A report recently released by the Office of Research and Economic Development revealed a decrease from $557.7 million in fiscal 2017 to $554 million in fiscal 2018 in total external funding for research at the University of Iowa.

However, the report revealed federal funding increased by more than $35 million and does not account for the decrease in total external funding.

A drop in external funding could result in fewer faculty projects and less student participation at the UI, according to the report.

External funding includes research grants and contracts provided by the government or philanthropic organizations, John Keller, the interim vice president for Research and Economic Development, told The Daily Iowan.

Other examples of federal funding include the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Education.

State and local government funding has been cut almost in half, from $55 million in fiscal 2017 to $30 million in fiscal 2018, according to the report.

“Our faculty, staff, and students have a decreased chance of getting funded,” Keller said. “The decrease in state and local funding impedes our [UI research programs’] ability to help the public.”

Examples of state funding are the Iowa Collaboration for Youth Development, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and Iowa Department of Public Health, to name a few.

According to the UI Division of Sponsored Programs’ website, the programs grant money for basic and applied science research, construction and renovation, support for education, creative projects, and public-service programs.

The Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates, which supports student researchers financially, is internally funded and will not be affected. For every student funded by the center, four or five students are funded by external grants.

A decrease in external funding will affect students’ opportunities to research, center Director Bob Kirby said.

“It is difficult to move forward with groundbreaking research without a guarantee that we will be able to maintain it the next fiscal year,” UI President Bruce Harreld said in a press release.

The process to receive funding typically includes at least two months of planning and proposal writing, review by committees in the funding agency, feedback, and possible revision, Wendy Beaver, the executive director of the Division of Sponsored Programs, said in an email DI.

“The funding notice of award generally occurs anywhere from seven to 12 months after the application due date,” Beaver said.

In the past, a person would be awarded the amount of money he or she requested for five years. Now, an agency may give three-quarters of the requested amount of money for only three years, Keller said.

He also noted that a three-year funding timeline is not reflective of the 10 to 20 years a product, drug, or idea will take to understand, develop, and bring to market.

“Good research generally takes time,” Harreld said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint — and it’s hard to complete a marathon when you aren’t sure the route has been marked for the next mile, let alone the whole race course.”

The next step is to advocate for increased financial support for education and research from government agencies, Keller said. The goal is to help agencies to understand the value of research work and how it can be funded.

“Our faculty, despite very tough research competition, are doing very well,” he said.