The University of Arizona projects its research activity exceeded $1 billion in fiscal year 2024, which it says would put the university into a select group of top research institutions.
The University of Arizonaβs Dante Lauretta, lead scientist for NASAβs OSIRIS-REx mission, signals the success and celebrates the triumph after a capsule containing materials from the asteroid Bennu landed in October 2023 on a Utah military range. The successful mission conceived and led by the UA was among the highlights of the universityβs $1 billion-plus in overall research spending in fiscal year 2024.
Those include Stanford University, Duke University, Harvard University, University of California β Los Angeles, University of Florida, University of Michigan and University of North Carolina.
βOur faculty members tackle urgent global challenges, from energy and environmental issues to national security, human health and the societal impact of technological change,β said UA President Suresh Garimella, who joined the university on Oct. 1, in announcing the research milestone in a news release Tuesday.
Among UAβs 2024 research highlights noted by UA: βRetrieving the largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth, advancing a vaccine for Valley fever to human clinical trial β the worldβs first against fungal infection to reach this stage β and mitigating the effects of extreme heat.β
Edwin Davis, a research associate with Brookhaven National Laboratory, ties a string to the bottom of a weather balloon on the University of Arizona campus in this July 2024 photo. The weather balloon system will send data back regarding temperature, humidity and wind speed and direction. This research into mitigating excessive heat was among highlights cited by UA officials as they announced the university hit a $1 billion-plus mark in overall research spending in fiscal year 2024.
The UA will submit its data to the National Science Foundation for review and the official number is set to be confirmed in the fall.
This feat in research spending was achieved in the midst of the universityβs year-long budget deficit and βfinancial crisisβ revealed by former President Robert C. Robbins in the fall last year. The university continues to rebuild its faculty and staff numbers after layoffs and a temporary hiring freeze, having reduced its year-end projected budget deficit to $63 million from $177 million.
βResearch is the cornerstone of the University of Arizonaβs standing as a world-class institution, and our latest rankings reaffirm this excellence,β said TomΓ‘s DΓaz de la Rubia, senior vice president of research and innovation, in the news release. His role at the UA started Nov. 11.
The most recent National Science Foundation rankings show the UA:
- Spent a total of $955 million on research activity in fiscal year 2023, including more than $356 million in health sciences, which placed the university among the nationβs top 20 public research institutions for the sixth year in a row.
- Ranks among the top 4% of 900 universities and colleges invested in research and development.
- Maintained its No. 1 ranking in astronomy and astrophysics from 1987 until 2023, when it went to No. 2.
- Also holds the rankings of No. 2 among public universities for space science, No. 4 in high Hispanic enrollment, No. 6 in NASA-funded activity, No. 7 in physical sciences, No. 20 in overall public universities and No. 36 across all universities, according to the university website.
βThe scale of our research enterprise provides the capacity to lead multi-institution and interdisciplinary successes like the OSIRIS-REx (asteroid) mission and to pursue revolutionary advancements that will benefit people everywhere, such as personalized medical treatments with the Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies,β said Garimella.
According to Coco Tirambulo, an M.D./Ph.D. student at the UA College of Medicine β Tucson quoted in the news release, the hope is for the research to produce βtransformative solutions for families navigating neurodegenerative diseases.β
