Federal grants help UA rise in research ranks, Fayetteville campus 130th

A rise in federal grant dollars flowing to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville boosted the school’s ranking in the latest National Science Foundation survey of research activity in higher education.

UA ranked 130th for the 12-month period ending June 30 of last year, up from 131st a year earlier, based on foundation data released Thursday.

Among public institutions, UA ranked 91st, up from 92nd in fiscal 2015.

Jim Rankin, the school’s top research officer, said federal funding often supports basic scientific research.

“That’s what leads to those discoveries and those patents,” Rankin said.

UA’s federally funded research spending was about $40.6 million for the 12-month period that ended in June of last year, up from $34.3 million a year earlier and $26.1 million in fiscal 2014.

Expenditures from all funding sources topped $145 million, up from $133.7 million a year earlier and $125.8 million in 2014. The total expenditures include work based in the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, whose research made up the majority of $51.3 million in research spending from state and local government funding sources, said Stephen Turner, UA’s director of research accounting.

The National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey also listed research spending by state, with Arkansas’ total of $298.5 million up from $293.5 million a year earlier.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is the other higher-education research engine in the state, based on the survey data. UAMS spent a total of $125.4 million in fiscal 2016, including about $49 million in federally funded research.

UAMS ranked 136th among all institutions, down from 132nd a year earlier. Research done by UA professors leads to startup companies that can help the state’s economy, said Rankin, who is leaving the university Jan. 2 to become president of his alma mater, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Mark Rushing, a UA spokesman, said no decision has been made about who will replace Rankin.

Rankin also said the larger university community benefits from increased research.

“Our faculty, as they’re doing research, they’re involving students, so this is a learning experience for the students as well,” Rankin said.