Health-related grants drive record research funding at UF

August 22, 2001

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s aggressive pursuit of health-related grants helped generate a record $379.5 million in research funding during fiscal year 2000-2001, up 11.8 percent from the previous year, figures released today show.

The six colleges that comprise UF’s Health Science Center accounted for 52 percent of the university’s total, receiving a record $197.8 million in contracts and grants last year, up nearly 14 percent from the previous year, according to figures compiled by UF’s Office of Research and Graduate Programs. Much of that increase can be attributed to a 34 percent increase in awards from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, which continues to be UF’s largest source of research funding at $93.5 million.

“Our faculty expertise and the university’s ability to address the whole spectrum of health issues makes us especially competitive for NIH funding,” said Win Phillips, UF’s vice president for research. “We are participating in the broad diversity of opportunities stemming from growth in the health-care field.”

UF faculty also had success in their pursuit of funding from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, last year. The record $28.2 million in NSF awards represented a 36 percent increase over 1999-2000.

A $3.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a Center for Subtropical Agroforestry to promote environmentally friendly farming practices helped push UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to a record $66.9 million in funding last year.

Federal money still accounts for well over half of UF’s total research funding, but the university continues to build its relationships with industry. Funding from industry was up more than 23 percent last year to $59.2 million.

“While publicly funded research, particularly from the federal government, is vital to our research enterprise, we have tried to achieve an appropriate ratio of public and private funding,” Phillips said. “Industrial sponsors have come to recognize the University of Florida as a high-quality research institution that can help them solve challenging problems, increasing their competitiveness in today’s global market.”

UF faculty are becoming increasingly successful in their pursuit of major grants, Phillips said. Although the 4,195 proposals submitted represent only a 3.3 percent increase from the previous year, the amount requested rose 32 percent from $471,998,565 to $623,166,794.

“The significant number of major grants the university has received over the last decade is a tribute to our first-quality, world-class faculty,” Phillips said.