UNC Research Facts and Rankings
Research at UNC has doubled over the past 12 years, firmly establishing Carolina as one of America’s top-ranked research universities.
Download UNC Research Stats PDF13th top-ranked
university in the United States for federal research, totaling $950m annually
$1.6 billion
UNC conducts more than one billion dollars of sponsored research from all sources annually, making it the 11th largest US research university in research volume and annual expenditures
Exceptionalism
More than 150 faculty at UNC are members of the National Academies & prestigious learned societies
// UNC Research, 2025
2 Nobel Laureates
// Royal Swedish Academy of Science
21st most cited university in the world
// CSIC Webmetrics, 2023
Research Collaboration
// UNC RAMSeS, 2024
62% in multi-investigator projects
50% in multi-department projects
33% in multi-school projects
Postdoctoral Research
Nearly 1000 postdoctoral fellows
// UNC Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, 2025
22nd in the nation for the total number of postdoctoral fellows
// Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2023
Federal Investment
10th in the US for federally funded health sciences research
// HERD Survey, 2024
The National Institutes of Health is UNC’s largest federal funder, awarding more than $514M in 2025
// UNC RAMSeS, 2025
2nd in the nation for federally funded social and behavioral science research and development
// COSSA, 2025
4th among the nation’s Schools of Public Health for NIH funding
// BRIMR, 2024
Industry Partnerships
33rd in the US for privately sponsored clinical trials
// HERD Survey, 2023
$55 million in annual clinical trials research
// HERD Survey, 2023
$67 million in annual R&D from private industry sponsors
// UNC RAMSeS, 2025
National Rankings and Research Expenditures by Field
// HERD Survey, 2024
6th social sciences research, $93M
7th health sciences research, $939M
1st psychology research, $54M
1st sociology, demography & population studies research, $67M
3rd social work research, $25M