- Research funding at KU for fiscal year 1999 increased by
more than $20 million from the previous fiscal year, officials
at the Center for Research announced recently.
KU received almost $168 million in total research expenditures
during fiscal 1999, up more than 14 percent from $147 million
in fiscal 1998. About $123 million of the $168 million came from
grants and contracts, which include grants from the federal,
state and local governments, as well as industry and other sources.
Science and engineering research garnered just under $133 million
in funding, while training and non-science research accounted
for approximately $35 million. The funding also included grants
from institutional funds and other sources, such as nonprofit
foundations.
"The continued increase in funding clearly demonstrates
the University of Kansas' commitment to providing innovative
research that benefits the people of Kansas and beyond,"
said KU Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway.
Robert E. Barnhill, vice chancellor and president of the KU Center
for Research, said that, although the funding total is just one
measurement of KU's overall success, which also includes research
and teaching awards presented in the humanities and other disciplines,
the increase in funding reflects highly on the level of work
being conducted across the entire university.
Funding figures are used for peer review and institutional rankings.
KU has a goal of consistently being among the top 75 research
institutions in the nation, and among the top 50 public research
institutions.
Officials will have to wait until other schools report their
expenditures for fiscal 1999 to determine if the increase was
enough to place KU in that elite company.
"We're going to break that top 75 - make no mistake about
that," Barnhill said. "But this isn't basketball, so
it is going to take more than one year."
In the meantime, Barnhill said, KU researchers will continue
to conduct world-class research. The success of the Biodiversity
Research Center at the Natural History Museum and the Kansas
Biological Survey were just two examples of research he cited
that continue to garner federal and state grants while helping
to serve the people of Kansas. And, he said, the university continues
to grow in other areas, such as research involving the human
condition, engineering and environmental sciences.
"Two broad areas in which much of our new funding is developing
are information technology and the life sciences - and those
are two state initiatives that KU is leading," Barnhill
said.
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