USF secures record-setting $750M in research funding

The University of South Florida set a new record this fiscal year by bringing in $750 million in research funding, bolstering officials hopes of soon becoming a $1 billion research university. 

University officials credit industry partnerships for the surge in corporate investments USF received in 2025, according to a release. This year’s total represents an $11.6 million increase over last fiscal year and a 37% jump in research funding since 2022. 

“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 says in the release. 

The high levels of funding secured this year has expanded opportunities for USF to address critical challenges facing the surrounding community, the release says. That includes the development of new technologies in the health care arena, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity solutions, significant environmental research to better prepare for hurricanes and more. 

The university’s research funding comes from a wide range of sources, but this year saw an all-time high $284 million come from 733 private and industry partners — a 17% increase over last year. 

One of USF’s most notable corporate investments is a new partnership between the USF Institute of Applied Engineering and astrophysics startup Rhea Space Activity, based in Washington, D.C. Students assisted engineers and astrophysicists with flight safety qualification testing for a sensor designed to fly in space, the release says, “from on-demand troubleshooting through design-for-space consulting to testing the devices against industry standards for compliance with temperature, vibration and radio emissions.”

This fiscal year also saw federal agencies invest $384 million into research projects at USF addressing topics ranging from workforce development to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. 

At USF’s Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, professors Yao Liu and Tempest Neal are spearheading research supported by the National Science Foundation into how cyber-attacks exploit Wi-Fi localization systems in GPS maps. 

Professor Yael Bensoussan, at USF Health, is conducting AI research of a different kind: using AI capabilities to listen and scan for different biomarkers in a patient’s voice that could indicate disease. Her “Voice as a Biomarker of Health” project was awarded a $4.2 million grant this year from the National Institutes of Health, the release says. 

State and local government funding at the university rose to $82 million in 2025, a 23% increase over last year’s total, and represents significant investments in health care, environmental resilience and K-12 education projects. 

USF Health’s Morsani College of Medicine continues to lead the university’s research efforts, receiving 64% of its total funding with $483 million. The College of Marine Science, meanwhile, saw the greatest growth in investments, increasing its funding 27% to $23 million. 

“This record-breaking year reflects the extraordinary dedication of our researchers and our partnerships across sectors,” Sylvia Wilson Thomas, vice president for research and innovation at USF, says in the release.