The University of South Florida has reached a record $750 million in research funding in Fiscal Year 2025, an $11.6 million increase over last year and a 37% bump in funding since 2022.
The increase in funding will expand USF’s ability to address critical challenges, discover scientific, technological and other academic breakthroughs, and create new opportunities to improve health care, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the environment, hurricane response and more.
“The University of South Florida is committed to solving real-world challenges, and our record research funding — bringing us closer to our goal of $1 billion in funding by 2030 — provides more opportunities for our faculty, staff and students to turn bold ideas into innovation and impact,” USF President Rhea Law said.
“Our world-class researchers remain at the forefront of discoveries that are improving lives and shaping a better future for our region, state and nation.”
This year’s research funding came from a variety of sources, including an all-time high of $284 million from 733 private and industry partners, which represents a 17% increase over last year.
One notable contribution came from the USF Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE), which partnered with astrophysics Washington, D.C.-based startup company Rhea Space Activity to provide flight safety qualification testing services for a sensor designed to fly in space.
“From on-demand troubleshooting through design-for-space consulting, to testing the devices against industry standards for compliance with temperature, vibration and radio emissions, IAE staff enabled rapid technology developers to flourish,” IAE Chief Operating Officer Taylor Johnston said.
Federal agencies also significantly invested in USF research in the most recent year, with $384 million donated for projects related to workforce development, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and more.
The National Science Foundation offered research support to USF Professors Yao Liu and Tempestt Neal in the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing for their work investigating how cyberattacks exploit Wi-Fi localization systems in GPS maps.
Additionally, the National Institutes of Health awarded USF Professor Yael Bensoussan $4.2 million for her AI-enabled research using voice to detect disease.
“We are grateful for the support of our state and federal partners, which empowers our faculty to conduct ground-breaking research that addresses critical challenges in our communities and beyond,” said USF Provost and Executive Vice President Prasant Mohapatra. “As we monitor federal funding developments, we remain committed to expanding our impact through collaborations with federal and state agencies and cultivating new partnerships with private industry.”
In addition to private and federal funding, state and local government funding increased 23% over last year, rising to $82 million, with significant investments in USF’s programs in health care, environmental resilience and K-12 education.
State agencies awarded major grants to USF to establish the Florida Center for Emergency Medical Services in downtown Tampa, support the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation at the College of Marine Science, and collaborate with the Institute for School-Community Partnership to support a statewide reading achievement initiative to improve literacy rates among the state’s elementary school students.
Other notable investments include contributions for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, reaching $483 million and representing 64% of USF’s total research funding.
But the greatest growth occurred in the College of Marine Science, which increased its funding 27% to $23 million.
“This record-breaking year reflects the extraordinary dedication of our researchers and our partnerships across sectors,” USF Vice President for Research and Innovation Sylvia Wilson Thomas said. “We are accelerating innovation, translating discoveries into real-world solutions, and expanding USF’s impact across sectors critical to Florida’s future.”
