Wednesday, February 9, 2011

UMass sets new research spending record

By Ann Kenda, Boston Business Journal

Research expenditures at the University of Massachusetts reached $536 million in Fiscal Year 2010, surpassing the $500 million mark for the first time in the school’s history.

“Part of what makes the University of Massachusetts a world-class university is the sustained effort we have made in the past decade to increase research funding throughout all five of our campuses,” said UMass president Jack Wilson in a written statement. “The research work of our faculty is ‘rocket fuel’ for the state’s innovation economy. It is saving lives, cleaning the environment and stoking economic development in Massachusetts.”

The figures, which are still preliminary, break down the following amounts for Fiscal Year 2010 research expenditures:

    * Amherst, $169 million
    * Boston, $51.3 million
    * Dartmouth, $26 million
    * Lowell, $57.4 million
    * Worcester, $232 million

Trustee Philip W. Johnston described the surpassing of $500 million as a major accomplishment.

“Nationally and internationally, the University of Massachusetts is acknowledged as a major player in the world of research and innovation. It is clear the the University is seeing increased recognition for its work from major funders, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation,” Johnston said in a written statement. “The research that each of our five campuses is conducting has a profoundly positive effect on the state, the nation and the world.”