Research Funding
On this page:
UNCʼs Funding Sources
Research Funding Sources (FY 2024): All Funding Sources
Research Funding Sources (FY 2024): Federal Sources
Prior years
Including breakdown of research awards by administrative unit and appointing PIʼs department:
Research Funding History and Trends
UNC-Chapel Hill Research Awards FY 2009-2024
| 2024: | $1,211,776,055 |
| 2023: | $1,121,342,431 |
| 2022: | $1,203,070,371 |
| 2021: | $1,073,632,927 |
| 2020: | $1,048,785,827 |
| 2019: | $941,163,945 |
| 2018: | $882,967,375 |
| 2017: | $897,546,237 |
| 2016: | $846,680,025 |
| 2015: | $796,171,469 |
| 2014: | $792,729,006 (includes ARRA* $3,546,541) |
| 2013: | $777,838,266 (includes ARRA* $5,006,018) |
| 2012: | $767,141,341 (includes ARRA* $7,460,219) |
| 2011: | $788,025,111 (includes ARRA* $55,554,596) |
| 2010: | $803,358,125 (includes ARRA* $126,036,558) |
| 2009: | $716,274,113 (includes ARRA* $4,501,984) |
*American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Trend in Federal Research Funding, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2014-2024
Trends in Non-federal Research Funding, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2014-2024
Research Funding and the UNC-Chapel Hill Budget, 2003-2023
Research Collaboration at UNC
Collaborative Research Funding, 2024
Research is a team effort, with UNC faculty members collaborating across disciplines, departments, and schools, and partnering with scientists at other institutions in North Carolina and worldwide.
Rankings: Highlights
How does UNC-Chapel Hill stack up with other universities and colleges in terms of research awards and expenditures?
Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges
Based on the most recent overview from the NSF, UNC-Chapel Hill ranked:
- Eleventh in federal R&D expenditures for the level of federal funding ($907 million) devoted to research and development in all fields during fiscal 2023. (Source: National Science Foundation. Updated: 12/2024.)
- Ninth in total R&D expenditures during fiscal year 2023 ($1.55 billion) (Source: NSF. Updated: 12/2024.)
Highlights in Overall Rankings in Federal Funding
Based on most recently available federal award data from the National Science Foundation, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranks:
- Sixteenth in federal obligations for academic science and engineering R&D for FY 2021 ($542 million)
- Eleventh nationally and third in the South in federally funded research and development expenditures at public and private universities and colleges in FY 2023 ($907 million)
- Tenth in federal obligations for science and engineering fellowships, traineeships and training grants in FY 2021 ($23 million)
(Source: NSF. Updated: 12/2024.)
National Institutes of Health Awards to Institutions of Higher Education
For FY 2023, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked eighth among both private and public universities nationwide for DHHS and National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding to domestic institutions of higher education. UNC-Chapel Hill faculty researchers receive nearly $600 million in NIH research funding annually.
(Source: NSF. Updated: 12/2024.)
Federal Obligations for Science and Engineering Research and Development
Based on the most recently available data (FY 2021) from the National Science Foundation, UNC-Chapel Hill ranks:
- Seventheenth in federal obligations for science and engineering ($579 million)
- Sixteenth in federal obligations for science and engineering R&D ($542 million)
- Tenth in federal obligations for fellowships, traineeships, and training grants ($23 million)
(Source: NSF. Updated: 12/2024.)
Note: For purposes of measuring research funding, there are two common but different measures – research awards and research expenditures.
Research awards measure the dollar volume of sponsored projects awarded to UNC in a year for which UNC is given authority to spend. As such, this measure is “forward-looking” in that the funding associated with the award may not yet have been spent but is expected to be spent during the given year or in future years. While some federal agencies publish their own research awards data by institution, a university’s total annual research awards are internally calculated and not well-suited to ranking or comparison to other universities.
Research expenditures represent dollars actually spent on research activity during a given year. As such, this measure is “backward-looking” – a lagging indicator that can only be computed after the year in question has passed. Research expenditures are compiled by UNC and reported annually to NSF, which publishes them in a uniform fashion for all US research universities and institutions in the national HERD Survey. Research expenditures serve as the basis for national rankings of research universities by dollar volume of research conducted.
Research awards and research expenditures also differ somewhat in the nature of activity they measure. For example, the definition of “research expenditures” is broader and covers more activities than research funded through “research awards.” Nonetheless, both serve as broad, useful measures of an institution’s research activity.
F&A Funding
Facilities and administrative (F&A) funding is an essential part of operating and sustaining any large research university. Funding for a research grant typically takes two forms. One portion of a sponsor’s award (direct funding) is directed to the individual researcher on the project to fund the unique costs of that particular grant. The other portion (F&A funding) is directed to the university to cover the broader facilities and administrative (F&A) costs of supporting the grant. Universities use F&A funds to sustain the extensive and complex infrastructure required to conduct sophisticated research.
Information concerning the nature and use of F&A funds at UNC-Chapel Hill can be found on PDFs below: