Columbia moved up in rank from 12th to 10th place nationally in federal research funding to universities in fiscal 1992, the latest year for which data are available, according to a National Science Foundation ranking published in a new report by the Office of the Vice Provost.
Competing sponsored projects--any public or private award that results in research, training or public service projects--increased by 26 percent from fiscal 1993 to 1994, to a total of $312.3 million, according to Columbia's own figures, also cited in the Mar. 4 report.
Research expenditures for fiscal 1994 rose by 12 percent over the previous year to $231.7 million, a record. Expenditures, considered a measure of what research has actually been conducted, rose by 36 percent to $38.7 million at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, by nearly 15 percent to $31.5 million at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and by more than 9 percent to $137.6 million at Health Sciences.
"Columbia researchers are redoubling their efforts in an extremely competitive environment," said Provost Jonathan Cole. "This kind of growth doesn't just happen. It has to be nurtured and invested in."
Although Columbia's indirect cost recovery rate was reduced from 74.1 percent in the years 1985 to 1992 to 67 percent in 1993 and 1994, the University received a record $65.6 million in recoveries in fiscal 1994. The category covers expenditures for laboratory facilities and equipment, libraries, utilities and support staff, and is reimbursed at a rate set through negotiations between the University and the federal government.
Columbia's indirect costs as a portion of total research costs--a measure of management efficiency--dropped to 28.3 percent in 1994, the lowest in at least 11 years. "We're spending less on support and more on research," Vice Provost Michael Crow said. "Our critics need to note that this figure is dropping."
According to the NSF, Columbia's federal research funding rose from $168.9 million in fiscal 1991 to $190.3 million in fiscal 1992. The University's share of total federal research funds also increased, from 1.69 percent to 1.75 percent, the first increase in several years. Columbia ranked 6th in research funding in 1985, when it garnered 2.00 percent of federal research dollars to universities. It placed 10th in 1989 and 1990 and 12th in 1991.
At the same time, total federal funding to the University, which includes capital funds for non-research facilities and certain fellowship and training funds as well as research monies, increased from $203.2 million to $220.0 million, though Columbia's rank fell a notch from 10th to 11th nationally.
In federal support to university medical schools, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons increased from $102.4 million to $109.8 million, but dropped in rank from 6th in fiscal 1992 to 8th place nationally in fiscal 1993, according to the 1994 publication "National Institutes of Health Extramural Trends."
If funds received at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, which supports the work of Columbia researchers, is included, however, the P&S rank moves to 4th.
Health Sciences continues to lead the University's divisions in competing sponsored projects, with $185.6 million or 59.4 percent of the fiscal 1994 total of $312.3 million.
After Health Sciences, the largest research divisions were Lamont-Doherty, $71.4 million or 22.9 percent; the Arts and Sciences, $25.5 million or 8.2 percent, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, $12.4 million or 4.0 percent.
Accompanying the Vice Provost's report was a "Report on Status of FY 1993-94 Strategic Initiative Fund Investments" from the Provost's office. Monies that accrue to Columbia from its patent licensing fees are used as seed money to fund cross-disciplinary research.
Strategic funding of $2.7 million was provided to 32 projects in seven University-wide categories, among them the Virtual Information Initiative, to use computers more effectively in research and education; the Global Systems Initiative, to research climate and environmental issues, and the New York City Initiative, to study urban planning, telecommunications and infrastructure.
Information for the Vice Provost's report, titled "Fiscal 1994 Columbia University Research Report," was gathered from a number of sources, including Columbia's office of projects and grants, the office of the controller, and the office of grants and contracts in the Health Sciences Division, as well as documents published by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Figures for several fiscal years appear in the Vice Provost's report because federal agencies are a year or more behind in publishing funding statistics, according to Jim Lewis, director of the office of projects and grants.
Columbia, however, can compile figures shortly after a fiscal year ends, he added.
The research report is available in the Provost's office.