Purdue generates more than a half billion dollars in research funding this year

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  – Purdue University produced more than a half billion dollars in research funding for fiscal year 2019, easily making it another record year.

The $520.6 million generated in 2019 shatters last year’s record of $454.5 million, marking the fifth consecutive year the university has established record funding.

“I can’t say enough about the efforts of Purdue faculty, professional staff and students in securing funding from a diverse array of sponsors for their world-changing research,” said Suresh Garimella, executive vice president for research and partnerships, who left Purdue to become president at the University of Vermont on July 1. “It’s so fitting that Purdue achieved this milestone on this the 150th anniversary of the university, and it ensures that giant leaps in scientific discovery and innovation will continue to be a hallmark for this great research institution.”

For fiscal year 2019, corporate and foundation funding accounted for 28% of the total, and funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health accounted for 15% and 14% of the total, respectively. Awards from the Department of Health and Human Services (predominantly the National Institutes of Health) continue to set a record, with funding eclipsing last year’s record by 10%. And Department of Defense funding has increased 39%, to $54 million, from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2019.

“The amazing amount of funding is an acknowledgment of the world-changing research being done by our brilliant faculty,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said. “Purdue has made and will continue to make a difference in everyday lives through scientific discovery.” 

Research funded at Purdue in fiscal year 2019 includes:

• $22 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development for long-term assistance services for Partners for University-led Solutions Engine (PULSE) to build research capacity in developing countries.
• $15.2 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to disseminate best practices for opioid addiction recovery, cost-effective quality care for Indiana’s long-term care patients and statewide Medicaid technical assistance.
• $9.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund a new national center for an experimental and theoretical high energy physics program.
• $4.6 million from the National Science Foundation for extensible geospatial data framework for making large scientific and social geospatial data sets directly usable in scientific models and tools.
• $3.2 million from the Department of Health and Human Services for Vet Up!, the National Health Careers Opportunity Program Academy for Veterinary Medicine.
• $1 million from the Keck Foundation for exploring strongly coupled systems by experiment and string theory methods.

“The announced funding outcomes clearly indicate that Purdue’s research and scholarship is among the strongest and most comprehensive in the nation and the world,” said Theresa Mayer, who will become Purdue’s executive vice president for research and partnerships on Aug. 1. “I look forward to working with the campus community as we implement planned strategic investments across the university that will position our faculty, staff and students for even greater advances in the future.” 

Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu 

Media contact: Steve Tally, 765-494-9809, steve@purdue.edu, @sciencewriter 

Sources: Ken Sandel, sandel@purdue.edu

Theresa Mayer, tsmayer@purdue.edu