UF's research funds took a dip this year, falling about 3 percent from a record high the year before.
UF received $561.6 million in research funding in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, according to a news release Monday.
The previous year, UF earned $583 million.
Win Phillips, UF's vice president for research, said the roughly $21 million loss could have resulted from UF's hiring fewer faculty last year.
Phillips said he expects the amount of funding to increase for 2008-2009.
"Last year in awards we hit an all-time high, so everybody's very busy doing work on the awards that they got last year," Phillips said.
Some current projects include studies about evolving flu-causing pathogens and agricultural carbon sequestration, which reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the earth's atmosphere, he said.
UF's expenditures hit a record high last year, which indicates research grants are being put to good use, he said.
UF faculty are also involved in the National Ecological Observatory Network project, which is a long-term project documenting environmental change and awarded by the National Science Foundation, he said.
Phillips said most of the grants come from the federal government, though some applicants have tapped into the private sector for funds.
The Office of Research processes two grant contracts every hour, or about 5,000 a year, Phillips said. Nearly 4,500 grants are received out of all those applied for.
"It shows our faculty are top-notch," he said. "They really know their stuff."
