The University of Florida received a record $583 million in research funding in 2007, thanks in part to a 92-percent increase in state funding.
The total for the fiscal year that ended June 30 represents a 12.5-percent increase over last year”s $518 million. Research support from the state grew from $48.6 million in fiscal year 2005-06 to $93.4 million in 2006-07.
The state support included $8.5 million for two new Centers of Excellence — the Florida Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Center for Bio-Nano Sensors.
“The Centers of Excellence program is a great example of how Florida is promoting targeted, interdisciplinary research centers to address problems unique to our state,’ said Win Phillips, UF”s vice president for research. “While support from the federal government still represents the largest piece of the pie, the state commitment continues to grow in significance.’
Despite tight budgets in Washington, federal awards grew 11 percent to $361 million. The National Institutes of Health remains UF”s largest sponsor, funding nearly $138 million in projects, most in the six colleges of the Health Science Center.
Overall, the Health Science Center attracted $316.8 million, including $259.5 million to the College of Medicine.
“This significant increase in research funding to the faculty in the Health Science Center is even more impressive when you consider that the federal research budget has essentially flat-lined,’ said Douglas Barrett, senior vice president for health affairs. “UF faculty are out-competing others for a relatively fixed pool of research dollars at NIH.’
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences earned $93.5 million and the College of Engineering $69 million. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences brought in $48 million. Other campus units brought in the remaining $55.6 million.
UF also is a national leader in training the next generation of scientists and engineers. The prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded two innovative science education projects last year led by Lou Guillette in the zoology department and Randy Duran in the chemistry department.