The research race

Aerospace R&D funding in the U.S. is on the upswing, but new priorities create challenges for universities.

Funding for aerospace research and development at the top universities has doubled since 2001. At the same time, though, aerospace is a very focused field of research and only about 25 universities out of the approximately 2500 four-year institutions in the U.S. receive any significant amount of aerospace R&D funding.

With national funding priorities evolving and shifting, there is growing friction between the three categories of funding recipients: (1) those that do basic research vs. those engaged in applied research; (2) those developing aeronautical technology vs. those designing space technology; and (3) those that emphasize educational purposes vs. those that emphasize research.