UW-Madison ranks sixth in national research rankings, rising for the first time since 2016

The University of Wisconsin-Madison rose in national rankings on federal research activity after slipping for nearly a decade.

The state flagship ranked No. 6 in research spending among more than 900 institutions, according to the latest figures released Nov. 25 by the National Science Foundation.

UW-Madison's research ranking has been a sore spot on campus since 2016, when the university fell out of the top five for the first time in nearly 45 years.

"We in Wisconsin can’t claim we’re in the top five on many things, but this is one where we’ve consistently been able to demonstrate to the world that UW-Madison is a premier research institution," Mark Bugher, retired director of University Research Park and former secretary of administration under Gov. Tommy Thompson, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time of the ranking drop. "To lose that distinction is unacceptable, in my opinion."

The university dropped to eighth in 2018. UW-Madison officials attributed the drops to state budget cuts and the loss of senior faculty members.

The rankings may sound like simply bragging rights, but they are closely watched by those in academia. The higher a university ranks, the easier it is to attract top professors, build better facilities and compete for the biggest grants.

UW-Madison spent more than $1.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, a 14% increase from the previous year. Nearly half of the money comes from federal awards grants from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

“UW-Madison has been a research powerhouse for generations,” UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in a statement. The rise in ranking and increased spending is "further evidence of our deep commitment to bringing incredible UW–Madison expertise across disciplines to the grand challenges of our time and to translating our discoveries to improve lives at home in Wisconsin and beyond.”

Five institutions spent more than UW-Madison in the most recent survey that covered the 2023 fiscal year: Johns Hopkins University, the University of California-San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan and the University of Washington.

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: University of Wisconsin rises up in national research rankings