by Tim Crosby
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Funding from outside sources remained strong at Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the last fiscal year, according to records from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Jia Liu, foreground, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, works with students in her lab at SIU. Liu’s work investigating using magnetic nanomaterials to treat groundwater contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, is one of many research projects funded by outside sources during the last fiscal year. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
For the fiscal year ending June 30, research, training, service and other grants and contracts received and processed totaled $77.8 million. Faculty on the Carbondale campus received $61.6 million, while faculty in the School of Medicine in Springfield received $16.2 million.
Costas Tsatsoulis, vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school at SIU Carbondale, said robust external funding supports the Imagine 2030 strategic plan and its research and innovation pillar.
“Our researchers and professionals continue to pursue grants and other funding opportunities that lead to innovative solutions and increasing our understanding of how the universe works,” he said. “Our students, the Southern Illinois region, the state and our society reap the benefits.”
Research projects ranged from wildlife management, to environmental remediation and sustainability issues, among others.
Data from SIU Carbondale’s Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA), which submits grant proposals on behalf of the university, accepts awards and ensures compliance, indicated external grant and contract expenditures totaled $76 million, including more than $53.9 million in Carbondale and $22.1 million in Springfield. The totals represent a 2.9% increase over the previous fiscal year.
Federal grant funding totaled more than $18.6 million, Tsatsoulis said. Most of that money came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Education.
Funding from the State of Illinois came in at more than $45.2 million, with most of that coming from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Board of Education, the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Faculty also received almost $4.7 million from private industry grants, Tsatsoulis said.
For more examples of research at SIU, visit the university’s news page.