Communications

External Affairs Division

Grants/Contracts To System Set New Record of $795 Million in FY02

Atlanta — November 20, 2002

Several University System of Georgia institutions are emerging as nationally prominent research centers, helping to set a new System record for grants and contracts funding totaling $795 million in Fiscal Year 2002.

The exact total – $794,474,825 - also represents a 15.8 percent increase over similar funding in Fiscal Year 2001, pushing the record-setting funding for the University System. Of this total, $488 million was for research, $227 million for public service, and $79.4 million for instruction. The figures were released today as part of an annual report on grants and contracts prepared for the Board of Regents by the Office of Strategic Research and Analysis. Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for Academics and Fiscal Affairs, told the Board that the current high national rankings for research income reflect the rising quality and reputation of several of the System’s institutions, especially the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia (UGA). “Thirty years ago, none of the System’s research institutions ranked among the nation’s major players in research and development,” said Papp. “According to National Science Foundation statistics, today Georgia ranks tenth nationally in research and development income to universities.” Grants and contracts include funds received from external sources, such as federal and state grants and the non-profit sector, as well as research and development projects for business and industry.

“Given the state of the economy and a general cutback on many research activities by the government and corporations, this is an impressive level of funding support,” noted Dr. Cathie Mayes Hudson, associate vice chancellor for Strategic Research and Analysis. “It is a recognition that several of the University System of Georgia’s institutions have the intellectual resources and the support facilities needed to conduct research and implement contracts in many critical research areas.”

Topping the list of contracts from external sources are two grants of more than $4 million each. UGA received $4.33 million from the National Institutes of Health for the Southeast Collaboratory for High-Field Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, while Georgia Tech received $4.31 million from MARCO, Inc. to support its Focus Research Center for Gigascale Integration.

The report for Fiscal Year 2002 shows that 53 percent of the System’s research income came from federal sources, while 26 percent came from the state of Georgia. The non-profit sector accounted for 10 percent of the total, with business contributing seven percent. Other sources combined for the remaining four percent.

The University System also maintains a stream of income from the intellectual property generated by its faculty and researchers. In Fiscal Year 2002, total income from this source totaled nearly $6.2 million. This figure represented $4.5 million in lucrative inventions, $1.6 million in software, and nearly $67,000 in copyrights and trademarks generated by Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, the Medical College of Georgia and UGA.

University System of Georgia officials have stated their intention to increase emphasis on commercializing the research developments emanating from the major research universities. An external study conducted by the Washington Advisory Group found that the patent flow of the System’s research universities and the income generated from these activities can increase significantly if opportunities are optimized.

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