At last check, the University of Arizona men’s basketball team had climbed to No. 5 in the national rankings, while the women’s team had played its way to No. 18.
In the astronomy department, they call that “good but not great.”
The UA continued its decadeslong streak as the nation’s No. 1 school for astronomy and astrophysics research, according to data compiled by the National Science Foundation.
The university topped the list with more than $113 million in research activity during the 2021 fiscal year, some $40 million more than the second-place University of California, Berkeley.
Arizona has ranked No. 1 in astronomy and astrophysics expenditures every year since 1987.
In overall science research activity across all departments, the university came in 36th nationally — and 20th among public institutions — in the NSF’s Higher Education Research and Development survey.
The annual survey of 900 colleges and universities in the U.S. is considered the primary source of information on research and development expenditures in higher education.
The UA reported about $770 million in R&D activity in 2021, $9 million more than the previous fiscal year. That places the UA in the top 4% of all U.S. universities ranked on the NSF’s list.
“The University of Arizona is one of the world’s premier academic research institutions, evidenced by our steady increase in research and development expenditures,” said UA President Robert C. Robbins in a written statement. “From exploring the deepest corners of our galaxy to our leadership in vitally important efforts surrounding hypersonic technology and the quantum internet, University of Arizona researchers are at the forefront of the world’s most exciting scientific discoveries.”
In addition to its top ranking in astronomy and astrophysics, the UA ranked No. 5 in the nation for NASA-funded work and No. 6 for research in the physical sciences.
Its overall R&D activity in 2021 was the fourth most among so-called high-Hispanic-enrollment schools, namely colleges and universities with at least 25% Hispanic enrollment.
The university also earned top-50 rankings in biological and biomedical sciences (No. 21); geosciences, atmospheric sciences and ocean sciences (27); agricultural sciences, natural resources and conservation (29); science and engineering fields (35); life sciences (39); chemistry (42) and computer and information sciences (45).
The UA also cracked the top 50 nationally in U.S. Department of Agricultural funding (29), National Science Foundation funding (35) and Department of Health and Human Services funding (50).
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