The total represents the 19th consecutive year of research funding increases for the University, and translates into a 1 percent or $1 million increase above last year's $121.8 million. Last year's 25 percent increase in research funding pushed the University total above the $100 million mark for the first time.

"This year's relatively small funding increase appears to track with patterns of previous years in which we have had larger growth steps every two to three years," said Bill Harris, USC's vice president for research. "We maintained this level of funding while losing several faculty members from the health sciences who possessed significant levels of external funding.

"This was an exceptionally difficult year for faculty retention and the current faculty must be recognized for their outstanding efforts in helping the University grow its funding this year."

The leading federal research agency sponsors of USC research were the Department of Defense, which provided more than $22 million (51 percent more than last year); the National Institutes of Health, $12.1 million (about the same as last year); the Department of Education, $9.8 million (32 percent more than last year); and the National Science Foundation, $9.3 million (17 percent less than last year); and the National Institutes of Health, $12.1 million (about the same as last year).

State agency support of University research was about $16 million, representing a 9 percent decline from last year.

"As we implement a strategic vision for USC’s research enterprise that will allow us to increase our standing among public universities, we continue to rely heavily upon directed appropriations and legislative influence to secure funding," Harris said. "While important, we must must strive for the right balance of peer-review and investigator-initiated awards with large capital projects, directed appropriations, and philanthropy.

"Our NSF funding has decreased and NIH was essentially constant. Both agencies had major budget increases last year and major initiatives, and these results suggest we were not prepared to respond–probably because we need a much stronger presence in the life sciences, computer science, and information technology."

As a percentage of total funding, federal research dollars accounted for slightly more than 75 percent of USC's 2001 total, followed by state and local government funds at 13.5 percent, and private funds (foundations and industry) at nearly 10 percent.

Of the $122.8 million total, nearly $84 million funded research; about $27.5 million funded service and equipment; about $8.7 million was used for training projects; and $2.6 million funded graduate assistantships.

Factors such as the availability of high-quality research space and competitive salaries affect USC’s ability to recruit and retain distinguished faculty in the life sciences, engineering, and computer-related areas. These faculty are the key to any significant growth potential in USC’s research portfolio, Harris said.

"We are concerned that certain units may be reaching saturation in terms of external funding per FTE or per square foot of research space," he said.

Investments in promising new faculty and in new research initiatives must be part of the University's strategy for further research growth, he added.

"This past year we seeded initiatives in biomedical and new media areas that we expect to grow in the near future," Harris said. "The single, largest investment has been with the creation of the USC NanoCenter. These nascent initiatives will be monitored to determine how successful these efforts are and whether additional investmentsresources are merited."