USC, MUSC set records for research fundraising

By Wayne Washington - Wayne Washington

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A combined $408 million

COLUMBIA -- The University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina brought in a combined $408 million in research funding during the past fiscal year, with each school setting records for pulling in money.

MUSC got $202 million in research funding, an increase of $9 million from the 2007 fiscal year. USC's haul of $206 million was a $21 million boost from the year before.

Clemson, the state's third major research institution, has not yet released its research funding for the year.

Research funding is of increasing importance to universities as state government budgets are squeezed in a weak economy. Universities use the money to continue or expand research in a variety of areas and to serve as something of a recruiting tool for highly regarded faculty.

The National Institutes of Health, the nation's research agency, was a major source of research funding for both USC and MUSC.

MUSC got $101 million of its total from NIH; USC got $29.2 million.

"From technological innovation in science and engineering, to creativity in the arts and humanities, and to scholarship in the professional schools across our eight universities, this is a bright moment for the University of South Carolina," USC President Harris Pastides said in a statement released by the university.

Scientific experts -- the peers of those writing the grant requests -- review those requests, and the competition for NIH funding is fierce.

That MUSC has continued to do well in getting NIH funding underscores the broad range of efforts at the school, said Dr. John Raymond, MUSC's provost and vice president of academic affairs.

"These achievements reflect the sustained effort of many talented faculty, fellows, and students, and also MUSC leadership (and) state support," Raymond said.