MSU professors are becoming more successful in obtaining funding for their research projects, Associate Vice President for Research Paul Hunt said.

A survey by the National Science Foundation reported the federal government increased academic research aid in 2002 by 13.6 percent with MSU seeing an increase of 9.1 percent - an increase of about $10.2 million. Meanwhile, industry funding fell slightly.

"The increase in federal funding reflects a standing effort by the faculty because their proposals have to compete nationally through peer review," Hunt said.

The university is ranked No. 55 in the list of schools receiving funds from the federal government. In 2002, MSU's federal funding was $122,595,000, compared to $112,359,000 in 2001.

"Even though the amount of federal funding has gone up, so has the number of people applying," said Anil Jain, a computer science and engineering professor. "(With) federal funding, the amount is larger and there are fewer hassles about intellectual properties, but it is more competitive to get it."

In the 2003-04 school year, government funds made up 72.34 percent of the university's more than $228 million research budget. The federal government provided 61.84 percent of the aid with the State of Michigan contributing 10.5 percent or about $24 million.

Jain, who works in biometrics recognition, said the increases in federal funding for his projects are a reflection of the government's priorities. About 80 percent of Jain's work for improving methods of identification comes from federal aid.

"I think right now with the interest in homeland security, various agencies of the government are spending money," Jain said. "Such as the Army; I have received money from them."

As a result of the large role federal funding has in research, some professors are not worried by the decline in industry funding.

"There is very little industrial funding," said Konrad Gelbke, director of the cyclotron lab and physics professor. "We have some technology spin-off that we get some money from but that is less than 5 percent total."

A fall of 1.2 percent was reported in the NSF's Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges. Industry comprised 3.17 percent of MSU's academic research budget in the 2003-04 school year with $7.2 million.

"Industry support is one component but federal dollars is an area that we draw big support from," said David Douches, an MSU plant research geneticist. "Still, when industry isn't there it just makes things tighter."

While Jain said obtaining industry contracts is easier than federal grants, there are many legal complications that make the funding less attractive.

"(The company) determines what you do and there is a problem with who has right to the research findings - it delays publication," he said. "Intellectual property has become a very important thing because it can be worth a lot of money."

Jain thinks the reason why industry funding has fallen is the poor economy.

"Five years ago I had a lot of funding from IBM (and other companies) but recently the economy has tightened up, so the discretionary funding has gone down a little bit," he said. "I feel there is less money from industries and more from the government in my line of research."

According to Douches, who received $62,354 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the economy has affected more than just funds; it has affected the expenses as well.

"The cost of research is going up so we need more dollars just to get the same research done as a few years ago," he said. "If the money was stable we'd still be behind from what we did in the past."

Procuring funding for projects is vital because MSU pays for few expenditures.

"The university pays my salary and they pay 50 percent support for my research technician and the infrastructure," Douches said.

"But we're required to secure funding for the staffing and supplies and other costs associated with the research."