UCSB researchers pulled in an unprecedented amount of funding last year from external sources.

Federal and state agencies, corporations and foundations awarded over 1,100 research grants and contracts totaling $143.9 million in the fiscal year ending June 30. The total eclipsed the previous record of $130.4 million, set the previous year.

Federal agencies accounted for more than 85 percent of the total, contributing $121.6 million. The National Science Foundation (NSF) was the largest single source, providing $102.4 million. Other major federal sources included the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

“This increase in our extramural research funding to an all-time high is stunning,” Chancellor Henry Yang said in a statement. “Such support is the lifeblood of a premier research university and a true testament to the extraordinary work being performed at UCSB.”

Among the main single contributions were $5.8 million from the NSF to form a new graduate program in computational science and engineering and a program in interactive digital multimedia; and $4.4 million from DARPA to establish the Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense, a collaboration with UC Los Angeles and Riverside that will focus on developments in computing including nanoscale semiconductors and new sensors and imaging systems. The NIH contributed $2 million to neuroscience research on conditions such as macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease at the Neuroscience Research Institute and the currently under-construction Life Science and Technology Building.

“These successes are the result of innovative partnerships between scholars from research centers and institutes all over campus,” Steven Gaines, acting vice chancellor for research, said in a statement. “Many of these awards will lead to new discoveries that address society’s most pressing problems.”