The 2006-08 budget includes a historic investment in Virginia’s future, one that can help save lives and generate economic growth.  The investment is designed to leverage strengths at Virginia’s public research universities with an emphasis on commercialization and economic development.  State dollars will leverage federal and private funds to help attract the best and brightest scientists and students to our universities.

The higher education research package includes $200 million in operating support and $204 million for new research buildings.  The total state general fund investment is $167 million, with $236 million in matching federal and private funds.  Details of the package are outlined below.

• $123.5 million ($39.1 from the state general fund) to build research capacity in biomedical sciences and biomaterials engineering.  Virginia’s strengths in this area include human, animal and plant disease research using a systems biology approach, for diseases such as avian flu, soybean rust and TB; advanced biomaterials for drug delivery, advanced diagnosis and injury/disease treatment; regenerative medicine; disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment, including cancer, diabetes and other metabolic disorders, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.
• $23 million ($11.6 million from the state general fund) to build capacity in modeling and simulation research, with applications in the military, business, education, traffic management and emergency management.
• $33.5 million in the value of research equipment financed through the Virginia College Building Authority
• $10.0 million in state general fund support for top graduate students, and another $0.6 million for graduate education in nanotechnology.
• $5.0 million in a special fund to help universities commercialize technologies developed through their research.
• $4.4 million to expand research at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Southside Virginia
• $204 million ($63.2 million from the state general fund) for six new research facilities, including a biosafety level 3 laboratory, a new clinical cancer center, and medical science, infectious disease, and critical technology/applied science facilities. 

See details of the funding allocations by institution (pdf, 32 k)