UH research funding gets another boost
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Research funding at the University of Hawai'i jumped by $89 million over the past two years, going from $212 million in fiscal 2001 to $301 million this year — a substantial increase that caps more than a decade of steady growth.
Over the past five fiscal years, competitive federal research and training grants have grown at the University of Hawai'i:
And this fiscal year is looking even better, with research grants and contracts in the first quarter up nearly 25 percent over the same period a year ago.
More money coming in
The increase points to a growing maturity in the university's research establishment and a faculty more aggressive in seeking out federal grants.
"We have hired very well in the last 10 years," said Jim Gaines, interim UH vice president for research. "What we're seeing is basically a change in the character of the university ... from a university (at statehood) where people didn't apply for these competitive grants to people who knew tenure depended on it."
The growth has accelerated recently because of new stability at the John A. Burns School of Medicine under Dean Edwin Cadman — one of the biggest producers of research money — the construction launch of the new medical school in Kaka'ako and the rapid expansion of research at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
Together, the developments have the university playing an increasing role in the state's economic diversification and growth.
Advertiser library photo
"In terms of what we're trying to do with our economy, it's very important and positive," said Pearl Imada Iboshi, state economist with the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The grant money is a catalyst to diversify the economy, she said, by putting more emphasis on technology and the development of research and information industries.
Edwin Cadman's John A. Burns School of Medicine is one of the biggest producers of research money.
"Not only does increasing UH grants bring money into the state," said Imada Iboshi, "it creates people knowledgeable at the top of their fields and that makes Hawai'i much more attractive as an intellectual center."
UH President Evan Dobelle agrees.
"Put into perspective," he said, "the volume of research dollars coming to the university makes UH akin to being one of, if not the largest technology company in the state."
Research dollars have seen a steady upward climb since the early 1990s, which parallels an upsurge in research-focused faculty, Gaines said.
"The number of grants coming out of the hard sciences is going up, but so are those coming out of the social sciences," he said. "Everything's going up."
In the past five fiscal years, the total dollar value of competitive grants has doubled, going from $164 million in fiscal 1999 to $301 million in fiscal 2003. In the first quarter of the new fiscal year, the university logged $93 million of these grants compared with $75 million in the first quarter a year ago.
UH also has brought in $20 million in additional National Science Foundation research money in the past two years, with more coming, because it was given EPSCOR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) status for underfunded states — a move championed by UH-Hilo chancellor Rose Tseng.
And academic money earmarked for projects championed by powerful and well-placed Hawai'i congressional leaders has vaulted UH into fourth place nationally this year, up from 10th place a year ago.
The increase, from $18.8 million last year to $30.6 million this year, amounted to 63 percent. That parallels a 68 percent increase in this funding nationally, spread across 1,964 public and private institutions of higher education.
Since 1999 UH has garnered $84.9 million for research projects supported by the state's congressional delegation, compared with Southern California's Loma Linda University, which tops the nation with a total of $167 million in the same period.
Officials also say the increase means UH researchers are becoming increasingly effective at dovetailing their research to national security interests as Congress continues to increase awards for projects to promote homeland security or thwart terrorism.
"Our researchers have read the research environment and have initiated some efforts in this direction, post 9-11," said David McClain, UH vice president for academic affairs. "Some of those efforts are bearing fruit."
The biggest awards this year were a total of $24 million from the Department of Defense, including $10.2 million in defense funding for classified projects involving the Maui High Performance Computing Center, which UH manages.
Other Defense Department projects are under way at UH, too. One involves the development of software for research on advanced marine vehicles. Another involves research and development of an imaging system to detect and analyze airborne particles that indicate the production, testing or use of weapons of mass destruction. And a third involves research to develop underwater robotic devices that could be used to hunt mines.
All of these federal dollars are helping ease the fiscal pain at UH as the state continues to keep tight reins on the university budget. Part of the money is pinpointed for "overhead costs" that can be used to support the university infrastructure. Gaines said these funds "substitute in part for some of the losses" in state money.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
