The University of California, San Diego, again ranks fifth among top U.S. universities in federal research and development dollars, with $511,428,000 in expenditures for fiscal year 2009, according to figures just released by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

According to the NSF, UC San Diego also ranks sixth in the nation for total research and development dollars, with $879,357,000 in expenditures.

Paul K. Yu, associate vice chancellor for research, noted that UC San Diego consistently has ranked among the top 10 research universities in R&D obligations and expenditures for more than a decade. The NSF research rankings show useful trends over time, he said, and the extramural funding is a key leading indicator of the impact of the campus’ research enterprise.

“The university continues to attract these significant investments through the combined efforts of our faculty, staff and researchers,” Yu said. “UC San Diego is also among the national leaders in the life sciences, which account for more than half of all R&D at universities and colleges.”

Johns Hopkins University led the survey, followed by the University of Michigan (all campuses combined), the University of Washington, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC San Diego. UC San Francisco is ranked ninth, and UCLA is ranked 12th among the nation’s top 20 in the current NSF rankings.

The NSF numbers typically lag a year or more. Total UC San Diego research funding for the fiscal year which ended on June 30, for example, is more than $1,043,000,000 — the first time research funding surpassed a billion dollars in the university’s 50-year history. That number includes $160 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (federal stimulus) funding the university was awarded over the same period.