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Research, a cornerstone of the university's mission, advances
knowledge and understanding, underpins instruction, improves
the quality of life and enhances economic development.
In total research expenditures, UGA is 29th among public universities and 43rd among private and public universities based on the latest National Science Foundation rankings. In federal research and development expenditures, UGA ranks 89th among public and private universities.
Research, instruction and outreach programs span 16 colleges and schools and in FY 07 attracted $219 million a year in external grants and contracts. Faculty and students explore many areas: health and medicine; ecology and the environment; food production and safety; natural and physical sciences; humanities and fine arts; education and social sciences; and business, law and international affairs, to name a few. UGA is home to several internationally recognized interdisciplinary research centers and institutes that promote inquiry, foster innovation and yield greater productivity.
UGA-developed products, technology and innovation run the gamut — from genetics, molecular biology and physics to agriculture and food safety to social and public policy, humanities and fine arts. For example, faculty developed the state's number one peanut, a host of internationally marketed turf grasses, antiviral drugs and the only FDA-approved prescription drug for dry eye. Patents include healthier cooking oils, efficient livestock cloning methods, novel cancer detection tests and a drug now in clinical trials to treat hepatitis B. Faculty pioneer deeper knowledge of life processes at molecular, cellular, organismal and population levels. Their findings also bring new perspectives and solutions to social and political science, education, the arts and the humanities. Innovations have led to programs aimed at social issues such as school violence and date rape, educational concerns such as math and literacy education, health problems such as obesity, and work place issues such as genetic discrimination.
The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) supports
and promotes UGA research and scholarly activity by administering sponsored programs; ensuring compliance with regulations; overseeing research funding and accounting; communicating research findings to lay audiences; enhancing the research infrastructure through laboratories and services; providing start-up funds to hire outstanding faculty; and fostering new start-up companies based on UGA discoveries. In cooperation with the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., OVPR protects UGA intellectual property through such means as patents, trademarks, and seed and plant protections and works with industry to license intellectual property. Licensing and royalties generated more than $15 million in 2006.
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29th Annual
Creative Research Awards
Ecology Thrives at UGA
As he was approaching the end of his life, ecologist Eugene P. Odum feared that the University of Georgia Institute of Ecology, which he founded, would die with him. "We talked about it a few times," recalls friend and colleague Gary Barrett, who now holds the Odum Chair of Ecology. "And I kept telling him, 'Gene, the Institute will be here forever. Don't worry.'"
Odum died in 2002, and the study of ecology at UGA is thriving like never before.
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