Montana State University brings home research bacon, despite Congress’ spending cuts

In its pre-Christmas rush, Congress cut spending and eliminated millions of dollars for university research, yet Montana State University still did well in landing research grants.

So well, in fact, that its research spending so far this fiscal year is 10.8 percent ahead of last year’s record $98 million, Tom McCoy, MSU vice president for research http://www.montana.edu/wwwvr/index.html , said Tuesday.

"Given the challenges" in Congress, McCoy said, "my assessment is we did far better than expected."

Several earmarked research grants were approved for MSU in the defense bill. Although the original amounts for each grant were cut by 30 percent, the projects will still receive more money than last year, McCoy said.

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

Full story: