Letters to the Editor

Does the Research Council favor grants from the sciences over the arts and humanities?

Statistics on Research Council Grants, Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2003

The Research Council funds proposals in the following areas: Interdisciplinary Grants, Faculty Seed Grants, Grants in Aid, Symposia/Distinguished Lecturers and Visiting Scholars Grants. After the recent Research Council report to the Academic Senate, I was informed that some members of the arts and humanities communities feel that the council disproportionately funds grants from the sciences. It was pointed out that, while the scientific community seems relatively happy with its administrative support (as evidenced by the recent high rankings of UNL in The Scientist), faculty members in the Arts and Humanities are not as enthusiastic.

In response, I analyzed data on the funding success among different academic disciplines on campus in the categories of Grants in Aid and Seed Grants.* Both types of grants are to support creative activities; however, Seed Grants are to fund new projects that are expected to attract future extramural funding. All the grants submitted to the council over the past three years were listed and categorized by department of origin. Each department was further categorized within the broader areas of arts, humanities or sciences. Then the success rate was calculated for each department and within each major category.

As shown in the table, although the total number of Grants in Aid that are funded equals the number of Seed Grants, the total funding allocated to Grants in Aid is lower because each Grant in Aid request is, on average about $5,600, with a current maximum of $6,500, while the average Seed Grant request is about $8,700, with a current maximum of $10,000. The percentage, 66 percent) of scientists applying for Seed Grants is much higher than artists (8 percent) and faculty in the humanities (26 percent). In contrast, the percentage of faculty in the arts (29 percent) and humanities (54 percent) applying for Grants in Aid is much higher than that of scientists (15 percent). The table illustrates that, at least over the past three years, both Grants in Aid and Seed Grants from faculty in the arts and humanities have enjoyed a relatively high success rate. This information should negate concerns about the success rate of proposals funded by the Research Council being skewed toward the sciences.

Stephen W. Ragsdale,

Chair of the Research Council

* The Interdisciplinary Grants have a short two-year history and have been awarded to one PI/research team per year. The funds allocated in this category represent less than 3 percent of the total amount disbursed by the Research Council and were not included in this survey. The Visiting Scholars Grants and Symposia/Distinguished Lecturers Grants were also omitted because they do not provide funding for faculty research projects.

Statistics on Research Council Grants

(Jan. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2003)