UT Houston Research and Development Expenditures Steadily Climb, Despite Federal Slowdown

Research and development (R&D) expenditures in science and engineering by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston rose in Fiscal Year 2006 despite a slowdown in federal spending that saw some budgets stall and others shrink, according to a survey of 650 universities and colleges by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"The increase reflects the hard work of our researchers and their outstanding level of research across a full spectrum of biomedical and public health research programs," said Peter J. A. Davies, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice-president for research for the UT Health Science Center. "We are delighted."

In FY 2006, UT Houston spent $175 million on research and development in science and engineering - a $22 million increase over the previous fiscal year, the NSF survey reported.

When adjusted for inflation, all federally financed academic research and development expenditures in science and engineering - the largest source of academic R&D funding - declined slightly from fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2006, the report states.

R&D expenditures financed by state and local government funding in science and engineering also failed to outpace inflation between FY 2005 and FY 2006, the reports notes. However, industry funding did rise during this period.

According to Davis, a further analysis of the totals revealed that the UT Health Science Center ranked 12th overall in terms of growth between FY 2005 and FY 2006. "This is something we can be proud of. Our federally-financed research is continuing to grow at a time when it is difficult to maintain growth."

In FY 2006, federally financed R&D expenditures in science and engineering accounted for $123 million of the total at UT Houston, according to the report - compared to $113 million in FY 2005, $107 million in FY 2004 & 2003 and $99 million in FY 2002 and $89 million in FY 2001.

In FY 2006, UT Houston ranked 77th nationally in terms of federally financed R&D expenditures in science and engineering, the report says.

The NSF Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges (academic R&D expenditures survey) is the primary source of information on separately budgeted R&D expenditures by academic institutions in the United States and outlying areas.

Conducted annually since FY 1972, the survey collects information on R&D expenditures by academic field as well as by source of funds.

The FY 2006 survey was conducted by Macro International.

By Rob Cahill, Institutional Advancement

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