U of M earns almost $86 million in research awards in FY 2023, shattering record
Over the last few years, Jasbir Dhaliwal, the executive vice president of research and innovation at the University of Memphis, has seen the school's research culture change. It hasn't always been common for its faculty members to vigorously seek out external grants to fund their work. But these days, he explained, they feel "motivated and empowered," and they're not hesitating to apply for major research awards.
"Our faculty have great ideas ― world-class ideas," Dhaliwal said. "If you have good research ideas, and you are going to go out there and say, 'there must be someone out there to fund my research that's interested in my idea...' That is the culture."
Never has that culture been more evident at U of M than during fiscal year 2023.
In its latest fiscal year, U of M earned almost $86 million in research awards, nearly triple the amount it earned in the 2018 fiscal year, and significantly more than the $51 million it earned in fiscal year 2021, which was its previous record. In fiscal year 2022, it earned close to $49 million.
The major increase comes roughly a year and a half after U of M received R1 status ― a top research designation ― from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Since then, it’s continued to pour energy into its resource efforts, and in FY 2023, its average award size reached $294,022, while its total number of departments that received awards worth $1 million or more stood at 20.
For comparison, in FY 2018, its average award size was $109,428, and only four departments received awards worth at least $1 million.
The principal investigator on the largest grant the school received is Richard Irwin, the executive dean of U of M Global, the College of Professional & Liberal Studies, and the Center for Regional Economic Enrichment. The grant, valued at about $25 million, is for the project GROWWTH ― a collaboration between U of M and other local organizations that will look to aid 2,500 West Tennessee families over the next three years through workforce training programs and related wraparound services.
The principal investigator of the second largest grant is Ashish Joshi, dean of the School of Public Health, who received $8.73 million for the effort centered around the Center for Public Health Informatics, Data, Equity, Analytics, and Systems.
More: U of M Law School gets grant to support child gun violence victims, families in Memphis
Research efforts are poised to play a key role in the University's strategic plan, and its officials have repeatedly said that its research push benefits the entire region, with many of the dollars earned being reinvested back into the community.
"Eighty percent of our research dollars come from the federal research agencies, which means a lot more federal dollars are coming to Memphis and being spent here," Dhaliwal said. "Basically, we are a mechanism that brings research dollars from everywhere to Memphis to grow our economy."
The university also expects to continue growing the number of research awards it earns. U of M leaders want the school to eclipse $100 million in research awards in FY 2024, a goal that Dhaliwal believes can be achieved by both continuing to grow the number of faculty members receiving funding and applying for the country's biggest awards.
"We reach for the big ones. We reach for the $25 million [awards]; we reach for the $20 million," he said. "A big one, it's definitely hard [to earn]. But if you have enough of these fishing rods out there, right, I think that will help us."
John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at John.klyce@commercialappeal.com
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: University of Memphis rakes in nearly $86 million in research funding
