Entire new fields have emerged, such as micro- and nanotechnology. Another emerging field is genomics, which promises to deliver improvements to our health but which also will raise a difficult set of moral and ethical questions. Yet, despite the prevalence of technology in the world today, students graduating from American universities are often technologically illiterate. This must change. Basic research in the United States is carried out in universities.
New knowledge coming from university researchers is a critical fuel that fires our economy.
In addition, knowledge is coming in multi-disciplinary areas, where experts from multiple fields come together. Virginia's programs must adapt to meet these challenges. However, Virginia's programs must adapt to meet the challenges of the increase in the rate of new knowledge and the movement toward multi-disciplinary opportunities. In the sciences and engineering, as in other fields, education and research reinforce and improve one another. The better the research we conduct in our labs, the better the material we teach in the classroom.