The value of anticipated sponsored research awards is up almost 18 percent and exceeds $300 million

Princeton’s Office of Research and Program Administration (ORPA) has released its FY2019 Annual Report of Sponsored Research. The total dollar value of new multiyear awards that the University anticipates has increased 17.8 percent over FY18 and tallies $300.05 million. Of note, the portion of the University’s research portfolio representing non-federal funding (including corporate and foundation awards) increased by 19.8%.

Princeton researchers submitted almost double the number of proposals valued at $10M or higher over the last fiscal year, a level of activity not seen since 2014 and associated with “team science” proposals. Additionally, the number of anticipated awards increased 40 percent for awards ranging between $2.0M and $4.9M and by 100 percent for awards valued between $5.0M and $9.9M. These figures also suggest a robust engagement in larger-scale, interdisciplinary projects.

“While Princeton does not gauge the success of its research enterprise by the number of proposals or the size of awards, the success of our faculty in an extremely competitive funding environment is remarkable,” said Princeton Dean for Research, Pablo G. Debenedetti. “These numbers convey the ambition and strength of the Princeton research enterprise.”

The five-week federal shutdown in December and January contributed to a modest but recognizable impact on proposal submissions in FY2019, with both the dollar value and the total number of proposal submissions down almost 10 percent and four percent, respectively, relative to FY2018. During the shutdown period, while agencies continued to accept proposals on due dates for solicitations issued before the shutdown, agencies stopped issuing new solicitations altogether, which slowed proposal submissions at Princeton.

“As part of the Office of the Dean for Research, the Office of Research and Program Administration will continue our commitment to provide high-quality resources to faculty in helping them advance their research,” said Elizabeth Adams, ORPA director. “The FY2019 success in awards is something the entire office takes pride in.”

In its ongoing commitment to decreasing administrative burden, increasing business intelligence about the Princeton research enterprise, and ensuring compliance, the ORPA team recently began implementation of a new electronic research administration (ERA) system to replace the existing system. The team anticipates Princeton’s new ERA system will be live in late Summer 2020. Learn more here.

Review the FY2019 Annual Report here.