By Zach Weigel
Noted as one of the top public research institutions in the country, the University of Iowa depends on internal and federal funding to facilitate research.
The UI has seen an $8.5 million, or around 3.67 percent, uptick in federal funding for research and scholarships for the current fiscal year.
According to the UI Office of Research and Economic Development, the UI’s federal funding has risen from $231.9 million to $240.4 million with increases from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Education.
“I think the increase in funding really speaks volumes about Iowa as a public research university,” said UI Vice President for Research and Economic Development Daniel Reed.
“One thing to keep in perspective is that most of the federal funding supports student and staff through research and scholarships,” Reed said. “The thing that distinguishes Iowa is the interplay of research and learning. We create knowledge, not just teach.”
In addition, Reed said, seminars are held to help faculty draft grant proposals because “obtaining funding is something we work very hard at.”
Reed also noted the federal funding increase is especially validating given the intensifying difficulty in securing funds.
“Mandatory spending is growing rapidly, leading discretionary spending to be strained in the federal budget,” he said. “Because research and scholarship is considered discretionary funding, it’s a long-term worry because the world has become a knowledge economy.”
Figures from the UI Research Office show that the vast majority of funding comes from the NIH to support endeavors in the UI’s extensive health-care fields.
The NIH funds have increased 9 percent this year and account for two-thirds of federal funding for the UI.
Among some of the beneficiaries of those funds is the Hardin Library, which was granted $6.5 million to help make medical information more accessible for health-care providers and patients.
The NSF also saw a substantial increase in funding from $11.3 million to $13.9 million.
UI Assistant Professor of chemistry Nicole Becker is involved with the national Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, which granted the UI $1.4 million to help attract students to STEM teaching fields.
With additional research funding, the UI is able to support areas of study such as STEM.
“The primary purpose of the program is to provide scholarships to students pursuing a master’s in arts and teaching for science fields,” Becker said.
The 4+1 program involves students obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years. The scholarship is for $11,000 a year and is renewable for up to three years, Becker said.
She noted that the scholarship is intended to fill high-need STEM areas and “students must commit to teaching for two years for every year of the scholarship they receive.”
She also said the goal is to create “better prepared science teachers.”
“The goal of the program is to create better-prepared science teachers,” Becker said.
