On the search for research funding

Federal funding for research at higher education institutions declined for a fourth straight year, according to a new report (Nov. 17) from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).

While federal funds and funds from state governments decreased, other sources of university R&D funding saw increases. Universities' own funding of R&D rose by 5.9 percent in FY 2015, business expenditures by 7.5 percent, nonprofit expenditures by 6.9 percent and expenditures funded by other sources (including donations and foreign sources) by 6.4 percent. Even with the federal decrease, overall university expenditures were up by 2.2 percent compared with the previous year.

The good news for SC INBRE members is that R&D income is strong in the sciences. The report states, "Three fields – medical science ($21.3 billion), biological science ($11.7 billion) and engineering ($11.1 billion) – together accounted for 64.3 percent of total higher education R&D."

Richard Myers, Boston University professor of neurology, in an effort to fund a recent project involving proteomics and RNA sequencing teamed up with a corporate partner, Proteostasis Therapeutics of Cambridge, Mass. Said Myers, “We shared data. I think everybody is looking for a way to continue good science, and I think there is a growing appreciation that the private sector and academia could work together more than we have in the past.”