Research expenditures jump, UW-Madison retains top ranking

According to statistics compiled by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the University of Wisconsin–Madison is the nation’s third largest research university as measured by dollars spent on research.

The most recent NSF ranking show UW–Madison lagging only Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at San Francisco, with research expenditures for fiscal 2008 (the most recent available figures) totaling $882 million, a jump of $41 million over fiscal 2007 expenditures.

Other than Johns Hopkins, UW–Madison is the only institution, public or private, that has ranked among the top five research universities for each of the past 20 years.

“Our high ranking is, first of all, a testament to the quality and hard work of our faculty, staff and students,” says Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader. “The funding environment is as competitive as ever and that we are able to grow our research portfolio year after year demonstrates that our researchers are among the best anywhere.”

The NSF ranking reflects funding from all sources: federal, state and private. Of the $882 million spent by UW–Madison in fiscal 2008, $474 million came from federal sources, placing UW–Madison second on the list of federally funded research expenditures at public universities.