MSU sets research funding record

Fiscal 2019 was a record year for research at Missouri State University.

Faculty and staff members received $32.8 million in external grants and contracts. That’s up 25% from the fiscal 2018 tally of $26.1 million, according to a news release.

“Our faculty and staff continue to work hard submitting proposals and that hard work continues to bring record amounts of external funding to Missouri State,” said Rachel McGinnis, director of research administration at MSU, in the release.

MSU research projects received 292 grants and contracts out of 336 proposals. Staff sought $48 million in funds.

Funded projects include:
• $5 million awarded to Rishi Patel, a senior research scientist in applied science and engineering at MSU, from the Department of the Army for a cooperative agreement with Jordan Valley Innovation Center, Brewer Science and the Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center to conduct research on carbon nanomaterials and how they can be implemented;
• $350,000 for MSU’s downtown business incubator, the Efactory, from the Missouri Technology Corp. to support entrepreneurial advancement; and
• $126,100 for David Claborn, an assistant public health professor, to study tick and mosquito borne diseases via a contract with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Earlier this month, the MSU Foundation reported a second straight year of university donations totaling more than $20 million. However, fiscal 2019 donations of $20.1 million were 6.7% below the fiscal 2018 record of $21.5 million.