Navigate

UNC Research Funding Up 11 Percent to $678 Million

UNC’s research grants and contracts totaled $678.2 million in fiscal 2008 – up 11 percent from the record-setting $610 million received the previous year and more than double the amount from a decade ago.

More than half of the 2008 total – about $356 million – reflected a 13 percent gain in grants and contracts awarded by the National Institutes of Health. This also came at a time when the agency’s funding has grown stagnant. The NIH traditionally is the University’s largest source of research grants.

Although no official comparative numbers among UNC’s top peers were available, anecdotal evidence suggested the 2008 performance ranks among the best anywhere for a public university this year.

“Carolina faculty are outperforming the market for research grants,” Chancellor Holden Thorp ’86 said.

“We have both a greater number of awards and a greater average size,” said Tony Waldrop ’74, vice chancellor for research and economic development. “That’s significant, because the jump in total funding was not attributable to one or two exceptionally large awards.

“This year’s remarkable performance by the faculty has far exceeded our expectations given the past year’s federal funding trends. And it shows strong potential for future growth as we continue to expand our research facilities as part of the University’s capital construction program.”

Results from top-performing University units this year include:


Related coverage is available online:


Share via: