The National Science Foundation recently rolled back a "cost-sharing" policy that required universities to provide additional funds toward research projects financed by the agency.

It's welcome news in the world of research.

The upshot is that universities like UC Davis will have more control over research funds, said Lynne Chronister, associate vice chancellor for research administration in the Office of Research.

"At UC Davis our ability to do cost-sharing has not been a factor in our decision to match dollars," said Chronister. "But this new measure will give the university, especially colleges, schools and divisions, more flexibility in the allocation of funding or cost-sharing for proposals to external agencies."

Before this decision, the NSF required colleges to pay costs beyond the statutory 1 percent. Now, the NSF will no longer require colleges to put their own dollars into solicited research, which the NSF finances after seeking applications on a particular topic.

The change is effective immediately. However, universities still have to provide 1 percent of the research grant amount on unsolicited projects. All previously issued program solicitations that specify a cost sharing requirement remain valid, unless program managers issue a formal amendment modifying the cost sharing requirement in the program solicitation. The revised policy will be effective for all new NSF program solicitations issued after Oct. 14.

During the 2004 fiscal year, UC Davis directed about $1.5 million in matching funds toward NSF's solicited awards, Chronister said.

She said the National Science Foundation funds both large center proposals, such as the Center for Biophotonics, as well as individual investigator proposals.

Funded with $52 million over the next 10 years, including a $40 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology will bring together scientists, industry, educators and the community to research and develop applications for biophotonics -- the science of using light to understand the inner workings of cells and tissues in living organisms.

"It is the large center programs like this one that require extensive campus support," said Chronister.

She noted that UC Davis will now have more flexibility in the use of scarce dollars for the support of research.

"Most other agencies still require some level of cost-sharing and this will allow us to expand the dollars available for other research programs," she said.

Since the 1940s, the NSF policy of "cost sharing" aimed to expand the overall budget for more research projects. Cost-sharing decisions were often made on an ad-hoc basis in negotiations between federal agencies and scientists after an award was granted. However, many colleges would also volunteer on their grant applications to pay some money out of their own pockets to improve their prospects of winning a grant.

Such practices have come under fire in recent years, as colleges have complained that they are being forced into bidding wars for federal grants. The NSF responded with a new policy that required cost-sharing expectations to be clearly stated in announcements and solicitations for grants.

A second set of changes came in 2003, when the agency revised its guidelines to instruct applicants not to volunteer to share additional costs beyond the level specified in the solicitation.

With an annual budget of about $5.58 billion (fiscal year 2004), NSF funds the people, ideas and tools to boost U.S. leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics and engineering research and education.

Figures from the National Science Foundation show that UC Davis continues to grow as a major research university. Total research and development expenditures for fiscal year 2002-03 show UC Davis now ranking 14th in the nation with $456,653,000, overtaking the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In specific subject areas, UC Davis ranked first in expenditures on agricultural research ($25,683,000); seventh in spending on biology research ($45,283,000); and 13th in life sciences, which includes medicine, biology and agricultural sciences ($336,796,000).

UC Davis spent $280,009,000 in 2002-03 from non-federal sources, which could include the state of California, other institutions, campus funds, private gifts and business sources, ranking third in the nation.