Research

At a Glance

Our Faculty

• Our nearly 4,000 faculty include members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, plus the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other bodies.
• Current and former faculty have won Guggenheim Fellowships, MacArthur Fellowships ("genius grants"), and Nobel Prizes.
• The U of M ranks 8th among public universities in research spending, with more than $940 million in research expenditures.
• Patent powerhouse: Our faculty led Forbes magazine to name Minneapolis one of the top 10 innovative cities.
• Our faculty is primed for research that crosses disciplines. The U of M is one of only five universities in the country with schools of engineering, medicine and veterinary medicine, law, and agriculture on a single campus.

Innovations

• Biomedical engineers pioneered a noninvasive way to control robots with thoughts.
• A mechanical engineering professor invented and patented a "black box" flight recorder in the U.S.
• Medicinal chemists developed Ziagen, one of the most effective AIDS drugs.
• The U of M has released nearly 30 apple varieties, including the world-famous Honeycrisp.
• Research-based medical "firsts" include the first open-heart surgery and first pancreas and human bone marrow transplants.
• The U of M generates an estimated annual economic impact of $8.6 billion in Minnesota. 

Spanning the Globe

• U of M and industrial researchers have joined forces to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, including securing a sustainable global food supply, finding new treatments for brain diseases, advancing robotic technology, and purifying waters affected by mining and runoff.
• Studies in such areas as animal behavior and ecology, anthropology and archaeology, and physics take faculty and students to every corner of the globe.
• The U of M ranks ninth nationally for students learning abroad, and offers programs in more than 70 countries.