EXTERNAL RESEARCH FUNDING SHATTERS $100 MILLION BARRIER_x000B_

At UC Santa Barbara, research funding from external sources --- federal and state agencies, corporations, and foundations --- has reached a record $102.6 million.

In the 1998-99 fiscal year, such "extramural" funding from research contracts and grants increased 8 percent over the previous year's all-time high of $95.2 million. A total of 1,044 contract and grant awards were received.

"Our campus is proud and excited that sponsored research awards during the past year have broken the $100 million mark," said Chancellor Henry T. Yang.

"This is a significant milestone and a magnificent success for a campus of our size."

"The endeavors present in these proposals exemplify the cutting-edge scholarship which will drive UCSB's research enterprise into the next millennium," said France A. Córdova, vice chancellor for research. Over the last 10 years, research funding has increased 84 percent.

The College of Letters and Science, the campus's largest academic unit, received $26.6 million, up 20 percent over the previous year. Among the major grants was $1.8 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study virtual environments and behavior.

Funding for interdisciplinary organized research units amounted to more than $34.7 million, up 25 percent. Included in that was $1.8 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to support the Marine Science Institute's work with a marine conservation consortium.

The College of Engineering also received $34.7 million, a significant accomplishment for a college with just over 100 full-time faculty and some 530 graduate students.

In fact, the college consistently ranks as one of the top engineering programs in the nation in terms of research dollars per faculty member.

Awards to the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management increased by 79 percent to $2 million, primarily in connection to NASA's Earth Observing System.

Support for the Graduate School of Education rose 23 percent to $2.9 million. Most of the new funding will flow into community projects, such as those weighing teaching practices impacts on elementary school children who are learning a second language.

An additional $1.7 million was awarded to other departments. External research funding increased in all sectors, with more than 80 percent of the total coming from federal sources. The balance came from state and private agencies, industrial sponsors, and local governments, among others.

Continuing a decade-long trend, the NSF was the largest single source, providing $33.5 million. Other major sources of federal support included the departments of defense ($18.3 million) and energy ($4.2 million), the National Institutes of Health ($8.6 million), and NASA ($8.2 million).Research support of UCSB from industry increased 45 percent to $4.7 million.

"If we compare UCSB with other top research universities, excluding awards to medical schools and using per capita figures, we rank among the top few," noted Chancellor Yang.

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