Utah State University Reports Record Research Funding
Utah State University just closed out a record year for new sponsored awards funding. Totaling more than $220 million for fiscal year 2014, this is the highest level of external support ever recorded for USU.
Sponsored programs contributes about a third to USU’s total budget — 35 percent in 2013 — with the remainder coming from state appropriations and student tuition and fees.
“When we announce that we’ve had a record year of research funding, it means far more to us than numbers,” said USU President Stan Albrecht. “It’s an expansion of our ability to accomplish our statewide land-grant mission.”
Sponsored awards include research grants for campus and the USU Research Foundation, federal allocations from formula funds and federal student financial aid.
The research funding record has come amidst several years of tight federal budgets, and 2014’s numbers exceed USU’s last highest year, 2011, during which most universities, including USU, continued to enjoy increases in new awards due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“We know that access to federal allocations for research are more competitive than ever,” said Mark McLellan, vice president for research and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Utah State. “That’s why it’s so impressive that most of our gains were made in federal funding — an increase of 40 percent.”
Major sources of USU’s federal funding include the Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture.
USU’s College of Science saw the biggest percentage increase in research funding, up 128 percent from the previous year, with almost $15 million. In addition, the Utah State University Research Foundation reached $76.8 million in external awards, an all-time high for the USU subsidiary.
Some of USU’s research projects include studies of infectious diseases, sheep genome sequencing, properties of optical fiber-based laser systems, environmentally friendly drilling, wildlife crossings monitoring and measurement of hydrocarbon emissions.
“We are extremely proud of our faculty and their engagement in innovative research,” said McLellan. “As a member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, USU works to connect our students with faculty knowledge and expertise — it’s at the core of our mandate of learning, discovery and engagement. So, we’ve worked hard to assist our faculty with obtaining funding to support their activities.”
In the past several years, USU has increased support and training for faculty to pursue external funding. Embedded proposal specialists, intensive workshops and seed grants have been implemented and retooled to help make researchers more effective in obtaining external funding for their projects, labs and students.
In addition to supporting the time and effort of USU faculty to conduct these important projects, research grants may also include money for student support. In 2014, USU saw a seven-fold increase in grant money set aside for graduate student tuition.
Researchers also are able to employ students to assist with their research projects. In 2013, the most recent year with data available, 2,480 graduate and undergraduate students were paid in part from research funding.
Related links:
Utah Public Radio: USU Receives Record Grant Monies in 2014
USU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies
Contact: Mark McLellan, mark.mclellan@usu.edu
Writer: Seth Merrill, seth.merrill@usu.edu
Across disciplines, research at Utah State University is conducted in the lab or in the field. The university set a record year for new sponsored awards funding, totaling more than $220 million for fiscal year 2014. (photo from USU-Research)
Utah State University's successful year in sponsored funding was highlighted at a media event Sept. 2. (photo from USU-Research)
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