The U brought in more than $300 million in grant money last year, but some researchers are still struggling to get funds.
Dr. Ronald Pugmire, assistant vice president of research, said that although the U has not had a problem getting grant money, the funds have gotten tighter-and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq war, it may get even harder.
“Everybody is kind of hurting from this,” said Scott Anderson, a physical chemist at the U.
Leslie Sieburth, a biology professor, serves on a grant panel for the National Science Foundation and has noticed firsthand that funds are getting tighter.
“We’re spending money on this idiotic war in Iraq,” Sieburth said.
Sieburth said the grants that get first priority funding often involve national defense or homeland security, making it harder for “discovery”-oriented grants to get through.
“The competition is so high that only about one in four National Science Foundation projects ever get funded,” Pugmire said. “You have to maintain a standard of excellence if you want to continue to be funded.”
This includes doing things such as publishing a couple of papers a year and going to meetings with those who research in your same field, Sieburth said.
With fewer grants available, Anderson finds himself needing to spend more and more time writing grants.
“Everybody’s chasing a disappearing amount of money instead of teaching and doing research,” Anderson said.
Grant money can go toward equipment, travel or anything relating to the project. Large portions of the funds usually go toward paying the salaries of those working on the experiment.
At the U, between 5,600 and 6,000 graduate students are involved in research, and a “significant fraction of them” are supported by money from grants, Pugmire said.
Several undergraduate students are also involved in grant-funded research at the university. Grants are offered by a variety of organizations. But many of them come from the federal organizations such as the National Science Foundation.
Grants can also come through private businesses, but these can require the scientist to present the company with a finished product at the end of the time, Pugmire said.
The grant must be used for its given purpose. At the end of the grant period, auditors may come in and make sure funds were used appropriately.
The U is considered the flagship university for the state of Utah and probably does more research than any other university in the state, Pugmire said.
