Research sponsorships and robust partnerships fuel upward trajectory

Federally sponsored projects and robust partnerships have fueled Virginia Tech’s continued growth in research and the setting of a new goal — $600 million in externally funded expenditures by fiscal year 2029. 

On Tuesday, members of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors were briefed on the status of the university’s diverse research portfolio and contributing factors to this upward trending trajectory.

“Externally funded expenditures are a key metric by which research activity is judged nationally and internationally,” said Dan Sui, Virginia Tech’s senior vice president and chief research and innovation officer. “Each dollar represents a sponsor — whether it be a government agency, private industry partner, or nonprofit entity — who has confidence in us to have the best ideas, talent, and capacity to carry our exploration and impact.”

Sui said Virginia Tech’s research expenditures have grown by 40 percent during the past three years. This has caused Virginia Tech to surpass its previous target — $415 million by 2025 — two years early and puts the university on track to meet the new figure by 2029.

Sui highlighted sharp increases in funding from the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services, the latter of which includes the National Institutes of Health. This growth is the product of the university’s strategic focus on the security and health research frontiers as well as its strategic investment in the Virginia Tech National Security Institute and Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. 

Recent awards from the Department of Defense include a $2 million grant to evaluate how climate change is impacting population mobility in coastal areas of U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific and $9 million to fund groundbreaking FutureG research.  

Similarly, two National Institutes of Health grants totaling $2.4 million recently were awarded to Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Associate Professor Matthew Weston. The grants will support Weston’s efforts to understand how gene variants linked to severe, treatment-resistant childhood epilepsy disorders alter electrical activity in the brain.

Sui said partnering with other institutions and agencies is also a key strength of Virginia Tech research, and about 30 percent of externally sponsored research involves such collaborations. Recent examples include the following:

• The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and its xG Testbed being a key part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Wireless Innovation Fund  
• The Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership working with industry partners to further safety and efficiency in aviation communication
• Leading the COMPASS center, a multi-university effort that is part of a National Science Foundation’s work to predict and prevent global pandemics
• Leading a multi-university, Department of Energy-funded effort to develop useful quantum computers
• Collaborating with the Davy Tree Institute on a grant to study invasive species

Extramural funding is also spread out across the Virginia Tech landscape. A little more than a third is currently spent in the College of Engineering, while another third is spent in the other colleges, led by the College of Science, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The final third of funding is spent in the university’s three thematic institutes — the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute.

“By convening talent and engagement from every corner of the diverse research landscape and focusing on key strategic investment areas, we’ve been able to surpass our previous goal and are on track for this new ambitious mark,” Sui said.