University researchers have received more than $15 million in funds from the federal stimulus package – and more could be on the way.

“You name it, we’ve got some money for it,” said Regina Smith, associate vice president for research.

Although industry funding for research is down for grants, Smith said the University is “holding our own in a very shaky, uncertain economy.”

“Last year was our best year ever,” she said. “We did very well. We hope this year will be just as good.”

Smith said the funds, received mostly through grants from the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, was responsible for filling the gap left by the drop in corporate funding.

The $15 million comes from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed by Congress in February, and is being used to cover salaries as well as new equipment for researchers.

A large portion of the grants went toward maintaining jobs, Smith said.

“With these awards, it pays salaries for technicians, pays grad students,” Smith said. “The bulk of our money goes to salaries.”

Marcus Lay, an assistant professor of chemistry, was awarded more than $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to further his research on carbon nanotubes.

The tubes, composed of a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, are sensitive to atmospheric gasses and have a variety of uses, Lay said.

“We’re focusing on electronic applications – display materials, cars, stereos,” he said.

Lay said though his application for funding may have been granted even without the ARRA, it wouldn’t have been for as much money – or for as long a time.

“[With the additional funding] we were able to get a new kind ofmicroscope to examine the chemical properties of this material,” he said.

The new microscope allows researchers to examine certain molecular properties that other devices cannot detect, and will have multiple uses in the future.

Standard grants last three years, but Lay’s funding was awarded for four, he said.

“The additional time is useful for training grad students,” he said.

And since awards are granted on a case-by-case basis, the University could receive millions more in research grants. As of Sept. 28, about $16 million in stimulus funds had been given toward research at the University, according to the Office of the Vice President for Research’s Web site.

Smith said the total amount the University has asked for is nearly $90 million.

“[The proposals were] ranging from $15,000 to almost $9 million,” she said. “The largest [proposal granted] was a $1.7 million proposition for the EPA to retrofit buses.”

As for the overall effectiveness of the money received from the federal stimulus bill, the verdict is still uncertain.

“Just in general, preventing layoffs is just as much of a stimulus as creating new [jobs],” said Greg Trandel, an associate professor of economics.

Bill Lastrapes, an economics professor specializing in macroeconomics, said it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of the stimulus.

“The economy is measured by what we produce,” he said. “[The stimulus package is] good to the extent that a good chunk [of the funds] go to the states. We want decisions to be made as locally as possible on the principle that localities know where the money can be distributed best.”