BOULDER - Professors and researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder brought in $380.7 million in sponsored research funding for the 2011-12 fiscal year, a 6 percent increase from the previous year.

It was the highest amount of research funding ever to come to the campus in Boulder in a fiscal year, other than the record $454.4 million recorded in 2009-10. That year's number was boosted by one-time federal stimulus dollars. In 2010-11, the sponsored research funding amount was $359.1 million.

"It was a pleasant surprise that we were able to garner so much funding again, and we're well aware of what it means to the Boulder and the Colorado economy," said Brian Lewandowski, a research associate at the Business Research Division of the university's Leeds School of Business.

CU-Boulder is the largest employer in the region, with about 7,250 employees, excluding students and temporary workers, Lewandowski said.

Research funding locally in the most recent year included a five-year, $4.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a CU-Boulder team to do research to better understand electrical processes that connect the Earth with the atmosphere and with space, according to a university press statement.

Across the CU system, faculty received $815.3 million in sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2011-12. It was a rise of nearly $22 million from the previous fiscal year.

The funds come from federal, state and local agencies for specific research projects, helping pay for research-related capital improvements, scientific equipment, travel and salaries for research and support staff and student assistantships, the press statement said. University officials cannot divert these dollars to fund non-research-related expenses such as utilities, compensation, student financial aid or grounds maintenance.

"The increase in this critical stream is an extremely positive reflection of academic and research advancement at CU," CU President Bruce Benson said in the press statement.

CU's Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora garnered $407.3 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year. CU-Denver saw $22.3 million. CU's Colorado Springs campus brought in more than $5 million.