Mississippi State University received more recognition for its agricultural sciences as it was named a top 10 school for the discipline by The National Science Foundation’s Education and Research Development Survey.
The Fiscal Year 2011 survey ranked MSU overall at 91st among public and private schools based on its $226.1 million in research and development expenditures. Among non-medical schools, the university placed 53rd.
The school’s agricultural research remains a top-tier program in the U.S., and its engineering research earned MSU a top 50 accolade by the organization. Other research areas receiving NSF recognition include computer science, social sciences and environmental science.
“These significant totals are the result of very hard work by our faculty, and they represent the commitment we have as a university to providing innovative solutions, creative works and new scholarship that address pressing local, state, regional, national and global needs,” said David Shaw, MSU vice president for research and economic development, in a release.
Almost half of all expenditures by Mississippi Universities for research – 48 percent – were made by MSU in FY 2011, while 60 percent of the state’s research personnel worked for the university.
“We have an innovation ecosystem in place on campus that is leveraging our research to grow capacity and the economy by creating jobs, enhancing quality of life and providing new opportunities in communities around our state,” Shaw said in the release.
MSU is also the only Mississippi university – one of 108 U.S. universities — designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Achievement of Teaching as a “Very High Research Activity University.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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