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Research Funding Hits $144 Million
By EILEEN CONRAD
Continuing an eight-year trend, research support from external sources established a new record high at UC Santa Barbara this past year when a total of $143.9 million was received from federal and state agencies, corporations, and foundations.
By the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2003, this "extramural" funding in the form of contracts and grants for research, training, and public-service programs had increased 10 percent over the previous year's record $130.4 million. The campus was awarded more than 1,100 research contracts and grants last year.
Over the past 10 years, UCSB has seen a 77 percent increase in research funds from external funding sources.
"This increase in our extramural research funding to an all-time high is stunning," said Chancellor Henry T. Yang. "Such support is the lifeblood of a premier research university and a true testament to the extraordinary work performed at UCSB. I am extremely proud and appreciative of the tireless and devoted efforts of our faculty, researchers, students, and staff for this magnificent achievement."
Steven D. Gaines, acting vice chancellor for research and director of the Marine Science Institute, attributed the dramatic increase in awards to the trail-blazing interdisciplinary research that distinguishes UCSB, and to the exceptional quality of its researchers. "These successes are the result of innovative partnerships between scholars from research centers and institutes all over campus," said Gaines. "Many of these awards will lead to new discoveries that address society's most pressing problems."
Federal support increased 17 percent over the previous fiscal year, accounting for more than 85 percent of the total, or $121.6 million. The National Science Foundation (NSF) was the largest single source, providing 44 percent of all federal awards. Other major sources of federal support included the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which increased 34 percent to $15 million, the U.S. Navy, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The balance was provided by state and private agencies, sponsors in business and industry, local governments, and UC campuses and programs. Among the research grants awarded to the campus were the following:
- $5.8 million from the NSF for two new graduate training programs to produce innovative researchers, professors, and corporate visionaries in emerging areas of science and technology. The grants will support a new graduate program in computational science and engineering with an emphasis on multi-scale problems in fluids and materials, and a program in interactive digital multimedia—another new technology for the 21st century. Called Integrative Graduate Education Research and Traineeships, the grants will establish new cross-disciplinary areas of study and create multiple new career opportunities for students.
- $4.4 million from DARPA to establish the Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense (CNID). A collaboration with UCLA, UC Riverside, 10 industrial partners, and the national laboratories, CNID will inform government and industry about innovative fundamental science and technology and areas applicable to next-generation computers.
- $2 million from the NIH to construct and renovate existing space to enhance neuroscience research on conditions such as macular degeneration and Alzheimer's disease. State-of-the-art facilities will support researchers in the Life Science and Technology Building, now under construction.
- $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Education to establish the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life. The center engages the community in dialogue about major issues of our time.
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The double pie chart indicates, on left, the total sponsored awards in 2002-03 and how much each sector provided, while the chart on the right breaks down the federal portion by agency or department. Much of the funds received from nonfederal sponsors are flow-through from federal sources so that federal funding accounts for $121.6 million, or almost 85 percent of the award total.
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