Iowa State received $274 million from external grants and contracts in the 2008 fiscal year, $2.2 million more than last year.

This funding is in addition to the $267 million allocated by the state of Iowa to cover the university’s everyday expenses.

ISU Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Hoffman said the external funding is important because the amount of money allocated by the state has stayed about the same in the recent years. 

“The state support is extremely important, but in terms of buying power, it’s about the same as it was 10 years ago,” Hoffman said. 

Ted Okiishi, interim vice president of research and economic development, said the contrast between the amount of external funding and the amount allocated by the state of Iowa is significant, because it means Iowa State is making the most of taxpayer money. 

“We’re usually bringing in more money through external grants than we are getting from the state allocation, which I think is a pretty good return on investment,” Okiishi said. 

Grants are achieved by research groups at Iowa State that submit proposals to government agencies or companies to be considered for funding. Hoffman said the market for these grants gets more competitive every year. 

“Competition is very stiff – the percentage of proposals funded is in the single digits for some disciplines,” Hoffman said. 

Okiishi said competition has increased because recently there has been less money available for grants, and more research proposals being submitted. 

“You can imagine how heartbreaking it is to write up what you think is a very good proposal, and is, indeed, a very good proposal, but because they can only fund 20 percent of the proposals, you end up not being funded,” Okiishi said. 

Okiishi said a lot of the money from grants goes toward research assistantships for graduate students and equipment needs.

“The research we do at Iowa State really contributes to the educational mission of the university,” Okiishi said. “All of the students that are doing the research are receiving a tremendous education, because they are doing something. They’re actually trying to discover something, or trying to improve something.” 

Hoffman said these grants make it possible for Iowa State to hire the best faculty and obtain the best equipment in certain fields of study. 

“We are among the top universities in the country in some disciplines,” Hoffman said. “Maintaining the rank of the university is extremely important.” 

Iowa State received a record-high $35.2 million from corporations and commodity groups this year.

Hoffman also said one major grant is from ConocoPhillips for research on the develop of renewable fuels. 

Okiishi said the high amount of corporate funding is significant, because it means that Iowa State’s research is practical and useful in the industrial sector. 

“It’s good for students, because it prepares them to become a part of the workforce,” Okiishi said. “If a company is going to sponsor something, they want to see something practical come out of that.”