The university saw a dramatic increase in federal grant money in the 2003 fiscal year.

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs has received a $2 million increase in federal aid, from the fiscal year 2002 to fiscal year 2003, according to an annual report.

The analysis report showed an increase from $16,700,342 in fiscal year 2002 to $18,933,978 in fiscal year 2003. The report also demonstrated how much money and how many grants each college or school was awarded.

Provost Madeline Wake attributed the increase of grant money to a faculty that she says never tires of learning.

“Our thirst for discovery is helping us receive all this grant money,” Wake said. “More so it is the hard work of our faculty to want to discover new things. And we cannot overlook the importance of ORSP (Office of Research and Sponsored Programs).

“They have been a tremendous help in helping faculty member write up really terrific proposals. But without a doubt our faculty is the core reason for our recent success.”

Wake also commented on the prominence of Marquette receiving coveted federal dollars.

“We are becoming a main player on the national stage,” Wake said. “And that is evidenced by the amounts of grant money we are receiving.”

Erik Thelen, executive director of Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, declined comment on the rising trends of Marquette’s grant money.

The department of Arts & Sciences received more money than any other college within Marquette. The college received 61 grant awards for a total of $4,896,139.

Professor of biological sciences Thomas J. Eddinger is using his grant money to investigate the main cause of death in the United States, cardiovascular disease.

“We have 18 research faculty members who have benefited from government grants,” Eddinger said. “I am investigating smooth muscle, which is muscle in the cardiovascular system.

“The No. 1 cause of death in this country is cardiovascular disease.”

Eddinger’s department will also be doing other types of research.

“We have people funded by NASA here who are studying the effects of fatigue and gravity change on astronauts,” he said. “We have people studying the make up of a lamprey body system. Some people are even getting grants from the (United States Department of Agriculture) to determine more effective ways of growing crops.

“There is a plethora of research going on here.”

The College of Arts & Sciences was not the only one to gain from federal grant money.

John J. Augenstein, dean and associate professor in the School of Education, delved into a project created by federal funds in their department.

“We received a Fund for Improvement of Post Secondary Education Grant, which allows us the capability to employ two people to develop online courses,” Augenstein said.

Those two people are John Pray, associate vice-provost for educational technology, and Heidi Schweizer, associate professor in the School of Education.

Augenstein gave a brief overview of the project to be implemented with the grant money.

“They are working in cooperation with St. Josephs of Philadelphia, and Loyola of Chicago on this project,” Augenstein said. “It extends our online program to two other universities.”