Funding for pioneering research at The University of Nottingham is at an all-time high – despite the tougher climate affecting grant awards.

Academics at the university have secured a record £140m over the past year from research councils, charitable foundations, government departments, the EU, private companies, professional organisations and other grant-giving bodies. These results represent a 7.7 per cent increase on last year's funding total and a significant endorsement of the university's national and international reputation as a research centre of excellence.

The University of Nottingham's success rate for grant applications from UK Research Councils puts it in joint second place, ahead of Oxford, University College London (UCL), Edinburgh, Manchester and Imperial College. Nearly a third of Nottingham bids received funding.

The University of Nottingham's success rate was 29 per cent. The average success rate for the top 20 universities in 2008 to 2009 was 25 per cent. The overall success rate for higher education institutions in winning funding grants was just 23 per cent.

Last year, 116 separate projects across all disciplines were funded to the tune of £59m putting the university in fourth place out of the top 20 UK universities in the research council awards league tables.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research Professor Bob Webb said: "These excellent figures continue to build on the recent sector leading RAE 2008 results, which clearly demonstrated the breadth and depth of world ranking research at Nottingham.

"They also reflect the continued significant effort of staff at Nottingham and the strategy of concentrating on research of the highest quality and building the strength and depth of core disciplines, which also underpins internationally leading multidisciplinary research."

 Director of the University's Research Innovation Services, Dr Richard Masterman, said: "Nottingham's strong performance is a result of sustained and integrated focus on quality and research excellence. We are particularly proud of our successes which address world-leading interdisciplinary challenges while recognising these are only achieved because we continue to invest in and secure funding to strengthen an already strong core discipline base."

Among the highlights of awards from the UK Research Councils was £17,099,000 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) – the highest of any institution.