ATLANTA—Georgia State University faculty earned $164.2 million in research funding in fiscal year 2022, the highest total in university history.
This is the eighth consecutive year research awards have topped $100 million. This year’s record surpasses the previous high of $150 million set in fiscal year 2020 and is $22 million higher than the previous year’s total. In the past three years, externally funded research activity at the university has climbed 9.5 percent.
“This level of research activity is certainly a testament to our outstanding researchers at Georgia State,” said President M. Brian Blake. “The transformative work going on here continues to address the most complex problems of our time, and we continue to make significant breakthroughs that promise to collectively improve the lives of people from all backgrounds.”
Of the $164.2 million, $45.5 million came from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $17.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education, $ 11.1 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and $6.5 million from the Georgia Department of Health and Human Services.
“The work of world-class researchers and faculty within the University System of Georgia not only enhances our mission of knowledge and learning but promotes economic success and prestige for the benefit of the state and all Georgians,” said Chancellor Sonny Perdue. “Georgia State University as one of our public research institutions plays a critical role in that effort, and I wholeheartedly congratulate President Blake and the university’s faculty and staff for having earned the most research funding ever in its history.”
Among the university’s top 20 grant recipients, more than half are women and 39 investigators brought in more than $1 million each.
The School of Public Health, the College of Education and Human Development, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and Perimeter College all set college funding records. The Georgia Health Policy Center also had a record year, earning $28.5 million in grant funding.
“This new record for research award funding represents the vast scope of discovery underway by our innovative faculty, staff and students,” said Tim Denning, vice president of Research and Economic Development. “As one of the fastest growing research universities in the nation, Georgia State continues to reach new heights with collaborative and interdisciplinary research, scholarship and creativity.”
The university experienced continued growth in funding for health and biomedical research. More than $33.1 million was awarded for research in the College of Arts & Sciences, $20.9 million in the School of Public Health, $18.3 million for university research centers, and $13.1 million went toward research in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences. These awards are complimented by additional investments through other health-related units.
Georgia State researchers are playing a critical role in pandemic response and prevention. With $52 million in federal funding, researchers at Georgia State and Emory University are establishing a groundbreaking new drug development center. The Antiviral Countermeasures Development Center center is one of nine new Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) centers around the country. Our faculty are also partnering with the University of Minnesota to establish the Midwest AViDD Center with more than $6 million in grant funding to build a pipeline of antiviral drugs.
“To earn grant funding is no small feat,” said Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, interim provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “It is a testament to the quality of our research and scholarly enterprise, and the dedication of our investigators to pursue innovative projects that address the challenges and opportunities of this century. The investments made now in Georgia State will surely yield numerous dividends for the health and prosperity for all in our society during the years ahead.”
Georgia State is one of 115 public and private universities in the Carnegie Foundation’s elite category of R1: Highest Research Activity. For the past four years, the university has been the highest-ranked institution without an engineering, medical or agricultural school in the NSF’s Higher Education Research and Development survey, a nationally recognized barometer of university research activity.
As one of the most diverse institutions in the country, Georgia State is uniquely positioned to address complex societal problems through a lens of equity and access. Georgia State is the only comprehensive Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) with R1 Carnegie Research Classification in the nation.