The University's Office of Sponsored Programs recently released statistics showing that the University saw a decrease in the amount of funding it received for research during 2006. This drop follows several years of reported increases in funding.
The amount of money the University received from the government dropped nearly 13 percent from over $237 million to less than $207 million, according to Vonda Durrer, director of award management and accounting at the University.
Durrer said while the University received less research money in 2006 than in past years, higher education institutions across the nation have experienced similar declines.
"When budget is cut at the federal level, it's a ripple effect [and] we are definitely feeling the ... effect," she said.
Durrer emphasized, however, that such a decline may not be as dramatic as the numbers suggest.
Jeff Blank, assistant to the vice president of research in graduate studies, explained how the University employs the federal funding.
"A large portion of the money [goes towards] biomedical research, which will help us find a cure for a range of diseases from cancer to diabetes," he said. "Also, the money has been helpful for homeland security activities to develop greater technology for engineering and applied science."
In addition to government subsidies, industrial funding -- or "sponsorship from a private company," according to Blank -- also impacts research finances.
Blank noted that the annual amount of industrial funding the University receives can be unpredictable.
"Our industrial funding seems to go up and down periodically and doesn't have a real sustained trend," Blank said.
Statistics from the Office of Sponsored Programs show that in the last year the industrial funding decreased by 2.44 percent, from about 22.5 million in 2005 to about $21.9 million in 2006.
Kathryn Thornton, associate dean of the science, technology and society department, said the government should focus on funding research.
"Federal funding in research is very important for ... the future of the country," she said. "It's a mistake ... to be short-sighted and not invest in innovation and discovery in this country."
Rhonda Britt, survey statistician at the National Science Foundation, said it is too difficult to predict research funding for 2007 at this point.
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