Extracts

Research Funding Hits Record $678 Million

By Joseph Kays

Research awards to University of Florida faculty increased $104 million last year to a record $678 million, thanks primarily to a 45-percent increase in federal funding.

Federal awards rose $151 million from $336.5 million to $487.5 million, with the increase almost evenly split between regular and economic stimulus funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The university secured $77 million in stimulus funding by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

UF President Bernie Machen credited the faculty for their efforts in his annual State of the University speech to the Faculty Senate, calling the increase “my best piece of news today.”

Win Phillips, UF’s vice president for research, said the faculty were “flexible, responsive and aggressive” in pursuing stimulus funding under tight deadlines.

“Equally impressive was the $74 million increase in nonstimulus federal funding,” Phillips added. “Our success at competing for federal research grants positions us well to maintain our growth as the stimulus funding winds down and state and private funding rebound.”

State funding was down $25.4 million and industry funding was down $8.6 million.

The UF Health Science Center received $394.3 million, including the largest award ever to the university ­— $64 million from the National Institutes of Health to the Institute on Aging. The grant was for researchers to study the impact of exercise and health lifestyles on the mobility of senior citizens. About half of that award came from stimulus funds. The Institute on Aging also received a separate stimulus award of $15 million to help pay for a new building.

“The Institute on Aging initiative is very important to the state and the nation,” Phillips said. “This building will provide a central location where seniors participating in a wide variety of research studies can interact with faculty from throughout the university.”

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received $101.2 million, the College of Engineering received $78 million and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences received $42.4 million. All of the other colleges received a combined $62.4 million.