A prominent education magazine ranked Dartmouth as the country's fifth fastest growing research university in a recent issue.
Connection, the magazine of the New England Board of Higher Education, analyzed research and development expenses at dozens of schools across the nation. It reported that the College increased research expenses 214 percent in a seven-year period, from $15,749,000 in 1984 to $49,384,000 in 1991.
The survey also named Dartmouth the fastest growing university in the New England area, followed by the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, which had a 212 percent increase in research costs.
Despite the jump in research expenses, Dartmouth does not rank in the top 100 research institutions in the country, Grants and Contracts Director John Kavanagh said.
"We're doing pretty well, but not like the large research universities," said Kavanagh, whose office helps faculty and students find funding for their research projects.
For example, the survey showed that Yale University's research funding rose 87 percent over the seven years. But Yale already has a substantial research budget, which totalled nearly $194 million in 1991.
According to College statistics, the Dartmouth Medical School receives the majority of research awards. In 1992 the Medical School raked in almost $42 million, accounting for nearly 75 percent of the research money the College gets.
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences received just less than $6 million, or 10.7 percent of the 1992 research funding for departments in the sciences and social sciences.
Funding for individual proposals ranged from $5,000 for Anthropology Professor Dale Eickelman's "Other Orients: Soviet and American Perspectives," to $299,987 for Mathematics and Computer Science Professor J. L. Snell's "Chance: Case Studies of Current Chance Issues."
The Thayer School of Engineering tallied the third largest slice of research funds, with $5,206,251, or 9.3 percent.
The bulk of funding for Dartmouth's research expenses is contributed by external sources including the federal government
Kavanaugh said many factors contribute to the expenditure increase. "If the College is going to attract first-rate faculty, some of them are going to do research," he said.
Kavanagh cited graduate school expansion and the increasing quality of graduate students as related reasons behind the increased funding.
