Research Funding Up 7.5 Percent

Posted on Oct. 1, 2004

Faculty at Carolina saw a 7.5 percent jump in research funds in 2003-04 thanks to increases in both government and private funding.

UNC’s Office of Sponsored Research reported that total research funding for fiscal year 2004 reached $577.6 million, up $40.2 million from a year earlier. The bulk of the gains came from federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation and the departments of Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services, which contributed $429.8 million to the total.

The University also received $42 million from state and local governments and $99.2 million in private funding from foundations, industry and nonprofit organizations.

“Faculty at Carolina are making discoveries and bringing technology to market that enhance and help save lives,” Chancellor James Moeser said. “Some of that research is forming the basis of spin-off companies, which help transform our state’s economy by creating jobs and attracting new investments in North Carolina.”

Research by UNC faculty has led to 25 spin-off companies. Tony Waldrop ’74, vice chancellor for research and economic development, added that faculty discoveries also have resulted in 182 U.S. patents and 287 licensed inventions since 2000.

Among the individual schools and colleges at UNC, the medical school received the most research funding in 2004, $303.5 million. The College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public Health followed with $58.2 million and $56.5 million, respectively. The Carolina Population Center received the largest social science award in the University’s history by securing a five-year, $70 million agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development for its MEASURE Evaluation Project.

The Office of Sponsored Research reviewed 3,121 faculty proposals in the past fiscal year. The $577.6 million total for sponsored research represents 8,297 active contracts.

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