Penn researchers see big gains in grant aid

The University received $414 million in outside research funds for fiscal year 1998. External funding for research projects at the University hit an all-time high during fiscal year 1998. The University received $414 million in grants -- a 14 percent increase from the previous year -- from government agencies, public foundations and private institutions this year, according to Vice Provost for Research Ralph Amado. "[The rise in research funding] contributes to the general intellectual excitement at the institution," Amado said, stressing that the financial gains will benefit both students and faculty. The rate of increase has also been significantly high. While the Agenda for Excellence -- University President Judith Rodin's five-year campus master plan -- set a funding increase goal of 2 percent per year, the compound growth rate of external funding between 1993 and 1998 totaled 8.6 percent per year. "We're having a blockbuster year," Vice President for Finance Kathy Engebretson said. "Research has been growing at an incredible pace." Amado explained that the federal government has become more generous in spending money on research since the Agenda was first announced four years ago. He added that the University has acquired funds due to the "high quality" of faculty and new research facilities such as the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories. The University receives about 80 percent of its grants from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The remaining 20 percent of grants are kicked in by public agencies such as the American Heart Association, as well as by private industries. The Medical School receives the bulk of the total research funding given to Penn -- a clear 60 percent, according to Amado. Glen Gaulton, vice dean for research and research training in the Medical School, said the ability to finance research and faculty is revolutionizing the school. "It opens up whole new areas of research," the professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine said, citing the gene therapy program and breast cancer research as two endeavors that benefitted from external grants. He added that the rise in funding also aids faculty recruitment at the Medical School. "Penn is in the forefront in growth of faculty and growth of funding," Gaulton said. Funding and faculty growth at the University are similar to "trickle down economics," he added, stressing that more research grants enable professors to employ more students -- both graduate and undergraduate -- to work with them on research projects. The four schools that receive the remaining funding are -- in descending order -- the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Graduate School of Education. The actual funding distributions were not available. Interim Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said the additional funding has helped the school gain new resources, laboratories and faculty. "Hires in the past few years have been phenomenal," said the Chemical Engineering professor, who added that the "spectacular" faculty are involving the students in research projects. College Dean Richard Beeman stressed that research and teaching are the two priorities of the College. He noted that nearly all 450 faculty members of the College are engaged in ongoing research. Beeman added that since faculty members in the sciences need laboratory equipment and facilities for their research, they often seek external grants. But English or History professors need "the gift of time," which enables them to research and write about their subject at length, Beeman said.