LSU’s flagship enterprise has topped $600 million in annual research activity for the first time, continuing a five-year streak of record-setting growth as the university pushes toward its goal of becoming a top 50 research institution nationally. LSU’s flagship campuses collectively reported $ 601 million in research expenditures for fiscal year 2025, up 11% from $543 million the previous year. According to the university, the growth reflects expanding collaboration across LSU’s campuses and research centers, as well as increasing investment in high-impact projects tied to agriculture, healthcare and biotechnology. “This is not a one-time jump,” a statement from LSU Chancellor Jim Dalton reads. “It is a trajectory. We are building exceptional momentum across every single flagship campus.” The university reported $366 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2021, followed by $429 million in 2022, $488 million in 2023, $543 million in 2024 and $601 million in 2025. In announcing the latest milestone, LSU highlighted several research initiatives contributing to the growth. At the LSU AgCenter, researchers have secured significant funding in recent years for invasive species research. LSU says the work has supported the launch of both an Invasive Species Consortium and a Center of Research Excellence focused on threats like feral pigs, apple snails and giant salvinia. The university also points to cancer research collaborations between LSU Health New Orleans, LSU Health Shreveport, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Ochsner Health through the Gulf South Clinical Trials Network. LSU has led the network since 2018 as part of the National Cancer Institute’s Community Oncology Research Program, aiming to expand access to clinical trials across Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Pennington Biomedical Research Center and LSU Health New Orleans, meanwhile, are collaborating on a national nutrition study funded through the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. Researchers are examining how genetics, metabolism, physiology, behavior and other biological factors influence individual responses to different diets. “We are incredibly proud of our Flagship faculty’s commitment to excellence, but we aren’t slowing down,” Dalton says. “This type of sustained success is exactly how we will reach our goal of being among the top 50 research universities in the nation.” ...read more read less