Research support 2021

In 2021, researchers at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research brought KU 30 new awards totaling $3.9 million, serving as principal investigators for these awards. Another 46 continuing awards totaled $8.7 million, bringing total funding administered by our center this year to $12.6 million. (Of special note, our scientists continued to manage and lead numerous projects associated with the multi-year NSF EPSCoR Track-1 $20 million award to KU’s Office of Research.)

In addition, our researchers served as principal investigators (PIs) or co-investigators (co-PIs) on new projects that brought KU more than $1 million in grant funding to other units at KU. These awards, along with projects affiliated with our center’s scientists and continuing from previous years, totaled more than $5.38 million. Thus, our researchers were PIs or co-PIs on nearly $18 million in grant-funded projects at KU in 2021. 

The National Science Foundation is consistently our largest grantor, with federal funding providing 77 percent of the $12.6 million total award funding this year. Though state funding makes up a relatively small percentage of the total, about 8 percent, this does not de-emphasize concerns crucial to the state but rather reflects the much lower travel and infrastructure costs associated with in-state research. Other funding sources include for-profit and non-profit entities, and other states.