UA Research Activity & Rankings

The University of Arizona (UA) is one of the nation’s leading public research universities with an extensive institutional track record, depth of experience, and resources to effectively manage, administer, and support hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants and awards annually. As Arizona's Land Grant University, we have Cooperative Extension offices in all 15 of Arizona's counties and a total economic impact of $8.3 billion per year in Arizona.

• The UA is ranked 23rd in research expenditures for public institutions in FY17 (38th overall) as reviewed by the National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD)
• FY17 research expenditures for UA: $622M
• UA is also a member of the prestigious Association for American Universities (AAU) comprised of 62 distinguished institutions in the U.S. and Canada that advance society through education, research, and discovery
• 5th in NASA funding among all institutions (HERD)
• 6th in Physical Sciences expenditures nationwide (HERD)
• Tied for 1st in conferring PhDs to American Indian or Alaska Natives (table 9 of National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2017 data tables)
• Tied for 9th in conferring PhDs to Hispanics or Latinos (table 9 of National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2017 data tables)

UA Designations

• UA is a U.S. Department of Education Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) under the Department of Education’s Definition of Hispanic Serving Institutions. To view the institutional information for Title V proposals, see the Research Gateway Administration section.
• UA is designated a USDA NIFA Hispanic-Serving Agricultural and Colleges and Universities (HSACU) for October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. Note that this is not equivalent to the Department of Education designated Hispanic-Serving Institution status. 
• UA is not a Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution or a minority institution as defined by U.S.C., Chapter 20.

Resources & Activities Only at UA

• UA's Lunar and Planetary Lab has partnered with NASA on every mission since Apollo and currently leads the OSIRIS-REx mission, NASA's first return mission to an asteroid
• The Water and Energy Sustainability Technology (WEST) Center brings industry, academia, and government together to work side-by-side on the water/food/energy nexus as a scale-size lab
• Home to CyVerse, the NSF-funded cyberinfrastructure for research data
• Biosphere 2, the largest living laboratory in the world, providing scientists with the unique opportunity to explore complex environmental systems and questions
• College of Optical Sciences is the largest institute for optics education in the U.S.
• Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab produces the world's largest mirrors for telescopes
• Original cohort for the All of Us Research Program to accelerate the pursuit of precision health
• Home to the world's largest robotic field scanner

UA Research Infrastructure

The UA's Research, Discovery & Innovation (RDI) provides pre-award, post-award, compliance, and contracting services across UA. Research Service units under RDI include Research Development Services, Sponsored Projects Services, and the Contract & Research Support Program. In addition to these services, RDI provides programs that promote the safe, legal, and ethical conduct of research including: Conflict of Interest Program, Export Controls Program, Human Subjects Protection Program, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, HIPAA Privacy Program, Research Laboratory & Safety Services, Research Integrity Program, and Responsible Conduct of Research Program. College and department business units comply with RDI guidance and policies for sponsored research financial reporting and management.

Recent examples of large, multi-institute research and education projects include the Phoenix Mars Mission (NASA), the OSIRIS-REx Mission (NASA), the NSF CyVerse, USDA Sustainable Bioeconomy for Arid Regions (SBAR), and the NSF ERC for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN).