UAH climbs in R&D expenditures, according to latest NSF figures

Dr. Ray Vaughn
Michael Mercier | UAH

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (April 3, 2014) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has climbed in multiple national rankings for research and development expenditures according to National Science Foundation (NSF) fiscal 2012 data, which are the most recent available.

Overall nationally, UAH advanced to 130th in federally financed higher education R&D expenditures in fiscal 2012 from 135th in fiscal 2011. UAH ranked No. 91 in federally financed R&D expenditures among public institutions of higher education.

UAH rose to eighth from 13th in federally financed business and management research expenditures and advanced two positions to 17th in federally financed atmospheric sciences research.

In federally financed computer sciences research expenditures, UAH moved up one position to 13th. UAH peers include Arizona State (12th), Columbia (13th), the University of Michigan (15th) and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (16th).

The university retained its No. 5 ranking in federally financed aeronautical and astronautical engineering research. Johns Hopkins University, Utah State, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Colorado-Boulder were listed ahead of UAH. Following UAH in rank are MIT and Penn State University.

UAH ranks at No. 25 in federally financed political science research expenditures.

"We were very pleased with the latest research expenditure rankings received from NSF. UAH has a long history of science and engineering research and working with our federal government partners," said Dr. Ray Vaughn, UAH vice president for research. "This year's rankings also recognize our strong performance in the College of Business and within our Dept. of Political Science. When considering the size of UAH as compared to larger universities, our performance record is quite astounding."

UAH ranked 16th nationally in research and development expenditures from the Dept. of Defense. UAH ranked 14th in R&D expenditures from NASA, matching its fiscal 2011 rank.

In Alabama, UAH ranked first among state universities in expenditures in the environmental sciences (including atmospheric sciences), and in math and computer sciences. In engineering research expenditures, UAH ranked second among Alabama universities with $40 million. It was third in the state in physical sciences.

UAH's $78 million total among state universities in federally-financed R&D expenditures is second only to the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

The rankings were obtained using the NSF FY12 HERD Survey Data, which can be found at: http://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2012/.