A top research and development “think tank” said the federal government is skimping on research dollars.

But University researchers are getting more money from the federal government than ever before, said Ryan Nesbit, the associate vice president of the Budget Division.

“Funding has increased in a big kind of way,” he said.

Federal funding increased nearly 13 percent at the University during the last fiscal year.

Under proposals from President Bush, federal spending on research and development would reach a record $110 billion, if approved for the 2003 budget, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

But a report by the non-profit “think tank” RAND (a contraction of the words research and development) Corporation showed that if those funds are adjusted for inflation and viewed as a percentage of the gross domestic product, the level of funding would be the same as during the 1950s — a period before research funding took off.

Various federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Institutes of Health, contributed $118.4 million to University research in the 2002 fiscal year, according to the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Judy Purdy, director of Research Communic-ations for the University, said the University has received more than $200 million for research from private and public sources.

Federal dollars, which are restricted for particular purposes involving research and public service, are key for the University’s research functions, Nesbit said.

Nesbit said “funding at the federal level is very important to keep us moving forward in different areas of research.”

Purdy added University researchers received more money for research into gerontology and substance abuse, among other areas.

On the whole, federal dollars do not count for a huge portion of the University’s entire budget as compared to state funding. Federal appropriations amounted to 1.2 percent of total revenues, while money from the state government counted for 42.2 percent during the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

Federal contributions to the total University budget have decreased over the last 10 years, as federal appropriations sunk from 2.1 percent in 1992-1993, according to the University’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning.