Columbia University - Academics - Research and Rankings

Research and Rankings

Columbia was the first North American site where the uranium atom was split. It was the birthplace of FM radio and the laser. The MPEG-2 algorithm of transmitting high quality audio and video over limited bandwidth was developed by Dimitris Anastassiou, a Columbia professor of electrical engineering. Biologist Martin Chalfie was the first to introduce the use of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in labelling cells in intact organisms. Other inventions and products related to Columbia include Sequential Lateral Solidification (SLS) technology for making LCDs, System Management Arts (SMARTS), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (which is used for audio, video, chat, instant messaging and whiteboarding), pharmacopeia, Macromodel (software for computational chemistry), a new and better recipe for glass concrete, Blue LEDs, and Beamprop (used in photonics). Columbia scientists have been credited with about 175 new inventions in the health sciences each year. More than 30 pharmaceutical products based on discoveries and inventions made at Columbia are on the market today. These include Remicade (for arthritis), Reopro (for blood clot complications), Xalatan (for glaucoma), Benefix, Latanoprost (a glaucoma treatment), shoulder prosthesis, homocysteine (testing for cardiovascular disease), and Zolinza (for cancer therapy). Columbia Technology Ventures (formerly Science and Technology Ventures) currently manages some 600 patents and more than 250 active license agreements. Patent-related deals earned Columbia more than $230 million in the 2006 fiscal year, according to the university.

Columbia is ranked first (tied with MIT, Stanford University and Penn) in the first tier of the United States' top research universities by the Center for Measuring University Performance, which takes into account total research, federal research, endowment assets, annual giving, National Academy members, faculty awards, doctorates granted, postdoctoral appointees, and undergraduate SAT/ACT range. In 2011, Columbia is ranked #8 in ARWU, #10 in QS, and #12 by Times Higher Education in the world. Nationally, the university is ranked #4 by U.S. News & World Report, #6 by HRLR, #7 by ARWU, and #8 by Forbes. Columbia's colleges and schools are also ranked by several independent bodies. For 2011, the College & School of Engineering (undergraduate) is ranked #4 nationally by U.S. News & World Report. the Graduate School of Arts #11, the Columbia Business School #3 by The Wall Street Journal the Teachers College #2 by U.S. News & World Report, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (graduate) #15, the Columbia Law School #4, the College of Physicians and Surgeons #8 for research and #43 for primary care, the Mailman School of Public Health #5, and the School of International and Public Affairs #29. Additionally, Columbia's School of Social Work is ranked #4, its Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation #2, and its Graduate School of Journalism #1.

In the last 12 years (1996–2008), 18 Columbia affiliates have won Nobel Prizes, of whom nine are current faculty members while one is an adjunct senior research scientist (Daniel Tsui) and the other a Global Fellow (Kofi Annan). Columbia faculty awarded the Nobel Prize include Richard Axel, Martin Chalfie, Eric Kandel, Tsung-Dao Lee, Robert Mundell, Orhan Pamuk, Edmund S. Phelps, Joseph Stiglitz, and Horst L. Stormer. Other awards and honors won by faculty include 30 MacArthur Foundation Award winners, 4 National Medal of Science recipients, 43 National Academy of Sciences Award winners, 20 National Academy of Engineering Award winners, 38 Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Award recipients and 143 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Award winners.