San Diego State University has reported a record $192.2 million in research grants and contracts for the 2022-23 academic year, a milestone in the university’s effort to become a top research institution.
The figure represents a 17% increase over the previous academic year and over 40% more than five years ago.
The university has set a goal of becoming a an R1 doctoral university, a classification created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching reflecting “very high research activity.” This is a distinction currently held by just 4% of U.S. universities.
“SDSU is the research leader among all the CSU’s 23 campuses,” said President Adela de la Torre in a message to students and faculty in July. “We will continue to strongly invest in our faculty, research community and our graduate students as we continue to grow our research and the resulting economic and social impacts.”
The current year’s research funding included 805 awards to 368 principal investigators in disciplines ranging from the sciences and public health to the humanities and fine arts.
Research topics included detecting pollutants, expanding youth mental health services, preventing flooding, streamlining artificial intelligence algorithms, understanding autism across a lifespan, and increasing inclusivity in classrooms, media, and workplaces.
The National Institutes of Health were the largest source of support in the current year, with a record $41 million in funding for public health and biomedical research at SDSU.
