Marquette's faculty has no problem bringing in federal dollars to help with their research, collecting more than $19.5 million to assist with projects.

Although the U.S. Department of Education provides the university with 75 percent of its annual grants and funds, federal funding has not always been enough. The National Institute of Health, the U.S. Agency for National Development and various individual groups also contribute to Marquette's funding for research.

However, the university is still struggling to increase grant money for its research program.

"Top administrators are committed to creating an environment that is conducive to fostering the growth of research," said Barbara Ploszay, director of grants administration. "Despite the fact that we cannot always receive federal funding for research on a first attempt, Marquette University researchers work tirelessly developing top-notch proposals and remain competitive with the major research universities."

According to Ploszay, 80 Marquette researchers registered 120 outside awards for research projects through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs with budgets totaling more than $9.3 million in fiscal year 2006. In the same fiscal year, 128 researchers submitted 262 applications with budgets topping $21.4 million. But in the same year, summer and regular research grants given out to more than 40 faculty members by the university fell short of $200,000, according to records from the office.

Given the state of the economy and federal budget cuts, Marquette researchers continue to have an excellent funding record that remains above the national average, Ploszay said.

However, the university is still limited when it comes to various advancements within the research program.

"We need to do a better job of prioritizing our needs," Ploszay said. "By budgeting our current internal resources, we will be able to recruit more faculty members to increase further development within our specific research programs."

The strategic plan gives university researchers plans to meet their objectives in their area of expertise, regardless of their current financial status. These plans include "defining workload standards that support the integrated academic life model, increasing research support to fund start-up, bridging and matching needs through the endowment and the establishment of intramural funding to support research needs of faculty members working in fields with limited external resources."

"There is always room to improve our financial status, and we're continuing to work on meeting our goals," said William Wiener, vice provost for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and dean of the Graduate School. "We want to make sure the faculty pursues their interest for research, and we want them to have the means to explore all areas of their research."

Wiener said Marquette's faculty and staff are not solely responsible for maintaining the success of the university's flourishing research program. Student involvement is a key component in the university's development and without the continued support of undergraduate and graduate students (research) programs would not be where they are today.

The College of Engineering is in the process of launching new cluster programs dependent on the teamwork of faculty members and graduate students. These researchers are consolidating in three areas including sustainable engineering, neurosystems and safety and security. By bringing in three to five faculty members to every five graduate students involved in the volunteer program, the College of Engineering hopes to increase funding. As each cluster boosts up the number of annual grants for its particular program, the teams will be able to further consolidate their talents and identify new research proposals.

"Research students are critical to the development of our program," said Stanley Jaskolski, dean of the College of Engineering. "It involves undivided collaboration between our students and faculty. Through their hard work and cooperation, our goals will surely be met."

Although having a tight budget will limit spending in the research program, it will never limit the university's goals, Wiener said. As the strategic goals are in the process of change and development, it is important everyone remains focused on the values named in Marquette's mission statement, he said.