From medicine to engineering, agriculture to science, the University of Wisconsin spent $604 million on research in 2001. Such expenditures have increased by more than $50 million since the previous year, bringing the allotments to a record level.

In addition, these numbers placed UW third among universities nationwide for highest research expenses.

The National Science Foundation recently released the rankings, which calculated how much universities spent on research during the fiscal year 2001.

UW faculty and researchers agreed the ranking is a confirmation that the university is not only conducting a large amount of research, but a large amount of good research.

“This reflects well on faculty, staff and students, as UW’s continuing ranking in the top five is one of the success stories of the UW,” said Martin Cadwallader, dean of the UW graduate school.

“In order to receive funding for research, prospects have to go through a multi-step process,” Cadwallader said.

The faculty researcher, or principal investigator, submits a proposal, as do faculty at other universities, and the funding is rewarded to the most competitive proposal.

UW has two main sources of funding — federal and non-federal. Around 50 percent of UW’s federal research money comes from the National Institute of Health, and 17 percent is from the National Science Foundation.

The non-federal money comes mainly from industry research contracts or from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which files patents on UW’s discoveries and licenses the discoveries to the private sector.

However, Cadwallader emphasized that once the research money is awarded for a specific project, the funding cannot be used for purposes other than supporting the actual research described in the proposal.

“It’s not like we get a block grant from the NIH,” Cadwallader said. “For example, if we get funding for stem-cell research, that’s the only purpose we can use it for.”

Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at UW, pointed out that the quality of UW’s research reaps several benefits.

“The research strength at UW attracts the very best faculty. Moreover, these faculty then remain at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines,” Davidson said. “Most of these faculty also involve undergraduates in their research and provide undergraduates with extraordinary opportunities to be involved in state-of-the-art research.”

In addition, UW’s reputation for quality research carries weight when graduate students consider attending UW.

“The UW name carries a lot of weight around the country and the world, comparable to Harvard or [University of California]-Berkeley,” said Nichole Broderick, a doctorate student in the departments of entomology and microbiology. “UW offers a high caliber of scientists to work with in a community that has a reputation for doing high-quality research.”

Broderick is a member of the UW research team — something she feels is beneficial for her studies.

“UW supports its researchers in a positive way, and you want to be in a situation where your research is supported,” she added.

In terms of the future, Broderick would like to see the overall strength of UW’s research preserved.

“It is crucial for the university to be supported by the state,” said Broderick. “We critically need new space for many of our best research programs, and this is something that crucially depends on private contributions.”