U-M research tops $300M in federal stimulus grants

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 | Source: Concentrate

The headlines continue to pile up for the University of Michigan when it comes to scoring research grants from the federal stimulus package.

The university recently crossed the $300 million mark ($301.1 million for 500 projects, to be precise), becoming one of the few universities in the U.S. to achieve that level of funding. Large percentages of the $787 billion federal stimulus package, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, went to research at universities and colleges in the U.S.

The U-M Medical School has taken in more than half the stimulus awards (286 of 547) and nearly one-third of the dollar total ($93 million). The Institute for Social Research ranks second with $55.6 million, followed by the College of Engineering ($50.1 million) and the School of Public Health ($40.3 million).

One of the biggest project winners was U-M's Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute. The university decommissioned its nuclear reactor five years ago and refocused its facilities and endowment toward renewable energy. The institute received $19.5 million from the U.S. Dept of Energy to explore new materials for solar cells.

"That obviously wouldn't have happened without the stimulus money," says Bruno Vanzieleghem, assistant director of operations for the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at the University of Michigan. "There are other funding programs in the U.S. Dept of Energy of that similar vein but nothing of that scope."

Bruno and his fellow researchers are using the money to cultivate a deeper understanding of photovoltaic and thermal electric materials. The research will help push current solar technology forward. The scientists were already working on these sorts of projects but the stimulus money allowed them to really accelerate their research.

Source: University of Michigan and Bruno Vanzieleghem, assistant director of operations for the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at the University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

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