During the state fiscal year 2018-2019 (SFY 18-19), our faculty brought in an outstanding $86 million in research funding based on 651 projects. This value surpasses an important figure. The college’s strategic plan projected a research funding goal of $75 million for this time period, so through team and individual awards and grants we exceeded our goal by $11 million.

This is the second largest research funding sum in history. The largest research funding year occurred when the Golden LEAF Foundation granted the college $45 million. It is also important to mention that the $86 million doesn’t include the recent Novo Nordisk Foundation Award.

Associate Dean Steve Lommel attributes this year’s achievement to both the individuals who are aggressively searching and applying for grants, as these individuals are the bedrock that the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was built on, but also to the new interdisciplinary teams who with collaborative thinking bring so much to the table when applying for grants.

This incredible feat was accomplished through the creativity and scientific strength of our faculty, post docs, students and technical staff as well as the efforts of research support professionals from the CALS Business Operations Contracts and Grants office, the university’s Proposal Development Unit, the CALS Director of Research Partnerships and the CALS Proposal Developer. With the 75+ new faculty hired in the last three years and full implementation of the Plant Sciences Initiative, the Food Animal Initiative and the Food Manufacturing and Processing Initiative (that includes the NC Food Innovation Lab), we look forward to even greater success in spite of flat or even decreasing support at the federal level.

Congratulations to all, and thank you for your outstanding work.