Is Oregon great? Science projects aim to put the state’s universities on the map

No public or private university in Oregon can claim membership to academia’s most exclusive club, those giants of scientific research that spin off entire industries and propel their local economies.

No school here regularly cracks the top 50 institutions for federal research dollars. But seeds now in place in Eugene, Newport and Portland hold the potential for a collective breakthrough. New scientific research centers — backed by hundreds of millions in public and private dollars — are moving forward or nearing completion, a chain reaction that could transform the state.

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2018/02/is_oregon_great_science_projec.html#incart_river_index