The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder received more than $181 million in sponsored research awards for the 1997-98 fiscal year, the highest total ever for the campus and a 4.3 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.
"The campus faculty once again had a very successful year," said Larry Nelson, director of the CU-Boulder Office of Contracts and Grants. "The long-term trend of our sponsored research award dollars is to double every six to seven years."
CU-Boulder generated $174.2 million in 1996-97.
About 90 percent of the money was awarded directly or indirectly by federal agencies, he said. The rest came from foundations, corporations, private and non-profit agencies, institutes and the state of Colorado.
"The contributions of CU-Boulder's research and creative work to the state of Colorado include novel ideas, state-of-the-art processes and procedures and individuals with skills to bring this expertise into the marketplace," said Graduate School Dean Carol Lynch. "However, research also brings in large amounts of dollars that, through salaries, infrastructure equipment and services, enriches the state's economy."
The primary federal agencies granting money to CU-Boulder in 1997-98 include NASA and two affiliates, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Space Telescope Science Institute, which awarded campus researchers $56 million. CU also received $32.8 million from the National Science Foundation, $23.5 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and $15 million from the Department of Commerce.
In CU-Boulder's College of Arts and Sciences, the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department received about $10 million and the chemistry and biochemistry department received $8 million. Both departments traditionally rank among the top in the nation.
The College of Engineering and Applied Science received about $33 million. Within the college, the aerospace engineering department received about $9 million and computer science and electrical engineering researchers received nearly $8 million.
More than $7 million of CU-Boulder's sponsored research came from industry and an additional $9 million came from miscellaneous sources such as foundations and associations, said Nelson.
"This kind of success does not happen in a vacuum," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard L. Byyny. "It is the same quality in our faculty that creates opportunities for undergraduates and graduates to get a first-rate education and participate in the myriad hands-on research projects across the campus."
CU-Boulder faculty and students also address many social and economic problems relevant to the state, stimulate new industries and address the needs of a diverse and geographically scattered population, said Lynch, who also is associate vice chancellor for research at CU-Boulder.
"Research increasingly is integrated with education at CU-Boulder, even beyond providing exciting and original opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students," said Lynch. "The Student Nitric Oxide Explorer satellite project at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, for example, led to the joint recognition of LASP and the aerospace engineering department with a Centers of Excellence Award from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.
"The extent of sponsored research at CU-Boulder creates a fertile environment in which to generate knowledge, educate students and train future students, all contributing to CU President John Buechner's Total Learning Environment."