"Funding renewal" cycle for university-funded research?

It's not very likely the university is funding the research. More often, the funding comes from a government source, or from a foundation of some sort (I studied an agricultural discipline, so the bulk of my graduate work was funded by a state soybean promotion board, for instance, through which my prof got the money). The universities themselves usually have little to no money to fund research. Most large universities do have a research foundation, but these are (I think) separately incorporated entities from the university and exist mostly to hold the intellectual property rights of things produced and the university. And make money selling the patents. (Random fact: the rat poison and blood thinner warfarin was named after the Wisconsin Agricultural Research Foundation--WARF)

In any case, the funds recipient would be required under the terms of whatever agreement to provide periodic progress reports, be they monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual. I think poor progress over the course of a year, particularly in a discipline where things don't move too quickly, would probably be questioned; sooner in a faster-moving one. Federal money only lasts five years, and in some cases there is an initial award followed by yearly infusions as the government funder gets a new budget each year. However, future funding is (or should be unless you have a clueless program manager) contingent on performance. Foundation funding is probably similar, where the foundation would require some sort of accounting for their investment.

If you needed the university, and not the funder, to get on your faculty member's case, you could have several years go by where he was unable to secure funding, and the university could threaten to take away resources, such as admin support, office space for grad students and assistants, etc.

Depends, too, on what sort of fantasy world you've got, and the nature of the research.<br> If, for instance, your character is studying the effect of growth-potion on dragons, it's hard to argue against 'waiting for the dragons to mature'.<br>And if the military or the dragon-breeder's association is willing to cover living expenses in the meantime, you're good.<br> <br>But, if the research involves lots of expensive equipment and exotic ingredients, some sign of positive results would, I think, be expected.