RIT Records Another Record Year for Sponsored Research Funding

Rochester Institute of Technology’s drive toward expanding its research portfolio took another step forward during the recently completed 2008 fiscal year.

The university received a record total of $48.5 million in research funding during that period, according to RIT’s Sponsored Research Services. Grants and contracts account for just over $43 million of that total, which is an increase of nearly 7 percent from the previous year.

“Although federal and state agency programs have become significantly more competitive, and many agency research budgets have declined, RIT has continued to grow in several areas,” says David Bond, director of Sponsored Research Services.

In a change to reporting procedures on annual funding to the university, this year’s overall total includes $4 million in direct federal support for research at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. In addition, nearly $1 million in research-focused gifts to RIT have been tallied.

RIT is working to foster more collaboration between its eight colleges to exploit a broader range of funding opportunities. That strategy resulted from the recent formation of a task force led by Donald Boyd, RIT’s vice president for research. The eventual goal is to grow the university’s annual research awards to $100 million.

For more information, visit Scholarship and Research at the RIT Web site at www.rit.edu/research/.