Cornell, a research university, produces the fourth largest number of graduates in the world who go on to pursue PhDs in engineering or the natural sciences at American institutions.
It is also fifth in the world in producing graduates who pursue PhDs at American institutions in any field.
Research is a central element of Cornell's mission.
In 2009 Cornell spent $671 million on science and engineering research and development.
This makes it the 16th highest in the United States.

For the 2004–05 fiscal year, the university spent $561.3 million on research.
Of Cornell's units, the largest amount of this funding went to the colleges of Medicine ($164.2 million), Agriculture and Life Sciences ($114.5 million), Arts and Sciences ($80.3 million), and Engineering ($64.8 million).
The money comes largely from federal sources, with federal investment of $381.0 million.
The federal agencies that invest the most money are the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Science Foundation that make up, respectively, 51.4% and 30.7% of all federal investment in the university.
Cornell was on the top-ten list of U.S. universities receiving the most patents in 2003, and was one of the nation's top five institutions in forming start-up companies.
In 2004–05, Cornell received 200 invention disclosures, filed 203 U.S. patent applications, completed 77 commercial license agreements, and distributed royalties of more than $4.1 million to Cornell units and inventors.

Since 1962, Cornell has been involved in unmanned missions to Mars.
In the 21st century, Cornell had a hand in the Mars Exploration Rover Mission.
Cornell's Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for the Athena Science Payload, led the selection of the landing zones and requested data collection features for the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers took those requests and designed the rovers to meet them.
The rovers, both of which have operated long past their original life expectancies, are responsible for the discoveries that were awarded 2004 Breakthrough of the Year honors by Science.
Control of the Mars rovers has shifted between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech and Cornell's Space Sciences Building.
Further, Cornell researchers discovered the rings around the planet Uranus.
Also, Cornell built and operated the world's largest and most sensitive radiotelescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

In 1952, John O. Moore at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory began the Automotive Crash Injury Research project. (
In 1972, the lab was separated from the University as Calspan Corporation.)
It pioneered the use of crash testing, originally using corpses rather than dummies.
The project discovered that improved door locks, energy-absorbing steering wheels, padded dashboards, and seat belts could prevent an extraordinary percentage of injuries.
The project led Liberty Mutual to fund the building of a demonstration Cornell Safety Car in 1956, which received national publicity and influenced carmakers.
Carmakers soon started their own crash-test laboratories and gradually adopted many of the Cornell innovations.
Other ideas, such as rear-facing passenger seats, were less popular.

In 1984, the National Science Foundation began work on establishing five new supercomputer centers, including the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing, to provide high-speed computing resources for research within the United States.
In 1985, a team from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications began the development of NSFNet, a TCP/IP-based computer network that could connect to the ARPANET, at the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This high-speed network, unrestricted to academic users, became a backbone to which regional networks would be connected.
Initially a 56-kbit/s network, traffic on the network grew exponentially; the links were upgraded to 1.5 Mbit/s T1s in 1988 and to 45 Mbit/s in 1991.
The NSFNet was a major milestone in the development of the Internet and its rapid growth coincided with t
Cornell, a research university, produces the fourth largest number of graduates in the world who go on to pursue PhDs in engineering or the natural sciences at American institutions. It is also fifth in the world in producing graduates who pursue PhDs at American institutions in any field. Research is a central element of Cornell's mission. In 2009 Cornell spent $671 million on science and engineering research and development. This makes it the 16th highest in the United States.
For the 2004–05 fiscal year, the university spent $561.3 million on research. Of Cornell's units, the largest amount of this funding went to the colleges of Medicine ($164.2 million), Agriculture and Life Sciences ($114.5 million), Arts and Sciences ($80.3 million), and Engineering ($64.8 million). The money comes largely from federal sources, with federal investment of $381.0 million. The federal agencies that invest the most money are the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Science Foundation that make up, respectively, 51.4% and 30.7% of all federal investment in the university. Cornell was on the top-ten list of U.S. universities receiving the most patents in 2003, and was one of the nation's top five institutions in forming start-up companies. In 2004–05, Cornell received 200 invention disclosures, filed 203 U.S. patent applications, completed 77 commercial license agreements, and distributed royalties of more than $4.1 million to Cornell units and inventors.
Since 1962, Cornell has been involved in unmanned missions to Mars. In the 21st century, Cornell had a hand in the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Cornell's Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for the Athena Science Payload, led the selection of the landing zones and requested data collection features for the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers took those requests and designed the rovers to meet them. The rovers, both of which have operated long past their original life expectancies, are responsible for the discoveries that were awarded 2004 Breakthrough of the Year honors by Science. Control of the Mars rovers has shifted between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech and Cornell's Space Sciences Building. Further, Cornell researchers discovered the rings around the planet Uranus. Also, Cornell built and operated the world's largest and most sensitive radiotelescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
In 1952, John O. Moore at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory began the Automotive Crash Injury Research project. (In 1972, the lab was separated from the University as Calspan Corporation.) It pioneered the use of crash testing, originally using corpses rather than dummies. The project discovered that improved door locks, energy-absorbing steering wheels, padded dashboards, and seat belts could prevent an extraordinary percentage of injuries. The project led Liberty Mutual to fund the building of a demonstration Cornell Safety Car in 1956, which received national publicity and influenced carmakers. Carmakers soon started their own crash-test laboratories and gradually adopted many of the Cornell innovations. Other ideas, such as rear-facing passenger seats, were less popular.
In 1984, the National Science Foundation began work on establishing five new supercomputer centers, including the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing, to provide high-speed computing resources for research within the United States. In 1985, a team from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications began the development of NSFNet, a TCP/IP-based computer network that could connect to the ARPANET, at the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This high-speed network, unrestricted to academic users, became a backbone to which regional networks would be connected. Initially a 56-kbit/s network, traffic on the network grew exponentially; the links were upgraded to 1.5 Mbit/s T1s in 1988 and to 45 Mbit/s in 1991. The NSFNet was a major milestone in the development of the Internet and its rapid growth coincided with t
Cornell University