OSU sees record month for grant funding

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Media Contact: Harrison Hill | Research Communications Specialist | 405-744-5827 | harrison.c.hill@Okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University set a new monthly record for research funding in September with more than $10 million in grant funding awarded across campus. 

“These grants are critical to pursuing our work as a modern land grant institution, and I encourage our faculty and staff to keep up this mission-critical endeavor,” OSU President Kayse Shrum said. 

Dr. Kenneth Sewell, OSU vice president for research, said grant proposals from faculty to federal agencies are becoming more ambitious, and the research funding boost serves as a clear indicator of OSU’s rapidly growing breadth of expertise.  

“OSU research leaders have been stepping up their game for several years now,” Sewell said. “But somehow, these trying times we have been enduring as a society in recent months seem to be energizing our faculty to form larger, more ambitious interdisciplinary teams to tackle bigger problems.

“Of course, it’s great to see this energy and ambition. But it’s even greater to see these proposals get funded at a high rate — a sure sign that OSU researchers have the expertise and innovative ideas our society needs.”

A large portion of the $10 million came from the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology — which broke its own monthly record in September with $7.8 million in grants awarded. 

These grants are used to advance many academic fields, Sewell said, but they can do more than that.

“These funds also involve and engage OSU students — and often, K-12 students — in ways that energize their own ambitions and passions,” Sewell said.

There will always be month-to-month fluctuations in these metrics but if OSU keeps setting new records, the university’s overall trajectory will continue to rise, Sewell said.

“OSU students I talk to seem to truly love the research culture at our university, and K-12 students who are exposed to OSU research often have their horizons broadened and begin planning exciting careers that involve college degrees,” Sewell said.