Ending its downward drift in the national research rankings over the past four years, the University of Georgia this year rose from 103rd to 94th among all public and private universities and colleges based on federally financed research and development expenditures.
In the year ending June 30, 2007, UGA had $103.3 million in federal research and development expenditures, an 11 percent increase over 2006 expenditures of $92.7 million. The rankings for fiscal year 2007 compiled by the National Science Foundation are the latest for which comprehensive data are available.
“This particular ranking is the gold standard by which to measure the overall research prowess of individual institutions,” said David Lee, vice president for research. “Moving our ranking back into positive territory has been a high priority for OVPR, so it’s gratifying to see this latest data. This is a particularly large jump, and we hope it is the beginning of a sustained trend.
“The credit goes overwhelmingly to the UGA researchers who are awarded the grants and contracts, and we are delighted to see their hard work and expertise recognized,” he added. “However, we should also recognize the sustained support of the administration, the University of Georgia Research Foundation board and the Georgia Research Alliance. Without their support we would not be moving in the right direction.”
UGA research administrators believe that the recent ranking is due to many factors. Among them: the increasing success of UGA’s research centers, such as the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases; growth of the new College of Public Health; new interdisciplinary research initiatives in infectious diseases and bioenergy; investments in research infrastructure such as the Research Computing Center and Georgia Genomics Facility; new facilities like the Animal Health Research Center and the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences; and strategic faculty recruitments, including GRA Eminent Scholars.
Lee said these investments should help the university to continue its rise in the federal research rankings. In fact, research funding at UGA has increased nearly 45 percent for year-to-date fiscal year 2009 compared to the same period in fiscal year 2008. He describes this increase, which is not yet reflected in rankings, as “amazing.”
However, Lee cautions that UGA’s research enterprise is always vulnerable in the enormously competitive national scene, and several powerful external factors render the total research funding picture for the coming years unpredictable. The downturns in the national and global economies are expected to reduce industry and foundation sponsored research budgets, as those entities grapple with historic budget shortfalls of their own; approximately one third of UGA research funding comes from foundations and other organizations.
Particularly important is the loss of research faculty positions in light of recurring budget cuts. Lee adds that while virtually all U.S. institutions are battling these same trends, some have larger endowments or other mechanisms to help them weather the storm.
Federal Recovery Act funding, on the other hand, could deliver much-needed relief to UGA and other universities after years of lean federal financing for research. The act allocates $21.5 billion nationwide for federal research and development to be invested within two years, and Lee believes UGA researchers are well positioned to compete for those funds.
“Many worthy UGA research projects have languished in recent years due to lack of federal funding,” said Lee. “Now, with the Recovery Act, we’re seeing unprecedented opportunities for the advancement of research. The Office of the Vice President for Research is working hard to assist UGA researchers with their Recovery Act funding applications and also to take advantage of the new research infrastructure funding opportunities that are available to us.”
Lee summarizes the situation this way: “We are greatly relieved to see UGA’s research ranking moving in the right direction. The question is: Can we sustain this trend?”
