Despite nationwide financial woes, UNC continues to flex its muscles as a major research institution.
The University announced Thursday that it received $803 million in research funding during the 2010 fiscal year, up 12 percent from the $716 million it received last year. The $87 million increase marks the 14th consecutive year research funding has increased at UNC.
For some administrators, that trend’s perseverance — even through times of economic struggle — has not been surprising.
“While I have worked here, we have always increased,” said Kelly Musty, director of awards management for the Office of Sponsored Research.
The UNC School of Medicine led all departments with $424.3 million, which accounted for about 53 percent of the total funding. The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center was the highest individual recipient with $60.6 million.
The University receives grants from both government and privates sources, and most funding comes from the federally-funded National Institutes of Health.
In addition to that source, this year UNC capitalized on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus bill. The University obtained $126 million from the stimulus package.
Though that injection of federal funds itself surpassed the total increase from last year’s funding, officials said it is difficult to determine whether the same level of funding would have been possible without the stimulus.
“There’s absolutely nothing guaranteed in research funding,” said Barbara Entwisle, interim vice chancellor for research and economic development. “What’s difficult to imagine is what we would’ve gotten in the absence of stimulus funding, since many of those grants may have come from other sources even without the stimulus money.”
