For the 37th straight year, the University has been named the leader in research and development (R&D) spending among American colleges in fiscal year 2015.
The record $2.306 billion in R&D spending was over double that of the University of Michigan, which was ranked second place by the National Science Foundation (NSF) report. The University’s spending has gone toward a variety of fields and research projects, from investigations into what has stopped galaxies from making stars to inquiries into why bats wiggle their heads.
Most notably, the University has made discoveries into drugs that may work against Zika virus and a one-dose vaccine for dengue virus, the most prevalent mosquito-born disease.
This is not the first time that the University has broke a record in R&D spending. In fiscal year 2002, Hopkins was the first university to break $1 billion in spending towards research.
University President Ronald J. Daniels is currently spearheading a study, commissioned by Congress, that will investigate how to solve a trend of decreased federal research funding.
