For another consecutive year, Michigan State University moved closer to its goal of $1 billion in research expenditures by 2030. According to data submitted to the National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey, the record-breaking $992,278,000 total for fiscal year (FY) 2025 is a 6.5% increase compared to FY 2024.
This growth creates new opportunities for MSU to engage in cutting-edge research across disciplines, while enabling the broader community to benefit from the knowledge gained. MSU researchers are curing diseases, improving crop yields, developing technologies to propel us into the future, and much more.
“Our research expenditures reflect the outstanding work of MSU’s faculty, staff, and students,” said Doug Gage, vice president for research and innovation. “Together, they make MSU an exceptional hub for scientific and scholarly inquiry that advances knowledge and benefits our communities now and into the future.”
Importantly, the research expenditures cover a wide gamut of disciplines and fields of study across MSU. These investigations lead to cleaner water and more nutritious food on our tables, sustainable energy to fuel our homes, treatments and cures for illnesses, and critical insights into ourselves, our planet, and beyond.
MSU has strengthened its research enterprise through investments in facilities, advanced equipment, and long-range planning, creating an environment that supports innovative science and scholarship and enhances the university’s ability to recruit and retain top faculty and students. Focused recruitment efforts have targeted high-priority research challenges. The Global Impact Initiative, which has resulted in the addition of more than 100 faculty members, has produced a significant return on that investment.
“MSU continues to make institutional investments into faculty hiring to strengthen research activity across the board,” said Gage. “The 2025 expenditures are a product of our best federal award funding year ever, and are the result of the overall investment by MSU in growing the research enterprise.”
The balanced growth of expenditures across disciplines reflects MSU’s commitment to interdisciplinary research. Many of the biggest problems facing our world cannot be solved by a single domain, which is why MSU places a high priority on fostering collaboration between disciplines. Technical innovation combined with social sciences, education, humanities, arts, communication, business, and law ensures ideas can be translated into action. Guided by this philosophy, the university prioritizes cultivating collaborative networks that connect faculty and students across campus with partners throughout the state and beyond.
This collaborative approach is evident across MSU’s research enterprise, where interdisciplinary teams and partners turn discovery into real-world impact. Teams in the MSU Water Alliance and the School of Packaging address complex water and sustainability challenges, while the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) drives discovery in areas such as medicine, materials science, national security, and workforce development. Faculty across campus advance cancer research through federal, foundation, and industry support, strengthened by the collaboration between Henry Ford Health and MSU to expand care and reduce health disparities. Community-engaged scholars in the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health improve health and well-being in collaboration with the populations they serve. MSU’s agricultural researchers continue to lead crop innovation, sustainability, and food safety in partnerships that directly benefit Michigan farmers.
The MSU Research Foundation is an instrumental force in the progress reflected in MSU’s 2025 research expenditures. The Foundation supports the Office of Research & Innovation (OR&I) in moving ideas from discovery to real-world impact. They connect research, capital, industry, and talent, while also driving economic development throughout Michigan. The MSU Research Foundation also partners with the MSU Innovation Center within OR&I to facilitate faculty innovation and technology transfer.
In 2025, the MSU Innovation Center recorded record-high activity, including 198 invention disclosures from faculty and students and 63 newly issued patents. The growth in startup companies based on faculty innovations also reached a new high, demonstrating the direct translation of MSU research into products, therapies, and ventures with real-world impact. Collaborations with corporate partners generated over $22 million in support for research, student initiatives, and joint projects.
With a strong foundation of long-term planning and strategic investment, MSU’s research efforts continue to flourish. The commitment of faculty, staff, and students to research excellence, combined with growing partnerships with external organizations, has strengthened the university’s position as a leader in discovery and innovation. Building on this momentum, MSU is well-positioned for continued success and a promising future.
Learn more about research expenditures at MSU by visiting the Office of Research and Innovation Facts and Figures page.