University spending on research and development in science and engineering increased 5.8 percent nationally between 2008 and 2009 with the University of Wisconsin ranked third, according to a statement by the National Science Foundation.
The spending report shows $54.9 billion was spent on national research in 2009. The main source of these funds was the federal government, which contributed $32.6 billion, according to the statement from the NSF.
Lisa-Joy Zgorski, spokesperson from the NSF, said although the benefits from large research investments are not always immediately realized, the NSF trusts the money will pay off.
UW ranked number three this past year among the top 20 spending institutions listed by the NSF.
“UW has regularly been among the top in research expenditures [nationally],” said UW spokesperson Jill Sakai. “We are typically [one of] the only public institutions in the top five.”
Data from the NSF says UW spent $952 million dollars on science and engineering research in 2009.
This is a considerable increase from the past two years, $882 million was spent in 2008 and $841 million in 2007.
Sakai said the reason for this steady increase is most likely due to national inflation.
Coming in at number two and number one on last year’s report were the University of Michigan and John Hopkins University.
John Hopkins took the top spot with $1.9 billion, and Michigan spent approximately $1 billion last year.
“UW and John Hopkins are the two we typically always see among the highest spending,” Sakai said.
Nationally, research was mainly focused on medical sciences, biological sciences, engineering and physics last year, according to the statement.
Sakai added that UW seems to be following the same national trends. She said that the majority of research annually is focused on biomedical sciences and physics; however UW always concentrates on agriculture as well.
Sakai said she believes UW’s research is a wise investment.
“I may be biased, but this is clearly a good investment [for UW] since it is supplementing our future with continuous technology and knowledge,” she said.
