In the most recent fiscal year, North Carolina A&T University received the most scientific contracts and grants in the institution’s history.
A&T saw a 30% increase in FY2021 from the previous year, bringing in $78.2 million, approximately $18 million more than FY2020 and $12 million more than the university’s best single-year increase.
This increase represents the university’s strongest growth year ever in peer-reviewed, competitive funding awards for research programs with most of the funding coming from federal scientific agencies. The growth occurred across different disciplines and initiatives.
“As recently as 2011-12, N.C. A&T faculty were landing $51.3 million annually. To have realized growth of 53% over the ensuing decade is a tremendous reflection on the outstanding faculty, graduate students, undergraduates and research staff who each play a valuable role in the practical and often applied research coming out of our university,” said Harold L. Martin Sr., N.C. A&T chancellor.
Six years ago, A&T launched the Faculty of the Future Initiative program which made hiring scholars with significant research backgrounds from leading research universities a priority. In FY2020 and FY2021, those faculty helped drive back-to-back record numbers of A&T research proposals submitted to federal agencies with 451 submitted in FY20 and 494 in FY21.
Along with Howard and Florida A&M, A&T has led all HBCUs in recent years in federally funded research expenditures.
The largest awards at A&T were:
- A $3.97 million grant from NASA to Dr. Abdollah Homaifar for research regarding development of air taxis;
- A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to Dr. Reza Zadegan for development of a DNA-based storage system in which information can be written, stored and read in the form of mutational changes in DNA;
- A $1.1 million award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna to support the 1890 Center of Excellence for Student Success and Workforce Development initiative.
N.C. A&T is also making improvements to its facility, technological and organizational capabilities. Such improvements include: the $90 million Harold L. Martin Sr. Engineering Research and Innovation Complex funded by NC Connect bond; energy-efficient community initiatives; and the establishment of several groups such as the 1890 Center of Excellence for Student Success and Workforce Development, Cybersecurity Forensic Hub for Women and Women in Design and Advanced Manufacturing Academy.
“This further establishes North Carolina A&T as one of the state’s top three public research universities, provides additional learning opportunities for our students and contributes significantly to the university’s economic impact,” Martin said.
