USC News - University reports research funding hits all-time high

August 25, 2008

University reports research funding hits all-time high

Research funding at the University of South Carolina reached a record $206 million in fiscal year 2008, up 11.3 percent from last year.

Since 2002, funding for research at the university has increased by nearly $100 million.

University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides said the dramatic increase in funding indicates that the university’s researchers are earning recognition not only for the quality of their research, but also for its relevance and impact on society.

"From technological innovation in science and engineering, to creativity in the arts and humanities, and to scholarship in the professional schools across our eight universities, this is a bright moment for the University of South Carolina," Pastides said.

Significant grants include the following:

$10.7 million from the National Institutes of Health for ongoing studies on the cause, prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer at the university’s Center for Colon Cancer Research;

$6 million from the NIH to fund research into causes and treatment of inflammatory diseases;

$2.5 million from the National Science Foundation to support an international, collaborative research effort on levee breach and dam failure;

$1.5 million from NIH to study the reversal of cell damage by diabetes;

$1.1 million from NIH to study extreme weight loss in colon-cancer patients.

More than half of the funding in FY 2008 came from federal research agencies, while funding from private and state/local sources both increased by about 22 percent.

“The double-digit increase in research funding points to the impact of recruiting new faculty through the Centenary Plan and the Faculty Excellence Initiative and to the diligence of our veteran faculty,” said Rose Booze, the university’s interim vice president for research.

“The addition of our Centers of Economic Excellence endowed chair professors is also contributing strongly to our success in competitive research funding.”

The health-science colleges -- medicine, pharmacy, nursing, social work and public health -- accounted for the largest share of total research funding, with $79.4 million, up from $77 million last year. The College of Arts and Sciences tallied $44.7 million, an increase of nearly 5 percent from the previous year.

The biggest gains were in the College of Education ($8.9 million, up 86 percent from last year); the College of Engineering and Computing ($24.4 million, up nearly 32 percent from last year); and the senior and regional campuses ($7 million, an increase of more than 82 percent from 2007).

The FY 2008 research-funding profile reflects a widespread engagement of faculty across the university instead of mega-grants to a handful of faculty members, Booze said.

“In a comprehensive research university like Carolina, you want a wide base of actively funded faculty, and this year’s activity shows that,” she said.

For the year, university faculty submitted 1,735 funding proposals requesting more than $253 million. Last year, faculty submitted 1,656 proposals.

The university experienced an increase of nearly 30 percent in funding from the National Science Foundation, to nearly $18 million in 2008, up from $13.8 million last year. Funding from the Department of Defense increased by 32.5 percent to $15.8 million, and Department of Education awards rose 20.4 percent to $9.7 million. Department of Energy awards increased 47.4 percent to $4.9 million.

“We hope to sustain the overall increase in research funding as our Centers of Economic Excellence ramp up, and we open the Horizon I and Discovery I buildings in Innovista in early 2009,” Booze said.

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