University Times

Pitt ranks third among public institutions of higher education and fifth among all universities, public and private, in its federally financed research and development (R&D) expenditures, according to the latest figures issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The annual rankings, released by the NSF this week, cover fiscal year 2010. Pitt’s federally derived R&D expenditures for that period totaled $594.7 million; its total FY 2010 R&D expenditures added up to $822.5 million.

In last year’s NSF rankings, covering FY 2009, Pitt was eighth among public institutions and 13th among all universities, in its federally financed R&D expenditures, which totaled $463.2 million. The figure for Pitt released this week represents an increase of 28.4 percent.

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg said: “These latest rankings … represent in concrete terms the major dollars-and-cents impact that this internationally renowned public research university has made through its importation of hundreds of millions of dollars into the state, funds that support, directly and indirectly, thousands of jobs.”

The other two top public universities in the NSF rankings were the University of Washington-Seattle and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; the top two private institutions in the rankings were Johns Hopkins University and Penn.