Science Market Update

University of Georgia Receives $3M for Bioenergy Research

Written by Jennifer Nieuwkerk | Wed, May 01, 2013

The Department of Energy recently gave the University of Georgia, Athens a $3 million grant to conduct bioenergy research. The government has pledged $25 million over the next five years to researchers trying to make biofuel more economically efficient. At $3 million, the University of Georgia, Athens is receiving more than any other university.

“This is a little bit less [than the past five years] because we’ve added more partners, but everyone had to do that,” said Alan Darvill, the principal investigator for the BioEnergy Science Center at the University of Georgia.

The consortium researching bioenergy has made its focus “overcoming biomass recalcitrance which is the natural resistance of complex carbohydrates in plant cell walls to being broken down by microbes and enzymes,” according to The Red and Black.

“It’s because of that focus that UGA is such a big player, because we have the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center here,” said David Lee, vice president of the University of Georgia, Athens Research Foundation, BESC board member and vice president for research. “It’s a world-class resource. It’s a very unusual grouping of people with expertise in areas related to plant cell walls.”

 

The University of Georgia, Athens

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

The University of Georgia, Athens is a very well-funded laboratory equipment sales market that conducts studies on a number of life science projects in addition to bioenergy research. In 2010, the NSF reported that total R&D expenditures in life sciences at UGA totaled $167.7 million. The NSF also gave the University of Georgia, Athens $1.2 million in research funding in 2012.

In 2012, the NIH gave the University of Georgia $39.4 million for research projects in such disciplines as biochemistry, biology, biostatistics, chemistry, microbiology, pathology and pharmacology. The department receiving the most funding was microbiology, totaling 16 awards and $5.5 million. For a full list of departments receiving funding, please visit the NIH website. The NIH also reported in 2011 that the University of Georgia, Athens’s direct plus indirect costs excluding R & D contracts and ARRA awards totaled $34.2 million. The NIH also gave the University of Georgia $37 million in research funding last year. So far in 2013, UGA has received $13.9 million from the NIH for 43 research projects.

The University of Georgia, Athens is one of the best funded laboratory equipment sales markets in the country. If you are a lab supplier or biotechnology vendor interested in networking with others in your field or learning more about the laboratory equipment sales market at the University of Georgia, Athens, Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. invites you to attend our annual Athens BioResearch Product Faire™ Event. Last year, the Athens BioResearch Product Faire™ Event attracted 153 visitors. Of those who came, 30 were purchasing agents, professors and post docs, and 29 were lab managers. The attendees came from 27 different research buildings and 28 departments across campus.

Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. is a full-service science research marketing and events-planning company that organizes trade shows at top research institutions across the country. For more information on University of Georgia funding statistics, click on the button below. If you are interested in learning about another laboratory equipment sales market closer to home, we encourage you to check out our 2013 calendar of events.