ASU tops $900 million in research expenditures

For the past decade, Arizona State University has been climbing the ranks as one of fastest-growing research universities in the world. One key measuring stick is the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) annual survey, which has charted ASU’s rise.

According to the latest HERD survey for fiscal year 2023, ASU’s total research expenditures were nearly $904 million. ASU ranked No. 21 among all U.S. public institutions, ahead of the University of California, Irvine; Rutgers University; and Virginia Tech.

For institutions without a medical school (ASU is in the process of launching a new medical school), ASU ranked No. 5, ahead of Princeton University, the California Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University, and No. 4 among public institutions without a medical school. Excluding medical school expenditures, ASU ranked No. 13 overall among all universities in research expenditures.

ASU’s 34% growth rate in the past two fiscal years was among the largest of the top 50 research universities in the country, according to the survey.

The NSF’s annual HERD survey collects and ranks research expenditure information from hundreds of institutions nationwide. Because the NSF survey is a lagging indicator — a snapshot of research taken nearly a year and a half ago — current projections have ASU soon topping a billion.

"Arizona State University’s projections are exciting, with research expenditures expected to surpass a billion dollars within the next two fiscal years,” said Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU Knowledge Enterprise. "By reaching this pivotal milestone, ASU reaffirms its leadership in research and development, driving forward innovation on a national scale."

ASU receives funding for research from federal agencies, state and local grants, businesses and other private organizations, often awarded over multiyear periods. Research expenditures — the amount of funding an institution annually spends — provides the most effective way to measure and compare the vitality of U.S. university research enterprises.

Since 2002, when Michael Crow became ASU’s president, ASU has increased the scale and scope of its research activity more than sevenfold in research expenditures, from $123 million to $904 million. In 2023, ASU’s research achievements were further recognized when ASU was invited into the Association of American Universities, an elite group of 71 of the nation’s top research universities.

When considering all participants in the survey, ASU ranked No. 37 overall out of 914 institutions. That puts ASU among the top 4% for all universities with research expenditures, ahead of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University and the University of Colorado Boulder.

Other data included in the HERD survey were ASU’s continued top ranking in federal research expenditures, including being No. 9 in spending of NASA funds, ahead of UCLA, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin.

ASU ranked No. 7 for spending of health and human services funds among institutions without a medical school, ahead of Princeton, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Oregon.

ASU ranked No. 15 in NSF-funded expenditures, ahead of the University of Chicago, UCLA and Harvard. ASU also ranked No. 34 for funding from the Department of Energy and No. 38 for funding from the Department of Defense.

The university’s sponsored expenditures from state and local government also increased to No. 9 in FY 2023. Globally, ASU ranked No. 24 in foreign sources of expenditures.

ASU also achieved top rankings of expenditures within many academic disciplines, including:

• No. 1 in anthropology, ahead of the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Arizona.
• No. 1 in nonscience and engineering, ahead of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and New York University.
• No. 2 in education, ahead of Harvard University, Stanford University and MIT.
• No. 2 in business management and business administration, ahead of Harvard University; the University of California, Berkeley; and Cornell University.
• No. 2 in visual and performing arts, ahead of the University of Arizona, Harvard and UCLA. 
• No. 3 in other physical sciences, ahead of Johns Hopkins University; the University of California San Diego; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• No. 4 in social sciences, ahead of the University of Southern California, MIT and Penn State.
• No. 4 in geological and earth sciences, ahead of the California Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University.
• No. 4 in civil engineering, ahead of University of Texas at Austin, Purdue and Georgia Tech.
• No. 5 in political science and government, ahead of Stanford, New York University and University of California, Berkeley.

Here is a closer look at a few of the funded research projects at ASU that are making an impact:

Electronic chips are essential to any advanced economy, international security and critical technologies, which is why the U.S. government passed the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to fund U.S.-based semiconductor research, development and manufacturing.

The Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub is one of eight national Microelectronics Commons Hubs funded by that legislation. The hub is an ASU-led research and workforce development consortium of more than 170 partners from academia, government and industry.

In 2023, San Francisco-based Applied Materials, the world’s largest provider of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, formed an alliance with ASU and the Arizona Commerce Authority to create a world-class research, development and prototyping facility at the ASU Research Park in Tempe: The Materials-to-Fab (MTF) Center works with industry partners, startups, government entities and academic institutions. It is also designed to provide students and faculty with hands-on learning and research used in leading-edge production fabs.

ASU Biodesign Institute researchers found that low levels of the nutrient choline in the bloodstream are associated with increased severity of Alzheimer's disease pathology in the brain. Levels were lowest in those with the most severe pathology.

“Given that 90% of Americans are not receiving adequate daily choline intake — in addition to our physiological findings here — this research highlights the importance of ensuring adequate choline intake to offset disease,” said Ramon Velazquez, an assistant professor with the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center and the School of Life Sciences.

In a different study, Velazquez, along with graduate research assistant Joanna Winstone and their colleagues, explored the effects of exposure to the herbicide glyphosate on the brains of mice.

The research demonstrates, for the first time, that glyphosate successfully crosses the blood-brain barrier and infiltrates the brain. Once there, it can increase neuroinflammation, a condition that has been linked to risk of Alzheimer’s disease. However, more work is needed before establishing a causative link between glyphosate and Alzheimer’s.

The School of Earth and Space Exploration has several instruments or missions in flight around Mars, on the Martian surface and the moon — and two more heading to Europa and Psyche.

The Psyche mission, the first NASA deep-space mission led by ASU, launched on Oct. 13, 2023. It left NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the goal to explore a metal-rich asteroid — a first for science.

“There aren’t that many completely unexplored types of worlds in our solar system for us to go see,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator for the mission and a Regents Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. “So, that is what is so exciting about this.”

Scientists believe the asteroid could be part of the core of a small rocky planet. If that is correct, Psyche could give us unique insights into Earth’s core, which we can’t reach and can’t study firsthand.

As Phoenix breaks new heat records, ASU researchers are working to understand how extreme heat affects human health and what we can do to reduce those impacts.

The Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) helped shape lifesaving policy by connecting community needs with research projects. In 2018, KER researchers discovered that 30% to 40% of Maricopa County’s indoor heat deaths occurred in mobile homes. KER forged community partnerships to find out why — leading to a new law in Arizona.

Elsewhere on the research front, Ariane Middel — an associate professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering — runs the SHaDE Lab, which focuses on measuring the average temperature of all surfaces surrounding a person, called mean radiant temperature (MRT). To capture MRT, Middel uses MaRTy, a rolling instrument station that measures air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and location.

Another unique ASU tool that provides insight into the body’s response to extreme temperatures and the factors that impact heat regulation is ANDI, a life-sized manikin that can mimic the thermal functions of the human body thanks to sensors spread across 35 body zones. It is the first thermal manikin designed for use outdoors. ANDI can sweat, generate heat, breathe and shiver.

Beyond the education opportunities provided by allowing students to work on real-world research projects, ASU’s research enterprise also builds a brighter future for Arizona and the nation.

"Our research at ASU is fundamental to our mission of fostering growth, discovery and societal impact," said Morton. "Our commitment to innovation positions us at the forefront of addressing the challenges of today and paving the way for a prosperous future.” 

With writing contributions from Mikala Kass, Knowledge Enterprise