Sylvie Mrug, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of PsychologyFederally funded research expenditures for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology increased by 12 percent from 2016-2017, totaling more than $4.9 million, according to the recently released National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey for 2017.
“In three short years, our federal funding rankings rose from 103rd to 49th, and our total R&D expenditures went from 123rd to 70th,” said Sylvie Mrug, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Psychology. “The efforts of our faculty to increase research and development opportunities will continue to positively impact the education we provide to our students and the psychology community overall.”
Mrug attributes the success to three factors: strategic hiring of accomplished researchers in areas of key initiatives such as chronic pain; support for faculty research from the College of Arts and Sciences and the university; and continued collaborations with faculty in other departments, schools and research centers at UAB.
“In the Psychology department and across campus, there is a strong culture of supporting students to join cutting-edge research laboratories that match their intellectual interests,” said David Schwebel, Ph.D., associate dean in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. “An increase in externally funded research activity means we can offer more learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in research under the guidance of research faculty, fulfilling a critical aspect of their educations.”