Research Funding Hits Record High
UC Hits Top 20 in the Nation

The University of Cincinnati earned significant increases in total external funding during the 2001 fiscal year, including more than $100 million in support for the East Campus.

The report follows UC's ranking among the Top 20 public research universities by the Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance. The program, based at the University of Florida, issued its annual report, The Top American Research Universities, in July 2001.

Howard Jackson, Vice President for Research and Advanced Studies, announced the figures in recent reports to the UC Board of Trustees and the Faculty Senate. Jackson said when all UC campuses and affiliated research institutions are accounted for, total funding climbed more than 19 percent to $230 million.

But he added that the research effort is much more than raw numbers. "Research at the University of Cincinnati is wide-ranging. We do things that are valuable and important to society. There is a unique breadth and depth, an integration of teaching, research and service."

Jackson also reported that full-time graduate enrollment significantly increased this year with 3,765 full-time students, while part-time graduate enrollment slightly decreased to 2,268.

The 2001 Sponsored Awards Report showed a significant upward trend in research funding over the last several years. "That reflects the energy of the faculty," said Jackson, who highlighted the accomplishments of several UC researchers from classics professor Kathryn Gutwiller who was honored internationally for her work decoding ancient Greek poetry to Ranajit Chakraborty in environmental health - - the new Robert A. Kehoe Chair of Environmental Health who has developed a unique statistical method to understand connections in complex genetic diseases.

By the numbers, total external support for the East Campus stands at $101.3 million. West campus pulled in $50.9 million. The College of Medicine continues to be the highest funded college with $95.43 million in external support followed by the College of Enginering with $20.55 million.

Most of the funding came from federal agencies, a total of $129.1 million or an 11.7 percent increase from fiscal year 2000. The size of the average federal award also went up to $221,000 compared with 187,000 one year ago. Industrial support was up nearly 20 percent to $6.2 million.

External support for UC Colleges (top six)

Medicine $95.43 million
Engineering $20.55 million
Arts and Sciences $5.86 million
Education $5.43 million
Pharmacy $1.88 million
CBA $1.56 million

External support for UC departments (top departments and largest increases)

Aerospace engineering $3.54 million (up 47 percent)
Civil and environmental engineering $6.35 million (up 9 percent)
Environmental health $17.91 million (up 33 percent)
Neurology $4.40 million (up 266 percent)
Obstetrics and gynecology $4.35 million (up 52 percent)
Physiology $8.46 million (up 49 percent)
Psychiatry $10.25 million (up 52 percent)