External research funding at UT increased more than $175 million for fiscal year 2009, more than doubling the total of fiscal year 2008 and setting a record. This year the university is on track to break its own record.
For the first and second quarters of fiscal year 2010, the university sits at about $97 million received, an increase of 54 percent over the same time period in fiscal year 2009.
“We are on track to break our previous highest record ever in the history of the university by a substantial amount,” Brad Fenwick, vice chancellor for research, said. “I’m not too sure where it’ll end up, but it would not surprise me if we go over the $200 million dollar threshold for sponsored awards in the 2010 fiscal year.”
Fenwick said the recent success in fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010’s first and second quarters — the period from July 1 through Dec. 31 — can be attributed to the university’s competitiveness and the fact that, across disciplines, faculty and schools are winning grants.
“We are submitting more applications and winning a higher percentage of them,” he said. “And the ones we are winning are larger amounts. No one is lagging behind here. Everyone is doing well.”
The success is across disciplines, and colleges within the university, like the College of Law and the College of Nursing, that Fenwick said are not usually winning grants are doing so.
Fenwick said UT’s recent success is unique in the nation.
“We probably did better than any university in the country on a growth basis last year, and we are on a record year this year,” he said. “... The Knoxville campus is able to compete with any university in the country.”
The amount received category for the first two quarters of fiscal year 2010 is led monetarily by two colleges who are more known for winning grants — the College of Arts and Sciences (with about $26 million) and the College of Engineering (with about $25 million).
The biggest percentage growth for a college in the university from fiscal year 2010 over fiscal year 2009’s first two quarters was with the College of Architecture and Design, which has received $145,796, a whopping 2,816 percent increase.
Barbara Klinkhammer, College of Architecture and Design associate dean, said the college has put more of an effort into finding external funding for research and focusing on green energy and sustainable building design.
“With green energy and sustainable construction being on the forefront of national interests, this has also spurred funding available,” Klinkhammer said. “We have more funding available.”
Among the research won recently by faculty and students in the college, a team from UT won a $75,000 grant at the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Sustainable Design Expo.
The team’s presentation was titled “The New Norris House: A Sustainable Home for the 21st Century,” and the grant would fund building a contemporary version of a historic 1930s Norris, Tenn., home design.
“They are actually building it this week, and they are going to do all kinds of research for measuring outcomes,” Klinkhammer said.
She said the Office of Research has taken strides to help improve external research funding for the campus.
“The Office of Research, over the last two years, has really increased visibility of their own office and have really put a lot of tools and documents on their own Web sites that is very easily accessible,” she said.
Workshops offered help faculty understand projects better and more frequently submit research grant applications.
Robert Ladd, College of Business Administration associate dean, agreed, also saying that the office’s experienced leadership and knowledge of how much effort it takes to secure grants also helps.
“Unquestionably the Office of Research has improved greatly,” Ladd said. “First it now provides timely service to grant and contract proposals. All proposals have to be processed through the Office of Research. At one time, contract proposals were ‘lost’ for weeks.”
Fenwick said the Office of Research aids faculty by helping find potential funding sources, putting projects together, working on budgets, proofreading and helping with graphics.
“We can’t write the proposals,” Fenwick said. “... But we can finetune, polish or correct those proposals, so they can go out and win more frequently.”
When awards are won, the office helps manage the awards and promotes the university’s success.
Bill Dunne, College of Engineering associate dean, said this last step was key, and that the last administration did a poor job of promoting achievements.
“Many constituencies only understand the undergraduate education mission, which is very important, but only partially defines UTK,” Dunne said. “Given that UTK is a relatively expensive state university because of its graduate programs and research programs, it is very important to be articulate about our research, its successes, its relationship to state economic development and its impact on graduate and undergraduate education.”
Though many colleges have increased in funding, Ladd said that amount of external research funding and number of awards won can be cyclical, depending on size of college and who is working on what at the moment.
He chalked up the business college’s 490 percent increase in fiscal year 2010’s first two quarters over the same time period in fiscal year 2009 as part of that cycle.
“Next year we’ll probably look terrible when compared to our incredible success this year, but then the third quarter may look great,” Ladd said.
Dunne said there was a concern in the College of Engineering that success in garnering external research funding may be leveling off due to the college maximizing its resources with the faculty members it has.
“The number of faculty members has remained near constant,” Dunne said. “And these faculty members, who are aggressively pursuing research funding with greater success, also need to publish research papers, mentor graduate students, educate undergraduate students and help through service (to) their departments, their college, their professional societies, et cetera, and oh, by the way, they are also supposed to have lives.”
Still, the College of Engineering experienced a 50 percent increase in funds received over the same time period in fiscal year 2009, and Dunne said new governor’s chairs and the early success of the new faculty hires in the college are helping mitigate the concerns.
“Simply, over the last 2.5 years under the leadership of Vice Chancellor for Research Brad Fenwick, the Office of Research is a quantum leap better,” he said.