October 5, 2009

Johns Hopkins first in R&D expenditures for 30th year

The Johns Hopkins University performed $1.68 billion in medical, science and engineering research in fiscal 2008, making it the leading U.S. academic institution in total research and development spending for the 30th year in a row, according to a new National Science Foundation ranking.

The university also once again ranked first on the NSF’s separate list of federally funded research and development, spending $1.42 billion in FY2008 on research supported by NSF, NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

In FY2002, Johns Hopkins became the first university to reach the $1 billion mark on either list, recording $1.14 billion in total research and $1.023 billion in federally sponsored research that year. To date, no other institution has reached that mark. The University of California, San Francisco, ranked second in R&D spending in FY2008 at $885 million. The University of Washington was second in federally financed R&D at $614 million.

At Johns Hopkins, research and development money underwrites everything from the development of scientific tools so small that they can be seen only by a microscope to investigations into the therapeutic potential of stem cells and beyond.

Research done at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Whiting School of Engineering, School of Medicine, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Applied Physics Laboratory and School of Nursing is supported by funding from both federal and other sources. In fiscal 2008, the university earned $13 million from 680 licenses and their associated patents related to research discoveries and inventions made at Johns Hopkins, up from $12.8 million in revenue in fiscal 2007.

Johns Hopkins has led the NSF’s research expenditure ranking each year since 1979, when the agency’s methodology changed to include spending by the Applied Physics Laboratory in the university’s totals. Behind the University of California, San Francisco, on the FY2008 total research expenditure list is the University of Wisconsin, Madison, at $881 million, followed by the University of Michigan (all campuses), with $876 million. Completing the top five, with $871 million, is the University of California, Los Angeles.

The total funding ranking includes research support not only from federal agencies but also from foundations, corporations and other sources.

In FY2010, The Johns Hopkins University is also getting a boost from funds administered through the federal stimulus package designed to advance scientific and medical knowledge while aiding the recovery of the U.S. economy. To date, Johns Hopkins has won 300 research grants totaling $148 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These grants are underwriting investigations ranging from the role that certain proteins play in the development of muscle-wasting diseases to research into what strategies best motivate drug addicts coming out of rehabilitation to agree to enroll in continuing sobriety support programs.

For more information on the National Science Foundation rankings, go to www .nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf09318.