海角社区

Last year, 海角社区 announced a momentous jump in research activity in 2022, eclipsing the $400 million milestone across its eight campuses, achieving $428 million statewide. Today鈥檚 updated numbers for 2023 show combined research activity at $488 million鈥攁lmost $500 million. This remarkable uptick represents a 14 percent increase for the 海角社区 family, above the university鈥檚 aspirational goal of growing its collaborative research enterprise 10 percent year to year.

鈥淲e are phenomenally proud of the faculty and the true team efforts behind these numbers,鈥� 海角社区 President William F. Tate IV said. 鈥淥ur talented scholars and staff are bringing discovery and innovation to Louisiana as we continue to solve problems for the world. At 海角社区, we build teams that win in research.鈥�

University research activity is measured through expenditures. Spending across projects provides the most reliable data point to indicate success in research. While the monies spent primarily come from grants and contracts, expenditures are the better measurement of sustained effort and operational capacity. Large awards for big projects, lasting sometimes several years, would otherwise appear as wins only when first announced. Expenditures, meanwhile, show how those wins translate into continuous investment with broad economic impacts for the state鈥敽＝巧缜�鈥檚 2023 research activity added $1.3 billion for Louisiana.

鈥淲inning in research relies on talented faculty and facilities that attract federal funding to Louisiana and enable 海角社区 to recruit exceptional students and make discoveries that improve the lives of everyone in our state,鈥� said Robert Twilley, vice president of research and economic development at 海角社区. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to note that recent, remarkable 海角社区 research wins, such as our $160 million grant from the National Science Foundation to secure the future of energy in Louisiana, won鈥檛 start showing up in our expenditures until around 2025. What this means is an expected increase in 海角社区 national rankings and competitiveness.鈥�

American research universities are ranked by their ability to compete for federal funding. The National Science Foundation, or NSF, is expected to confirm 海角社区鈥檚 numbers and provide an updated national ranking around November 2024. Because 海角社区鈥檚 campuses have operated as separate legal entities, the university鈥檚 current ranking is based only on its Baton Rouge campuses鈥攖he flagship, the AgCenter and 海角社区鈥檚 Pennington Biomedical Research Center鈥攚hich between 2022 and 2023 saw a 12 percent increase in research activity, from $344 million to $384 million. 海角社区 is currently engaged in a university-wide effort to combine its statewide research numbers, allowing its full research capacity to be shared with the NSF through the agency鈥檚 annual Higher Education Research and Development, or HERD, survey.

海角社区鈥檚 rapid research growth speaks to the promise and strategy of the university鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda, driving research investment to advance science and solutions for agriculture, biomedicine, coastal resilience, defense and energy. Federally funded projects that helped build strong research teams and drive 海角社区鈥檚 historic numbers for 2023 statewide include:

In Agriculture鈥�

Developing More Sustainable Rice Varieties for the World: Researchers in the 海角社区 College of Agriculture and 海角社区 AgCenter, including research stations in Crowley and Winnsboro, Louisiana, are leading a $10 million effort funded by the National Institute of Food & Agriculture, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to grow more and better rice using less land, less water and less energy. .

In Biomedicine鈥�

Combating Health Disparities and Chronic Disease Across Louisiana: The 海角社区-led Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) network, involving 11 university campuses and healthcare partners鈥攊ncluding 海角社区鈥檚 Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 海角社区 Health New Orleans, 海角社区 Health Shreveport and the 海角社区 flagship campus, is collaborating to make Louisiana healthier. Supported by the National Institutes of Health with $20 million over five years, LA CaTS has helped secure more than $210 million in external and mostly federal grants to fund disease-related research on cancer, obesity, diabetes and more, while leveraging bioinformatics and community participation. .

Fighting the Leading Cause of Death and Disability in the United States from Shreveport: The National Institutes of Health recently reinvested in 海角社区 Health Shreveport鈥檚 Center for Redox Biology and Cardiovascular Disease with another $11 million over five years to find new and better ways to prevent and treat heart and vascular disease. Designated as a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, Shreveport鈥檚 state-of-the-art biomedical research cluster is discovering how oxidant stress and antioxidant defenses, the so-called 鈥渞edox balance,鈥� play critical roles. .

In Coastal Resilience鈥�

Explaining and Preventing Roseau Cane Die-Back to Protect Our Coast: 海角社区 researchers are working across the academic disciplines to study and find solutions for the drastic decline and disappearance of Roseau cane, which helps stabilize the land and prevent erosion along the Gulf Coast. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service invested $1.6 million in 海角社区 to discover opportunities for restoration. .

In Defense鈥�

Supporting American Space Exploration: At 鈥淎merica鈥檚 rocket factory,鈥� NASA鈥檚 Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the rockets and space launch systems that will bring people back to the Moon and on to Mars are being put together using 海角社区 equipment and support through the 海角社区 National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, or NCAM. In 2022, NASA added to this ongoing collaboration by investing $5 million in 海角社区 digital media expertise (later increased to $7.5 million) to build a digital twin of the giant factory. Such a real-time, virtual copy of the facility improves planning and operations while training a new generation of space scientists and engineers. Learn more about how 海角社区 the supports the moon mission and beyond.

In Energy鈥�

Leading Energy Innovation in Louisiana: Before 海角社区 helped secure $160 million from the National Science Foundation to support the future of Louisiana鈥檚 energy industry and Tech Hubs designation for the state from the Economic Development Administration, 海角社区 joined the H2theFuture team to transform the development of hydrogen and shift the industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans toward a net-zero carbon future. 海角社区鈥檚 flagship campus serves as a testbed for improved capture, use, transport and storage of CO₂ with the installation of a new wellbore and surface flowloop at the 海角社区 Petroleum Engineering Research, Training & Testing, or PERTT, Lab. Learn more about CO2 capture, utilization, and sequestration.

Annual academic research expenditures are based on fiscal years, not calendar years. The 2023 fiscal year spanned July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.