As the state’s first public research university to be located in a metropolitan region, the University of South Florida System has always been proud of its relationship with the Tampa Bay community we serve.
We live in an era when the public increasingly depends on research universities to be a key driver of global innovation. In response, our researchers and scholars are bringing incredible new ideas to life as they help students prepare to share their creative talents locally and globally.

“USF’s talented and passionate faculty, staff and students share an unwavering commitment to improving lives here in Tampa Bay and around the world.”

It is that passion for making life better that powers our commitment to innovation and invention. USF is the nation’s fifth-leading public university in generating new United States utility patents and ranks 12th among universities worldwide in this key measure of innovation. We continue to stand with some of the world’s most prestigious institutions in this highly competitive arena, including the University of California System, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Stanford University. On a global scale, 2018 was the eighth year that USF ranked in the top 20.

USF faculty members have invented new technologies to assist people with disabilities and fight cancer with nanotechnology. Their innovations are converting waste to liquid fuel and they are creating the systems that run robots and augmented reality. Our faculty is making significant contributions to our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and brain injury, helping find solutions to potentially life-threatening food allergies, and developing ways of ensuring the sustainability of coastal communities and essential resources such as food, energy and water. These are just a few of the many ways USF is shaping the future.

USF ranks 25th among public universities for research spending – a metric used to chart the level of research activity at American institutions – according to the National Science Foundation. Ranking in the top 25 nationally reflects USF’s dramatic rise as a public research university. In 2017, USF’s annual research expenditures were $558 million, more than triple the amount from the early 2000s.

The NSF ranking is a key indicator of our commitment to life-changing research. So is our designation by the Florida Board of Governors as a Preeminent State Research University – one of only three in the state. It is truly a new era of progress and success at USF, and we are just getting started. We are making significant investments in our residential, academic and research facilities, including our new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa. This project, in the heart of the Water Street redevelopment project, symbolizes who we are and what we stand for as a university and a community.

USF’s talented and passionate faculty, staff and students share an unwavering commitment to improving lives here in Tampa Bay and around the world. As we work together to solve some of our most pressing challenges, we make an immeasurable impact for generations to come.

Thank you for your support.

GO BULLS!