also stated an opportunity for growth is funding research on human to human interactions such as the intersections between artificial intelligence and traditional arts and humanities.

“All these programs require really good quality programs between arts, linguistics and sociology and business,” Priya said. “We are working with the public through the faculty in the arts in order to explore how the adoption of these technologies would function.”

Outside of Iowa State, Priya plans to expand the university’s resources to institutions outside the United States to learn how other researchers investigated an issue.

“They are resources to work with us, and they are already really ahead in those fields, and we can transfer that knowledge here,” Priya said. “They will be great for us to grow.”

The Office of the Vice President for Research aims to provide the resources faculty and students need to conduct their research. Four finalists remain in the competition for the position of Vice President for Research to replace the current vice president, Sarah Nusser. Candidate presentations will continue through April.