Colorado State University's commitment to research helped push the University's research expenditures to nearly $303 million in fiscal year 2008 - a new record for the University at a time when competition for federal funding is at an all-time high.
Annual research expenditures in 2008 totaled a record high of $302.6 million, which was $6.6 million more than the previous year and an increase of 35 percent over the past five years, according to new figures released today by Colorado State's Office of the Vice President for Research.
The University has climbed near the top of the rankings in terms of research dollars: In 2007, CSU ranked 16th nationally for R&D expenditures for major universities that do not also have a medical school - a feat accomplished with far fewer faculty than most other universities.
"Colorado State faculty members continue to earn the confidence of government agencies and private-sector sponsors because they are highly productive with their funding in comparison with their peers," said Larry Edward Penley, president of Colorado State. "Colorado State conducts vital research addressing some of the world's most challenging problems such as viable alternative energy sources, new treatments for cancer and potential vaccines for diseases such as dengue fever and drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis."
U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to the University has increased 54 percent since 2004. CSU research expenditures sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NASA and the National Science Foundation have increased 26 percent, 31 percent and 44 percent respectively since 2004.
As in 2007, expenditures of federal research funding in 2008 comprised the majority of the sponsored expenditures, totaling $214.9 million or 71 percent of the 2008 total. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided the largest source of external funding in 2008, exceeding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which held that position for seven consecutive years.
The bulk of Health and Human Services funding, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, goes to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences for critical research into vaccines, control mechanisms and cures for growing global diseases such as tuberculosis and dengue fever.
