Funding for research at the U. of Utah will increase this year at a higher rate than ever before, thanks to the economic stimulus package and other federal grants.
The 2010 fiscal year has garnered $450.6 million toward research, a nearly $100 million increase from 2009’s funding—$82 million is directly from the 2009 stimulus package. Along with additional growth from other grants, 2010’s research funding is the largest the U’s ever had.
It’s a testament to the good faculty here who apply for grants, said Brent Brown, director of Sponsored Projects.
“Our faculty is submitting more and more proposals for grants,” said Thomas Parks, vice president of research. “The environment for getting grants is competitive.”
Even without the stimulus, baseline funding has gone up like it has in past years, with the increase of the U’s research notoriety.
One of the projects is an expansion to the Eyring Chemistry Building, an expansion that has needed funding for almost three years.
Another is a project by the Utah Educational Network, which will use fiber optics to connect the U to other higher-learning institutions. The aim is to share resources with other schools and instructors.
Other projects made possible by federal funding include an expansion of the College of Humanities’ Asia Center made possible by a grant from the Department of Education. The expansion will add on to the center to include more language courses, new faculty, research and most prominently, scholarships, said Remi Barron, U spokesman.
The grant is one of 125 across the nation from the Department of Education to create and strengthen National Resource Centers for foreign languages. The $4.5 million grant will mostly go toward scholarships for students majoring in an Asian language.
Besides these avenues, the stimulus money will be going toward more than 200 different projects, Brown said.
However, the increase of stimulus money this year will be the peak, Parks said.
Although the U will receive some next year, the overall total of stimulus funding received will drop.