Researchers awarded $233.6 million, breaking FSU’s single-year funding record

Florida State University researchers received a record level of funding from federal, state and private sources in the 2019 fiscal year, bringing in $233.6 million to the university to support investigations into areas such as health sciences, high energy physics and marine biology.

This is a $7 million increase over the prior fiscal year.

“Florida State is a tremendous university and the growth of our research portfolio reflects that,” said Vice President for Research Gary K. Ostrander. “We are seeing a return on the critical investments we’ve made over the past several years to support our researchers, and we hope to continue that trend in the years to come.”

This year’s total received a boost from university researchers’ focus on nontraditional funding pathways.

The university received nearly $8 million from Triumph Gulf Coast as part of a 10-year initiative to restore Apalachicola Bay and revive the region’s imperiled oyster industry. Triumph Gulf Coast is a nonprofit corporation organized to administer funds recovered by the state for economic damages that resulted from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.

The university is also one of the state’s leaders in funding from the National Institutes of Health. FSU ranks fifth in the state for NIH dollars, ahead of research heavyweights such as the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. These dollars support traditional biomedical research into diseases and conditions such as stroke, the flu and cancer, in addition to behavioral health issues and neurological disorders such as learning disabilities.

“These dollars represent our faculty’s dedication to pursuing science that helps improve lives,” Ostrander said. “Biomedical researchers are working on treatments for stroke, migraines, cancer and Alzheimer’s. The money the university has received from the NIH demonstrates the faith that federal officials have in FSU researchers to make big scientific breakthroughs in areas critical to public health.”

This swell of research activity coincides with a dramatic jump that FSU has made in national rankings of public universities. FSU has soared 17 spots in the past few years, moving up to No. 26 in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report rankings.