This study presents data from 115 engineering faculty chosen predominantly from top-50 programs in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia – about how they view university efforts to help them procure research grants. The study gives detailed data on the percentage of faculty time spent on research grant procurement, and on the monetary total value of grants procured and on the total number of grants applied for. The study also presents faculty evaluation of the following types of services to scholars: research services to find grant sources, proposal and grant writing, and clerical support for grant applicants.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:
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Efforts to procure grants accounted for 17.53% of the total work time of the faculty surveyed.
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Respondents in biomedical (30.00%), materials/chemicals/agriculture (22.60%), and civil engineering (20.40%) spent the most time seeking funding,
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Overall, 47.82% of respondents rated their office of research and grants as good or excellent on knowledge of sources of grants.
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When it came to support for proposal writing, more than twice the percentage of those faculty at institutions outside of the United States felt that their universities offered only fair or poor services in this area.
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Female respondents were less likely than male respondents to rate their institutions’ office of research performance as good or excellent (28.58% of women vs 50.58% of men).