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Federal stimulus money could do more than just shore up higher education's depleted budget.

Pam Crowell, the vice president for research at Idaho State University, hopes the federal package will boost research activities significantly as the university looks to take part in a nationwide race for research dollars.

State lawmakers, who are still unraveling details of the stimulus package, have identified $357 million already earmarked for education in Idaho in schools and universities. However, there is nearly $7 billion in available research dollars of which Idaho may yet claim a portion.

The bulk of the research dollars are coming from the U.S. Commerce and Energy departments, National Aeronautics Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.

The Department of Health and Human Services is also looking to pour about another $10 billion of stimulus money into universities to stimulate medical research and improve research facilities.

"We're in a national competition with everybody else," Crowell said. "The chances of being funded are higher now than they were last year."

According to the latest figures, ISU receives about $31 million annually in external research dollars.

Crowell, like other ISU administrators, is unable to pinpoint how much the university will receive from the stimulus package, but she is confident President Barack Obama's proposal could generate a great deal of extra federal dollars the university wouldn't normally see.

Crowell said universities tout research projects for their diverse benefits to the community, region, state and sometimes entire nation. She said groundbreaking research can often further economic development.

Crowell pointed to the development of medical isotopes, which are commercially produced from bomb-grade uranium. She said if ISU's Idaho Accelerator Center manages to successfully produce the isotopes with a new method using electrons, the research could create a new and safer avenue in the treatment of terminal illnesses. Currently, Canada produces the bulk of medical isotopes used in North America.

"Research can lead to economic developments when people make discoveries," Crowell said. "(Research on medical isotopes) is one example that we hope can turn ISU research into new jobs."

Crowell said federal dollars could also carry research in energy, health professions and traditional sciences, such as biology, physics and engineering.

For example, Crowell said NSF grants could benefit research aimed at making crops more drought resistant. She said the Department of Energy could also help fund efforts to develop biofuels from agricultural wastes.

"ISU is like any other agency," she said. "We hope that everybody who is eligible for funding goes for it."

Crowell said ISU's annual federal funding rate for research is between 5 and 20 percent, adding that a majority of faculty who apply for research grants usually get turned down.

"There are many more institutions that bring in more research than we do," she said. "We would like to (increase the amount of research dollars). The economy, though, makes that more of a challenge. But on the other hand, the stimulus package may help us out. So it's our goal to increase external funding."

ISU President Art Vailas said he hopes to boost research dollars by 5 to 10 percent annually.

"We'd like to see a consistent increase (over the next few years)," Vailas said. "Far better than the national average."