Funding for UNC system research at peak

UNC-system schools raked in more federal funding for research than ever before — thanks in part to the recession.

Funding for research systemwide reached $1.4 billion this year, an increase of more than 16 percent from last year. Most of that money came from the National Institutes of Health and is going toward medical research.

“As devastating as this recession is, it does allow us — or force us — to take a look at things we wouldn’t pay as much attention to,” said N.C. Rep. Tony Foriest, D-Alamance, co-chairman of the N.C. Senate’s higher education committee.

Foriest said the state has been trying to direct money to research as a way of getting out of the recession.

The UNC system received $22 million for science and research equipment from the state legislature this year. The money is supposed to help make universities more competitive for future federal grants.

The state legislature cut the system’s budget by $70 million, but gave an unprecedented amount for updating research equipment and facilities.

Steven Leath, vice president for research for the UNC system, said he hasn’t seen such a strong focus on scientific advancements since the space race in the 1950s and 60s.

“The current administration has decided that for the economy to fully recover, it needed to fund research for new ideas and new products to create new jobs,” Leath said.

He said the schools’ investment in facilities and equipment factored into researchers’ competitiveness and success with grants.

“We got more than our fair share,” Leath said.

U.S. Rep. David Price, who has been pushing for federal funds to go to UNC-system schools, said investments in innovative research and development projects were a crucial part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“Our local research institutions — and UNC-CH in particular — had competitive lab-ready research projects that were able to get up and running quickly with the help of federal funds,” Price said in an e-mail through an assistant.

Dwayne Pinkney, associate provost for finance and academic planning at UNC-CH, said that the system was able to gain a record amount of funds because faculty took advantage of the stimulus money and applied for competitive grants.

Foriest said that with a national push for energy-efficient or green jobs, he expects funding for research universities like UNC and N.C. State to continue to increase.

“I think it will increase even once the recession slackens because more people will be on board.”

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