Increase in grant proposals brings CMU $12.1 million
CMU received $12.1 million in grant money, setting a new milestone for the university.
Jim Hageman, dean of graduate studies and research, said the figure is the highest ever for grants and contracts awarded to different groups, individuals and teams at CMU.
“While ($12.1 million) is a good number and a 25 percent increase over the last year, we are more pleased about the number of proposals we submitted,” he said.
Last year 290 proposals were submitted throughout the fiscal year, which ended July 1 of 2003 and began June 30. The year before there were 197 proposals, making it a 47 percent increase, Hageman said.
Of the 290 proposals made during the fiscal year, about 151 were awarded.
Research and Program Officer Craig Reynolds said the money will enable more graduate and undergraduate students to engage in the research of their mentors.
“When you are successful, it helps to publish more papers and demonstrate projects,” he said. “It in general improves the chances to get the next (grant).”
The money will benefit student employees by paying their salaries as well as the salaries of faculty for work in the summer.
The National Science Foundation is an example of such work; it allowed the university to bring a dozen or more undergraduate mathematics students to CMU to work with faculty during the summer, Hageman said.
In recent years CMU has been behind other schools in receiving external funding. Reynolds said this shouldn’t be the case in upcoming years, partly because of University President Michael Rao’s consistent emphasis on external funding.
“We also see there has been a steady increase in new faculty members who have recently been appointed,” he said. “They are coming into the job with a different set of expectations and different experience in regard to grant writing so when they get here they are hitting the ground running.”
Hageman said an increase in grant money looks promising, especially after receiving a Title Three grant of $1.7 million over four years to help build up the university’s data system.
“Another project we just got was a little over $900,000 to support the (Ronald E. McNair Baccalaureate Achievement Program,) purely a student program, which helps first generation, minority and economically needy students to go to grad school,” he said.
Hageman said facilities like the new Health Professions building will also help with grant funding.
“We have for first time a high-quality research facility and I think the building has allowed us to hire good new faculty,” he said. “The prospects of moving into a new great facility always helps you in hiring.”
