The 2003 total of $88.8 million is an 18 percent increase over the previous fiscal year when UCF received $75.4 million. It's the fourth year in a row that the university has seen a double-digit percentage increase.
"This remarkable growth in funding for research at the University of Central Florida feeds our mission to become the nation's leading metropolitan research university and helps to enhance the intellectual and economic development of our region and state," UCF President John Hitt said.
UCF offers education and high-tech research in optics, lasers, communications, simulation, alternative energy, materials and distributed learning and has developed, in partnership with industry, world-class centers and institutes that focus on these strengths and more. A highlight of 2003 was the establishment of the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence at UCF's School of Optics/CREOL (Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers). The designation will result in $10 million in state funding and has already led to more than $5 million in federal matching funds.
By concentrating on a first-rate education and selected areas of research strength, UCF is solidifying its position as one of the up-and-coming metropolitan research universities in the country, said M.J. Soileau, vice president for research. "Continuing a four-year string of compounded double-digit growth in funding seems to indicate we are moving in the right direction," he said.
UCF's research awards have increased dramatically -- by 143 percent -- over the past five years:
The top three highest fund
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Contact: Tom Evelyn
tevelyn@mail.ucf.edu
407-823-5988
University of Central Florida
21-Jul-2003