The University of Wisconsin–Madison rose to sixth in research expenditure rankings published by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Nov. 25 after years of sitting at eighth place.
UW–Madison surpassed $1.7 billion in research expenditures in 2023, its highest amount ever, according to the NSF Higher Education Research and Development survey.
The NSF HERD is an annual census of U.S. colleges and universities that spent at least $150,000 in separately accounted for research and development in the fiscal year.
The new ranking shows a two-spot increase over last year, along with an increase of over $208 million from July 2022-23. This is a 13.7% increase in research expenditures.
Some of the largest expenditures included $29 million to study and treat diseases that cause blindness, $15 million over the next three years to increase artificial intelligence research and education and a $22.3 million award for the Population Health Institute in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health to expand work on community health, according to a UW-Madison statement.
“UW-Madison has been a research powerhouse for generations,” UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in the statement. “This latest increase in both our research expenditures and our HERD ranking is further evidence of our deep commitment to bringing incredible UW–Madison expertise across disciplines to the grand challenges of our time and to translating our discoveries to improve lives at home in Wisconsin and beyond.”
The ranking increase marks a rise over the past decade. UW–Madison was ranked fourth in the nation for research spending in 2014 but had fallen to eighth by 2018, according to PBS Wisconsin.
At the time, former UW–Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank credited this fall to state funding cuts to the UW System.
