Research funding to UI increases, topping $680M

UI sees significant uptick in funding from National Science Foundation, private industry

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

External funding to support research, scholarship, and creative activities at the University of Iowa totaled $683.8 million in fiscal year 2024, which ended on June 30, 2024. This is a 22% increase over the previous year's $561 million.

Total external funding to the institution reached $811 million, an increase of 15% from last year. These funds support a range of activities that build on the university's research strengths, engage students in dynamic educational experiences, and support engagement with local, regional, and global communities.

Several sources of federal and private funding trended up during FY 2024, including a significant uptick in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Education. Industry-supported activities, which include clinical trials, rose 17% to $149 million, the highest in the institution's history. The previous record was $127 million set in FY 2022.

"These trends align with the institution's efforts to diversify our funding portfolio and forge new partnerships with federal, corporate, and foundation entities," says Marty Scholtz, vice president for research. "Their support fosters a range of high-impact faculty work, from the arts and humanities, to engineering, to the sciences."

Federal support

Federal funding remains the strongest supporter of the institution, totaling $315 million in FY 2024, or 39% of all external funding.

The NSF's support of UI research projects increased 56% for a record high of $18 million, including a new $1.2 million project to advance the personalization of hearing aids. The lead investigator on the project is Octav Chipara, a professor in the Department of Computer Science.

Funding from the Department of Defense (DOD) totaled $18 million. The DOD's social-science focused Minerva Research Institute funded a $1.7 million projectto examine the global spread of propaganda, disinformation, and manipulative content on social media.Brian Ekdale, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, leads the study.

Several federally funded projects reached major milestones of longevity with continuous funding from a single grant. Fiscal year 2024 marked the 45th year of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for the UI's training program in hematology. Theproject, which is currently led by Steven Lentz, professor of internal medicine and the Henry Hamilton Chair in Hematology, trains young scientists for productive careers as academic scientists and physician-scientists in hematology. The UI program received funding to train its first cohort of scientists in 1978. To date, it has trained more than 141 people who have gone on to successful careers in academic medical centers, the NIH, American Red Cross, and private industry.

Private funding

Overall, support from private foundations and individuals totaled $129 million in FY 2024.

Two UI researchers secured $18 million from the nonprofit Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for a five-year project to help older adults with multiple chronic medical conditions better manage their high blood pressure. Korey Kennelty, the Patrick E. Keefe Professor in Pharmacy and vice chair for research and implementation science in the Department of Family Medicine, and Carri Casteel, professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and director of UI's Injury Prevention Research Center, are dual principal investigators on the award. Their goal is to enroll more than 900 patients and partner with 60 primary care clinics across the country.

Private sources also supported UI writers who continue to shape the landscape of American literature. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded Guggenheim fellowships to two UI faculty in FY 2024. Kaveh Akbar, associate professor and director of the undergraduate English and creative writing major, and Jamel Brinkley, assistant professor in the Iowa Writers' Workshop, secured the fellowships from a pool of nearly 3,000 applicants. Thirty-three UI faculty have received the highly prestigious award since 1978.

Clinical trials represent the largest percentage of industry-funded projects, at $85 million.

"Many clinical trials help patients treated at UI Health Care gain access to new drugs and therapies," says Scholtz. "We're proud to leverage the unique strengths and capabilities of UI researchers to help advance discoveries and treatments that directly benefit people in our state and beyond."

Serving Iowa's communities

The U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Weather Service co-funded a project to improve community resistance to flooding in eastern Iowa. The $1 million project will support new remote sensors to collect data and monitor conditions throughout the Lower Cedar River and Maquoketa River watersheds. Nathan Young, associate director of the Iowa Flood Center, will lead the project.

To address the shortage of special-education teachers in Iowa and across the country, the Department of Education awarded a $1.2 million grant to a team in the College of Education led by Allison Bruhn, professor of special education.

"We are proud of the ingenuity of UI researchers and scholars, who continue to push the bounds of research and discovery, and secure competitive funding from a wide range of sources to do this work," says Scholtz. "This year's records are a testament to UI researchers' enduring commitments to secure new knowledge that benefits the people of Iowa, the nation, and the world."