UC San Diego obtained a record $1.16 billion in research funding during the fiscal year that ended June 30, a figure expected to keep the campus ranked among the five largest research schools in the U.S.

The university has collected at least $1 billion for research in six of the past eight years, an achievement that came during periods of tight funding from such key agencies as the National Institutes of Health.

The $1.16 billion is being used for everything from developing new cancer drugs to improving military drones to investigating the “atmospheric rivers” that sometimes bring heavy rain to California.

Almost $700 million of that sum came from the federal government, led by the NIH and Defense Department.


The grants included nearly $26 million to retrofit the Roger Revelle, one of the research vessels operated by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The campus broke the previous record — set only last year — by roughly $34 million.

In a statement, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said, “This year’s record-setting research funding is a credit to our innovative and visionary faculty, who are breaking boundaries and shaping new discoveries on a daily basis.”

Universities have played a crucial role in the scores of advances and innovations, from the invention of seat belts and nicotine patches to the creation of Gatorade and wetsuits.


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