The proof is in the numbers

• In FY05, CAFNR led all divisions with research expenditures of $32.7M, up from $29.3M in FY04. CAFNR research expenditures represented 27 percent of the campus total.

• Since FY98, CAFNR research expenditures have increased about 14 percent annually.

• 85 percent of our FY05 extramural research expenditures came from federal sources.

Each year the Office of Sponsored Program Administration (OSPA) releases data on campus grant activity. We in CAFNR have a long history of success in obtaining extramural funding for our research. Our research portfolio continues to increase; in fact, we have doubled our annual expenditure of research funds since FY98. At that time, CAFNR had annual research expenditures of about $15M. Since then, our expenditures have increased about 14 percent annually (Fig 1, below). This is a remarkable and sustained accomplishment of which we should be proud. Let’s take a closer look at what this means.

How is grant success measured?
OSPA tracks both grant awards and grant expenditures. Figure 1 shows CAFNR awards and expenditures since 1998. Awards reflect grant funds received in a given fiscal year. These award data lack a common time dimension and thus are inherently "lumpy." They can, however, provide insight into the direction of ultimate expenditures in the future. Expenditure data represent actual grant dollars spent within a given fiscal year. Taken together, award and expenditure data help show grant funding trends. Campus generally measures grant success in terms of expenditures because it is a true measure of grant activity within a fiscal year.

Who gets credit on multi-PI awards?
To avoid double counting of grant dollars where there are multiple collaborators on a grant, OSPA computes shared credit values, which divide the total credit among the investigators according to investigator’s effort on the grant. By using shared credit values, it is possible to assign the appropriate credit to the departments and divisions when investigators collaborate with others outside of their academic home.

How do we compare to other divisions on campus?
For FY05, campus-wide, externally sponsored project expenditures increased about 9.5 percent above those for FY 04. Once again, CAFNR led all divisions with research expenditures of $32.7M, up from $29.3M in FY 04. CAFNR research expenditures represented 27 percent of the campus total (Fig 2, below) followed closely by the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science. The remaining colleges and schools accounted for about one-third of the campus total.

What are the sources of our funding?
The CAFNR research portfolio is diverse, but 85 percent of our FY05 extramural research expenditures came from federal sources (Fig 3, below). Most of the remaining 15 percent came from non-profit organizations, the private sector and the state of Missouri. The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of CAFNR, is supported by base funding from the federal government and the state. About $5M comes from federal formula funding through Hatch Act and McIntire-Stennis funds. The state matches this with $13.5 in funding. 

How important is extramural funding to the research success of the College?
In FY05, CAFNR faculty research expenditures were $32.7M, an amount almost twice that of our base support. The ability of CAFNR faculty to leverage AES base funding with extramural grant support is a key factor in our research success. It also makes CAFNR a major contributor to the campus mission of being an economic driver for the state.         

Regards,
Marc