By Charlie Lange

Earlier this month, leaders from the life sciences and biotechnology fields, along with experts in architecture and engineering, real estate and finance, convened in San Diego for Bisnow鈥檚 International Life Sciences & Biotech Conference.

Held Sept. 10鈥�11, the event featured speakers, panel discussions and keynote sessions focused on the relationship between scientific institutions and the development and construction teams and strategies necessary to build research facilities.

The 鈥淯niversities Driving Innovation and Biotech Growth: Attracting, Retaining and Supporting Top Talent, Developing Incubators for Startups and Driving Growth through Partnerships鈥� discussion brought together life science department heads from different California colleges with architects responsible for designing and building the research facilities on their campuses.

The conversation covered how research institutions can work in tandem with A/E firms in securing funding, conceptualizing multi-purpose lab and research spaces, and giving students the resources they need to succeed in the field after graduation.

Moderated by Julie Kilpatrick, Senior Managing Director, Southwest Region, for project management consulting firm Turner & Townsend Heery, the panel included:

• Carmen Domingo, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering, San Francisco State University
• Robert Fagnant, Associate Partner, Syska Hennessy Group
• Tracy Johnson, Dean of Life Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
• Vlad Pajkic, Partner, ZGF Architects
• Corrine Peek-Asa, Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, University of California San Diego
• Jeffrey Roberts, Dean of the College of Sciences, San Diego State University

Building for Flexibility

One common topic was the shift from building department-specific facilities to flexible, shared spaces that can host a variety of disciplines and purposes.

鈥淓verybody always asks for flexibility and modularity,鈥� said Pajik, citing recent projects at Johns Hopkins University and UC Davis, where primary spaces were designed as 鈥渃ore labs鈥� with a variety of equipment and purposes in one place. He said these spaces offer room for collaboration between the sciences and are less expensive than building separate facilities.

Peek-Asa added that such facilities allow for institutions to 鈥渟olve multiple problems at once.鈥�

鈥淚t takes the cardiologist sitting next to the engineering student to understand how we can integrate [solutions],鈥� she said.

鈥淲e need to have the flexibility to organize people not around what their Ph.D.s are, but around shared problems of interest,鈥� added Roberts. 鈥淲hen you do that, you can make more efficient and more impactful use of space.鈥�

And that flexibility makes for a better investment, as developments in AI and other new technologies will factor into future needs and functions.

鈥淟istening to researchers, they鈥檙e young and fired up on using AI,鈥� said Fagnant. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to parlay our data center experience into some of these facilities. AI integration is going to take a lot of interconnectability between building on campus and the outside world.鈥�

New Ways to Find Funding

Exploring the unknown is foundational to scientific research, but with expansive cuts to federal education funding over the past year, universities have been forced into uncharted territory in securing the money to build or renovate facilities to meet ever-evolving needs.

Johnson brought up how challenges with federal funding have led UCLA to seek investment from private sources, including the companies that will eventually be employing the university鈥檚 graduates.

Domingo echoed this sentiment. 鈥淥ne of the important things is for industry to realize that the university systems around them will help create the environment for them to be successful. We鈥檙e the backbone of the workforce. Investing in a university like ours and in infrastructure that allows us to train students in the types of skillsets they need is important.鈥�

Roberts added that universities could even find positive new opportunities in the current funding environment.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going force our faculty to think more creatively and broadly about who they need to reach out to, who they need to work with, and what kinds of problems they need to work on,鈥� he said. 鈥淐urrent challenges from a funding perspective will have some positive impact in terms of building deeper, more meaningful and authentic collaborations with industry.鈥�

Setting Students Up for Success

The panelists also stressed the importance of not only building facilities for learning and research, but also for preparing students to apply what they learn in the market after leaving campus.

鈥淥ne of the keys in our new building was the ability to teach science differently, with studio-style instruction,鈥� Domingo said. 鈥淚nstead of going to lecture, then going to the lab afterwards, the space allows us to integrate lab and lecture together, so they鈥檙e putting into practice what they鈥檙e learning.鈥�

Meanwhile, Johnson spoke about UCLA鈥檚 incubator programs, which allow students to work directly with startups.

鈥淲e are thinking about what it means to build a culture where our students can see the bridge between what they do in the university, in their classrooms and their labs, to ultimately taking their ideas into industry,鈥� said Johnson.

On the topic of real estate, Peek-Asa added how UCSD鈥檚 status as the largest residential campus in the nation has kept students closer to their classrooms and has had positive effects in preserving housing in the local market.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important, because we鈥檙e trying to move our students onto campus so they鈥檙e not competing in our real estate market for affordable housing,鈥� she said.

Ultimately, the conversation came back to the importance of public-private partnerships in helping universities develop industry leaders of tomorrow.

鈥淪tudents are local, so if you invest in your local students, they don鈥檛 have to move into the area to be part of your workforce 鈥� they鈥檙e already there,鈥� said Domingo.

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