Story by:
- Debra Bass - dbass@ucsd.edu
Share This:
UC San Diego announced $1.73 billion in new research funding in its newly released fiscal year 2024 annual report. The university continues its long-standing among the top public research institutions in the world. The report highlights key trends and shifts in research funding expenditures across all campus entities.
"The most important takeaway from this year’s numbers is to recognize that UC San Diego’s commitment to innovation and research excellence remains world-class and steadfast,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “The fluctuations in funding sources present both challenges and opportunities. We have an eye on decreases in federal funding but we are particularly encouraged by the increased support from state and private non-profit sectors, which highlights the continued confidence in our research capabilities.
TOP AWARDS
Among the academic areas, Scripps Institution of Oceanography registered the highest increase in funding with a total of nearly $302 million, a 17 percent increase over the previous year. Health Sciences continues to have the most active research awards (3,321) and accounts for 54 percent of the university’s total active awards (5,568).
Researchers in those divisions account for most of the university’s top 100 awards.
Marine Biology Professor Brice Semmens received $6 million from NOAA for research to assess the extent and scope of contaminant impacts and mitigation strategies for deep ocean industrial waste dumping sites off the coast of Southern California. This award funds a team of researchers from Scripps Oceanography researchers working in collaboration with teams at UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State University and the Southern California Coastal Water Resources Projectto further characterize the extent and ecosystem impacts of the legacy of industrial dumping.
Professor Michael Hogarth, a biomedical informatics faculty member in the School of Medicine, received $25.4 million for Informatics to Support the California Integrated Vital Records System from the California Department of Public Health.
The most important takeaway from this year’s numbers is to recognize that UC San Diego’s commitment to innovation and research excellence remains world-class and steadfast.
NEW AWARDS
Total award dollars include dollars from new awards and previously funded multi-year awards that are distributed over a period of time.
This year the amount of new award dollars increased, although the number of new awards fell slightly from 631 to 610, representing a trend of faculty attracting grants with higher monetary amounts.
Social Sciences was awarded 13 percent of new awards in FY24, the same amount as Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences. All three earned about 80 new awards each but the total award amounts for each division varied widely — $24 million in Social Sciences, $61 million in Physical Sciences and $81 million in Biological Sciences. All three recorded increases over the previous year.
The only school to rank higher in the number of new awards was Jacobs School of Engineering with 211 new awards, amounting to 35 percent of all new awards.
“Our strategic focus will continue to adapt and align with emerging trends, ensuring that UC San Diego remains a leader in advancing knowledge and addressing critical issues,” said Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Corinne Peek-Asa. “As leaders in a number of large and exciting new grant programs, our research standing and its potential for growth and social impact is undeniable. Our impact arises from projects large and small, and I am confident that our future contributions to advancing knowledge and solving critical problems will continue to expand.”
Reflecting our research prowess, Peek-Asa noted that the university was once again named No. 7 among U.S. public universities in the latest Center for World University Rankings, upholding its position from the previous year.
And looking ahead, the report shows that the number of proposals submitted for future grants grew by more than 15 percent in FY24. More than 800 new proposals for grants were submitted in FY24 over the past fiscal year — amounting to well over $1 billion in new funding requests.
OVERALL RESULTS
Total federal award dollars fell by 6 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, signaling a federal funding trend.
Notably, awards from UC San Diego’s largest funding source The National Institutes of Health saw an 8 percent reduction, while National Science Foundation funding decreased by 18 percent, and NASA awards fell by 19 percent.
Conversely, UC San Diego experienced increases in award funding fromthe Department of Energy and the Department of Defense — 12 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
Expenditures related to the State of California also surged by 30 percent, and private non-profit organizations contributed 14 percent more than the previous year.
Industry and other government funding saw declines of 12 percent and 18 percent, respectively, reflecting broader shifts in the funding landscape.
Despite these reductions, UC San Diego's commitment to diversity and inclusion remained evident, with a 13 percent increase in grant submissions by women principal investigators and an 18 percent rise in submissions by underrepresented minority faculty.
Total research funding obligations, meaning all funds available to the university, are not reflected in the annual figure. The annual report identifies only grant money received during this fiscal year. This does not include any funding that will become available in future years, for instance, in subsequent years of a multi-year award.
The report covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
