April 2, 2012

Johns Hopkins first in R&D expenditures for 32nd year

The Johns Hopkins University performed $2 billion in medical, science and engineering research in fiscal 2010, making it the leading U.S. academic institution in total research and development spending for the 32nd 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 $1.73 billion in FY2010 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.

The University of Michigan ranked second in R&D spending in FY2010, at $1.18 billion, as well as third in federally financed R&D, at $747 million.

At Johns Hopkins, research and development money is underwriting the cost of investigations into everything from the microscopic world of stem cells and strategies to reduce deaths from malaria worldwide to how a mysterious force called “dark energy” is fueling the expanding universe’s acceleration.

Johns Hopkins research is also supported by funding from private sources and from return on investment from past discoveries. In fiscal 2010, Johns Hopkins earned $13.1 million from more than 600 licenses and their associated patents.

“Johns Hopkins is proud of the work our investigators do every day. Through their research, Johns Hopkins is leading the way in uncovering the new knowledge and breakthroughs that transform our lives,” said Lloyd B. Minor, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins.

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 university’s Applied Physics Laboratory in its totals. Behind the University of Michigan on the FY2010 total research expenditure list is the University of Wisconsin, Madison, at $1.029 billion, followed by the University of Washington, at $1.023 billion. Completing the top five, with $987 million, is Duke University.

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

The NSF information is available online at www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf12313.