A University of Hawaii at Manoa chemistry professor who secured a million-dollar grant for a world-class astrochemistry laboratory six years ago is suing the university, claiming UH breached its part of the agreement by failing to fund a $75,000 tenured position for the lab.
Professor Ralf Kaiser, who joined UH-Manoa in 2002, filed suit in Circuit Court, asking that UH be ordered to perform its contractual obligation or that he be awarded unspecified monetary damages.
Kaiser won a $1.2 million grant in 2008 from the Los Angeles-based Keck Foundation to establish the W.M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry at Manoa, which opened in 2010. Most of the money, he said, went toward building a custom machine that can simulate conditions in outer space.
A critical piece of the grant application was that the lab be operated as a so-called user facility — meaning researchers from local, mainland and international universities would use the lab to conduct experiments. Kaiser said the lab typically brings in $1 million annually in extramural funding.
The Keck grant proposal specified that a new tenure-track position with a $75,000 annual salary would be established to coordinate interdisciplinary users. Former Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw signed off on the agreement.
"The University of Hawaii made a written commitment to manage this Keck lab as a user facility," Kaiser said in an interview. "Unfortunately, the university broke this agreement and has refused to fund this position. It’s an unusual situation that a faculty member is suing the university, but we have tried all other routes and there are no other options anymore."
Kaiser said he’s been told that because renovations for the lab ran over budget by $300,000, UH felt it was not obligated to keep the commitment to the Keck Foundation to establish and fund the full-time faculty position.
Kaiser said the foundation is not taking action against UH because the grant was a three-year deal that has already ended. However, he said, Keck officials have told him they will take this situation into consideration if future grant applications from UH are received.
UH in 2012 did establish a temporary, nontenure assistant researcher position for the laboratory with a salary of $75,000. UH divided the salary costs across three units, requiring that Kaiser pay $25,000; the College of Natural Sciences, which houses the Chemistry Department, pay $25,000; and the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Education pay the remaining $25,000.
The position was offered to Brant Jones in 2012 for a one-year term, renewable up to three years. Jones and Kaiser are co-plaintiffs in the suit, represented by Honolulu attorney Jim Bickerton.
The university told Kaiser that it will cease funding Jones’ temporary position in 2015 and that he will need to secure funding for his entire salary without UH support.
A UH-Manoa spokeswoman declined comment on the lawsuit.
