University of Southern Mississippi scholars earned $91 million in external for research and sponsored programs in fiscal year 2007-08 for a three-year average of $97.1 million.

Efforts to grow and maintain external research funding at Southern Miss have resulted in consistent growth since 2000, hitting a high of $102 million in 2006.

"We were able to sustain the relative size of the enterprise by improving our ability to acquire competitive grants," said President Martha Saunders. "We are encouraged by the quality and size of our competitive awards this year that included those from both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health."

Researchers in the College of Science and Technology led all university areas in growth with a total of $52 million in external funding, up $9 million from the previous year. The College of Health also recorded a surge of grant funding with $15.1, a $3.9 million increase from the prior year. The College of Arts and Letters also recorded an increase to $1.6 million, up from $561,705 last year. The College of Education and Psychology recorded a total of $3.3 million in research funding.

"I am extremely proud of the faculty of the College of Science and Technology for reaching this high level of achievement," Rex Gandy, dean of the College of Science and Technology. External funding is one measure of quality research and by surpassing the milestone of $50 million, the faculty and staff of the college have demonstrated their national competitiveness."   

COST researchers had 256 proposals funded, representing a 55 percent increase over the previous year.

In the biological sciences department alone, faculty members directed five National Science Foundation-funded projects over the past year, according to Dr. Frank Moore, department chair and professor. Research topics included the study of patterns of fish biodiversity and related conservation implications; the spread of West Nile virus and eastern Equine Encephalitis virus; and the study of carbon deposits in marine sediments and implications for global warming.

"We have a very active and research-oriented department," said Moore. "This is evidence of how this university is growing and maturing the overall research enterprise."

University researchers continue to be more aggressive in pursuing external funding and fared better in obtaining competitive grant funds than ever before says Dr. Cecil Burge, vice president for research and economic development.

"Over the past year, we have seen real engagement by faculty who are new to the process and are seeking grant funding to help establish their scholarly credentials," said Burge. "The ability to submit proposals which make it successfully through the review process, says a great deal about the commitment of our researchers."

Approximately 86 percent of the 2008 research funding came from federal sources, five percent from business and industry, four percent from state sources, three percent from other sources and two percent from foundations.

Also included in the $91 million are funds for equipment critical to the growth of the research enterprise. This includes specialized equipment for processing museum collections, advanced instruments for geospatial processing, and laboratory tools to support development of better fuel cell systems.

"Many times these awards provide for facilities and equipment which enables Southern Miss to grow our capacity for future endeavors," said Burge.

Among the 349 awards received by Southern Miss researchers last year, were these notable awards:

• An $8.16 million grant from the Department of Defense was awarded to Drs. Shelby Thames and James Rawlins in the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials for the creation of a new national composites center. The funding will support an extensive array of research projects by at least a dozen faculty members and graduate students which will support the marine industry.

• A $6.66 million award to Drs. Bill Hawkins, Reginald Blaylock and Jeff Lotz, professors of coastal sciences, from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which will provide for the construction of facilities and infrastructure at the Cedar Point Marine Aquaculture Center.

• A $2 million National Institutes of Health grant was awarded to Dr. Kathy Yadrick, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Systems, for a five-year community-based participatory research intervention to increase walking in Hattiesburg.

• A $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is helping underwrite the training of an estimated 5,370 officials at 1,055 institutions nationwide on sport security management through the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management. Dr. Lou Marciani is the principal investigator on the project.

• A $670,254 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service provided opportunities for students to assist the National Forests in Mississippi in conducting archaeological testing on some 379,000 acres of hurricane-damaged forestlands in South Mississippi. Dr. James Flanagan, chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology spearheaded the project.

• A $191,593 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to Drs. Anita Davis (Music), Julie Cwikla (Mathematics) and Chris Barry (Psychology) will help create a continuous progress curriculum model for elementary and secondary schools. The aim of the project is to improve attitudes toward learning through interdisciplinary science and arts projects while increasing career awareness and graduation rates.

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