Cal State Fullerton secured nearly $58 million in grants and contracts during the 2023-24 fiscal year, setting a new record for the university. This achievement, which surpasses the previous record of $46.1 million during the 2022-23 fiscal year, marks the third consecutive year that CSUF has increased its grants and contracts funding.
The awards represent a 25% increase over the previous fiscal year, with approximately 150 awards from various federal, state and local governments, as well as private and nonprofit organizations. Among the largest funders were the Department of Education, Small Business Administration, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, State of California and CalOptima Health.
“This is the first time that our faculty and staff have secured more than $50 million in external funding,” said Binod Tiwari, associate vice president for research and sponsored projects. “It’s indicative not only of the quality and competitiveness of faculty proposals, but also of the impactful work and immersive learning experiences that they are creating for students.”
Tiwari noted that Cal State Fullerton has seen a significant rise in grants and contracts in the past five years. Since the 2018-19 fiscal year, when the university secured $27 million in awards, external funding has increased more than 110%. He credits the increase in external funding to the university’s strategic efforts to provide professional development opportunities for faculty and staff, including support for grant writing.
“Seeing Cal State Fullerton achieve another record year — and more than double our funding from just five years ago — is further evidence that our investments in providing research support, visibility and collaboration access are yielding positive results,” he added.
Some external funding highlights for fiscal year 2023-24 included:
- $5 million from CalOptima Health for Orange County Behavioral Health MSW Stipend Program (Mikyong Kim-Goh, professor of social work)
- $4,997,384 from U.S. Department of Education for Investing Now to Expand Faculty Research Through Capacity Building (Binod Tiwari, associate vice president for research and sponsored projects)
- $4,118,400 from U.S. Department of Education for CSUF GEAR UP (Adriana Badillo, director of the Center for Educational Partnerships)
- $3,999,436 from U.S. Department of Education for Fullerton RISES: Re-Imagining Success for Every Student (Yuying Tsong, associate vice president for student academic support)
- $3,035,422 from California Department of Health Care Access and Information for Health Professions Careers Opportunity Program (Alice Lee, associate professor of public health)
- $3,034,672 from U.S. Small Business Administration for Orange County Inland Empire Small Business Development Center GO-Biz Technical Assistance Program 2023-24 (Michael Daniel, director of the Small Business Development Center)
- $1,231,978 from University of California Office of the President for “Influence of Emerging Alternative Products on Transitions in Nicotine and Cannabis Product Use” (Joshua Yang, professor of public health)
- $979,212 from National Science Foundation for CAREER: Improving Persistence of Underserved Students in Psychological Science Using and AI-Based, Personalized Career Exploration Platform (Yuko Okado, assistant professor of psychology)
- $904,704 from National Science Foundation for the Collaborative Research: Identifying and Evaluating Sites for Cosmic Explorer Program (Joshua Smith, professor of physics)
- $592,853 from U.S. Department of Energy for “Understanding the Role of Chemical Pressure on Thermal Expansion Tunability in Earth-Abundant Materials” (Joya Cooley, assistant professor of chemistry)
- $415,248 from National Institutes of Health for “Synthesis and Evaluation of Peptidomimetics to Probe the Active Site of the Botulinum Neurotoxin to Discover Therapeutic Leads for the Treatment of Botulism” (Nicholas Salzameda, associate dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics)
Tiwari also stated that intramural grants, which provide seed funding for preliminary research projects prior to submitting for larger external funding, increased significantly during the year.
“The Office of Research and Sponsored Projects awarded more than $2.1 million to faculty and students for research development, conference presentations and publishing in open access journals,” he said. This number included nearly $500,000 for the Summer Undergraduate Research Academy and $600,000 for the Engaging Graduate Students on Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities. Both programs aim to involve students in research projects and creative activities with faculty mentors.
With the office having recently been awarded a Department of Education grant of nearly $5 million to strengthen research opportunities for faculty and students, Tiwari is optimistic about the university’s overall potential to increase extramural and intramural funding over the next five years.
“Each grant or contract that we secure, no matter the size, is having a positive impact on CSUF’s ability to cultivate leaders in their field who drive innovation and support student learning,” said Tiwari. “Our office is excited to continue providing faculty and staff with the level of support they need to develop and submit competitive grant proposals that move our campus community forward.”
For more information, visit the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects website.