MSU sets award-funding record

The school received $18.1 million during the year, a 9 percent increase from the previous year and the first time MSU has exceeded $18 million. The funding came from 151 grants and contracts awarded to faculty and staff.

Funding from federal agencies made up the bulk of the awards. Federal-agency funding set its own record high for MSU with $12.9 million, an 8 percent increase from the previous year. But the greatest push came from state agencies, which raised their contributions by 49 percent to $4.2 million.

Other funding came from nonprofit agencies, corporate sponsors, county/city agencies and international sponsors.

Jordan Valley Innovation Center, which includes MSU’s Center for Applied Science and Engineering and Center for Biomedical and Life Sciences, received the biggest piece of the funding pie. It was awarded a total of $9.8 million from 10 federal sources; that money was for JVIC’s multimillion-dollar renovation and a number of the center’s defense or national security research projects.

The College of Natural and Applied Sciences received the largest number of awards – 60 – for more than $3.04 million. The College of Health and Human Sciences received $906,201, and the College of Education brought in $767,683.

Some projects funded in 2005-06 included professional development training for Missouri teachers and parents of children with autism; the study of cellular/molecular mechanisms relating to temporomandibular joint pathology and therapy; and the organization of an international conference entitled Taiwan and the World: Taiwan’s External Relations in a Time of Transition.