Global Challenges and the Role of Research Universities Mark S. Wrighton Honorary Professor, Shandong University October 14, 2008

Washington University 2008, top overlap schools: Duke, Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Northwestern ~22,000 applications for 1430 positions 95% of students in top 10% of high school class Ave. SAT of 1446 Brookings Hall

2008 National Champions!

Danforth University Center

Seigle Hall

Exploring Mars Prof. R. Arvidson in Arts & Sciences New facilities for Earth and Planetary Sciences dedicated in Spring, 2005

Washington U. Collaborations with Shandong U. July 2007: Workshop and Summer School on Lunar Science and Planetary Data Analysis, Shandong University-Weihai Campus Summer 2008: Workshop on use of the Planetary Data System for Weihai Campus students December 2007: Shandong students Zongcheng Ling and Jiang Zhang conclude year-long studies at Washington University

Brown School of Social Work Doubling of space completed in 1998 Center for Social Development, Individual Development Accounts Mental Health Services Research Center Goldfarb Hall, 1998

Washington U. Collaborations with Shandong U. 2004: Shandong U. hosted first conference in China on Asset Building and Social Development Summer 2009: Conference on Productive Aging to be hosted by Shandong U.

Global Challenges of the 21 st Century Energy, Environment, Sustainability Water Poverty Human Health Food Supply International Security Aging, Growing Population

Source: Population Reference Bureau, 2005 World Population Data Sheet. Projected Population Change (by Country) Percent Population Change,

Population Growth By Country Population Reference Bureau, 2008 (millions)

Sources: Carl Haub, 2006 World Population Data Sheet. The World’s 15 ‘Oldest’ Countries and the U.S. Percent Age 65 or Older

Population Ages 65 and Older Percent Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision (medium scenario), Trends in Aging by Region

Projected World Population, by Sex, at Specified Age Groups, 2025 Percent Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects:The 2004 Revision (medium scenario), Men Women

% of Elderly (65+) in China’s Population, Aging in China Source: World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision (2005).

Population Structures by Age and Sex (Millions) MaleFemaleMaleFemale Age Source: World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision (2005). China’s Age Distribution Age 2050 Female Male

Population Living on Less Than US$2 per Day 2002, % Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006.

Opportunities in Science and Technology This is the “age of biology” – Agriculture – Human health – Bioenergy, new chemical feedstocks New ability to manipulate structure and composition of complex materials systems Nanotechnology

William E. Clarke, GE Healthcare

John Leonard, Abbott Laboratories

Chad A. Mirkin, Northwestern

Adjusted for desired properties Treatment Type Ionic (+ and -) Non-ionic Hydrophilic/hydrophobic Polymers Negative/Positive Organic/inorganic Small molecules/polymers Pigment Type Black Cyan Magenta Yellow... Commercial R&D Cabot Pigment Treatment Technology James Belmont, Cabot Corporation ( R X ) n Treatment Level Counterion Type

K. K. Sankaran, Boeing

G. Kishore, DuPont Company

Energy and Environment Three aspirations: – Abundant energy at affordable cost – Minimize effects on the environment – Achieve “energy security” Addressing global environmental challenges is a new cost. How much will we be willing to pay? Options to address carbon dioxide accumulation are limited: solar the ultimate solution?

New “Cost”: Environmental Degradation Global warming from accumulation of greenhouse gases….consequences? Diminished biodiversity? So what? What price are we willing to pay to address the environmental challenges?

The Future Conservation Efficiency Improvements Expand existing system Systems for mitigating CO 2 New energy resources

What is to be done with CO 2 ? Like energy production itself, the scale is staggering. Geological “storage”? Photobiological reduction to fuels? Electrochemical reduction using electricity from nuclear/solar power?

Global Energy Consumption Today: ~14 Terawatts 2050: ~30 Terawatts estimated Scale, assuming all needs provided by nuclear: – 16 Terawatts = 16,000 Gigawatt nuclear plants – About one gigawatt nuclear plant every day for forty years! – Cost: $5 billion per plant, $80 trillion total

Solar Energy Potential Theoretical: ~1.7 x10 5 TW What is practical achievement? Efficiency? Photosynthesis: ~ 90 TW

Solar Energy Photovoltaics Large land area Electricity is product & collected by wires Power conversion & storage needed Cells are efficient, but expensive Energy “pay back” Bioenergy Large land area Biomass is product & collected with machines Biomass to useful liquid fuels occurs in “refinery” Efficiency, cost? Energy “pay back”?

Solar Energy Conversion Works! Global Energy Consumption: ~14 TW Global Energy for Human Life, i.e. Food – ~Ten billion people (rounding up) – 100 W/person caloric intake – ~One terrawatt from agriculture Agricultural productivity increased more than population growth for ~50 years

Storage and Retrieval for Solar and Wind Electrolysis H 2 O + electricity = H 2 + ½O 2 Fuel Cells H 2 + ½O 2 = H 2 O + electricity

Energy and Environment: New Materials Architectural materials Smart windows Photovoltaics Lighting Environmental control systems and devices Catalysts

Keys to Continued Success Sustained commitment Talented people Capitalize on new science Build collaborations Respond to technological changes Respond to society’s needs Relentless quest for excellence