A new record in research and development expenditures was recently set by Ohio State, totaling $1.449 billion. Credit: Lantern File Photo
When it comes to research and innovation, Ohio State is putting its money where its mouth is.
The university recently set a new university record in research and development expenditures, totaling $1.449 billion for the 2023 fiscal year. This was up 6% from the previous year’s $1.36 billion and was tracked through the university’s partnership with the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge, according to Ohio State’s Office of Research website.
These numbers are a “reflection of great work from students and faculty and within the Columbus community,” Peter Mohler, executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge, said.
“While rankings and numbers are impressive, research should create impact, and we have a goal as a land grant institution to see how we can impact the state of Ohio,” Mohler said.
Research and development expenditures are used to measure a school’s ability to partake in science and creative expression research, according to an Ohio State News release.
The rankings and numbers are part of the latest Higher Education Research and Development survey released by the National Science Foundation, according to the release. According to the survey, Ohio State ranked 11th nationally among all universities in research expenditures in the 2022 fiscal year, right behind universities such as Duke and Stanford and ahead of UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard.
In addition to Ohio State’s increase in research and development expenditures, the university saw a 9% increase from the 2022 fiscal year in federal expenditures, according to the release.
Ohio State saw a growth in investments from federal agencies including the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.
Growth in research and federal expenditures was distributed across the 15 colleges within the university, with eight of the colleges seeing at least 10% increases in expenditure totals from the previous fiscal year. As a result, the release states this increase has led to further innovation in fields such as sustainability, engineering and medicine.
“The [research expenditures] are going to train the next generation of engineers and scientists,” Seth Weinberg, associate dean for research for the College of Engineering, said. “This is really where the students are getting hands-on experience in research labs to learn the technical skills and processes of doing very detailed, innovative technical work.”
Some of the funding used in the College of Engineering is going toward projects with artificial intelligence, advanced technological materials and aviation technology, Weinberg said.
“In order to do this research, you certainly need the classroom component, and things you learn in classes are certainly an important piece of that,” Weinberg said. “But a huge piece of [research] is the actual application of it in a research setting. I think a lot of the impact on the city of Columbus, the state of Ohio and the country starts with the students that we are training.”
