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Multiple images of researchers working in the field. The first image shows two student researchers, looking at a laptop by a stream in their high boots and weighters. The second image is a close up shot of a student researcher looking at creatures in glass containers. The third image shows two professors, wearing safety glasses, about to pour liquid nitrogen. The fourth image shows a researcher in the lab. The fifth image shows a group of researchers looking at foliage in plastic bags. The sixth image shows two researchers taking images for the library archive, one is standing on a stool while the other holds books open.

UNCʼs Funding Sources

Research Funding Sources (FY 2024): All Funding Sources

Pie Chart. Federal Sponsors: 65.68%. Education and Research Institutions: 9.34%. N.C. State Government: 8.5%. Business and Industry: 6.04%. Foundation: 5.66%. Nonprofit Organization: 3.39%. Other: 1.38%.

Research Funding Sources (FY 2024): Federal Sources

Pie Chart. National Institutes of Health: 74.39%. Department of Health and Human Services: 7.61%. National Science Foundation: 5.09%. Department of Education: 2.88%. Department of Defense: 2.71%. Agency for International Development: 2.20%. Department of Energy: 1.16%. Environmental Protection Agency: 1.13%. All Others: 2.84%.

Prior years

Including breakdown of research awards by administrative unit and appointing PIʼs department:


UNC-Chapel Hill Research Awards FY 2009-2024

Bar graph: UNC-Chapel Hill Research Awards, FY 2009 - 2024. Shows data from the adjacent table.

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

Line graph: Trend in Federal Research Funding, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2014-2024.

Trends in Non-federal Research Funding, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2014-2024

Line graph: Trends in Non-Federal Research Funding, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2014-2024.


Research Funding and the UNC-Chapel Hill Budget, 2003-2023

Line Graph: Research Funding and the Carolina Budget, UNC-Chapel Hill, 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.

Multi-Investigator: 63%. Multi-Department: 51%. Multi-School: 35%. External Partners: 26%.


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:

  • Sixth in federal R&D expenditures for the level of federal funding ($721 million) devoted to research and development in all fields during fiscal 2019. (Source: National Science Foundation. Updated: 2/2021.)
  • Twelfth in total R&D expenditures during fiscal year 2019 ($1.15 billion) (Source: NSF. Updated: 2/2021.)

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:

  • Ninth in federal obligations for academic science and engineering R&D for FY 2019 ($702 million)
  • Sixth nationally and first in the South in federally funded research and development expenditures at public and private universities and colleges in FY 2019 ($721 million)
  • Tenth in federal obligations for science and engineering fellowships, traineeships and training grants in FY 2018 ($25 million)

(Source: NSF. Updated: 2/2021.)


National Institutes of Health Awards to Institutions of Higher Education

For FY 2019, 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 more than $522 million in NIH research funding annually.

(Source: NSF. Updated: 2/2021.)


Federal Obligations for Science and Engineering Research and Development

Based on the most recently available data (FY 2018) from the National Science Foundation, UNC-Chapel Hill ranks:

  • Fourteenth in federal obligations for science and engineering ($517 million)
  • Fifteenth in federal obligations for science and engineering R&D ($476 million)
  • Tenth in federal obligations for fellowships, traineeships, and training grants ($25 million)

(Source: NSF. Updated: 5/2020.)

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: