This is the Northern Illinois University 2016 Sponsored Programs Annual Report. This report represents the hard work of our faculty and staff who apply for and secure external funding for the research, scholarship and creative activities that drive our university mission and reinforce NIU’s place as a student-centered, research-focused public university. The results of these projects, be they innovations that spur new patents, pedagogical techniques in the classroom or artistic programs in our community, contribute to the advancement of our region, state, nation and world.