UT Ranks No. 1 in U.S. for Research Funded by National Science Foundation
The University of Texas at Austin has been ranked No. 1 among U.S. universities for conducting the most research supported by the National Science Foundation. UT also ranked No. 5 nationally for Department of Defense funded research and No. 6 for Department of Energy funded research, underscoring its leadership across multiple federal research portfolios.
The rankings are based on the newly released Higher Education Research and Development Survey for fiscal year 2024. According to the survey, UT Austin conducted $176.4 million in NSF funded research during FY24, reflecting its position as one of the nation’s most productive and impactful research universities.
Federal investments from NSF, DOD, and DOE support UT research that advances science and engineering discoveries, strengthens national security, and fuels economic growth and competitiveness.
“It is a privilege to have the long held trust of the federal government, built and sustained over several decades, and the opportunity to contribute to America’s dominance in energy, science and national security,” said UT President Jim Davis. “These rankings reflect the extraordinary work of our faculty and graduate students across AI, semiconductors, and many other disciplines that are advancing society and changing lives for the better.”
The HERD survey is administered by the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and is widely regarded as the gold standard for benchmarking research expenditures among U.S. higher education institutions.
UT Austin has remained in the top 10 nationally for NSF, DOD, and DOE funding over the past five years and previously ranked No. 1 in NSF expenditures in FY20. More than 75 percent of externally funded research at UT is supported by federal agencies.
Recent examples of federally funded research at UT include major advances in computing and artificial intelligence, materials science, robotics, and energy exploration. NSF funding is supporting the construction of Horizon at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, which will be the most powerful academic supercomputer in the nation. NSF also supports the AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning, which focuses on improving the accuracy and reliability of AI systems. In materials science, NSF backed research at the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials is enabling next generation technologies in sustainable energy, quantum information, and semiconductors. Department of Defense funding supports Texas Robotics research aimed at improving autonomous navigation for applications such as search and rescue and mine clearing, while Department of Energy funding has advanced research into methane hydrate as a potential future energy resource.
Beyond federal funding, UT’s research enterprise continues to expand. Total research expenditures reached an all time high of $1.14 billion in FY24 and increased to $1.37 billion in FY25. UT also led all Texas institutions in federal research expenditures at nearly $700 million and ranked No. 16 nationally for industry funded research, with industry partners investing $94 million in UT research.
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UT Ranks No. 1 in U.S. for Research Funded by National Science Foundation