The University of Iowa collected a record amount of money for research this year. Vice-president for research Meredith Hay says it included 359-point-6-million dollars in grants and contracts, for research, development and education. The federal sources are from agencies with “R-and-D” research and development budgets the schools compete for. Private sources of funding, which she says total about 1-point-9-million, include state funds, private sources like the American Cancer Society and Heart Association as well industry-sponsored research and other non-federal programs. Hay credits faculty, staff and students for helping bring in the research money. Hays explained that in the4 decade since 1995, the University’s seen an increase of nearly 90-percent in external awards. She says keeping the University’s share of the grant market helps sustain the research going on at the school and expand it. The growth in U-of-I’s share of funding, Hay points out, happened during a time in which federal government grants did not grow. She says the federal Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control, though other agencies including NASA also fund Iowa research. Hay says the Fiscal Year 2006 requests are going through the pipeline now.
