HERD Visualizer
The NSF HERD Survey, finally usable
Every U.S. institution's research expenditures, benchmarked by funding source, discipline, and trend. Built on NSF's own HERD data — the difference is that you can actually get an answer out of it.
What it does
Questions the raw tables won't answer
Expenditures by funding source
Pick an institution and see where its R&D money actually comes from — federal, state and local, business, nonprofit, institutional funds — instead of one aggregate number.
Top-ten filters that answer real questions
The top ten institutions within any funding-source category, and the top ten by percentage increase in R&D expenditures over the prior year. Growth is often the more interesting list.
Search any institution
Overall expenditures, national rank, and the change from last year, for any institution in the survey.
A decade of trend
Year-over-year R&D expenditures across ten years, so a single good year reads as what it is rather than as a trajectory.
Streamlyne’s HERD Visualizer Pro has been a game changer for us. In my role as Vice President for Research, I’m often tasked with drawing insights from the HERD dataset, at short notice. This innovative tool has made it remarkably easy to visualize and compare funding trends, which helps me and my team with data-informed decision-making, strategic planning, and even identifying growth opportunities. What I appreciate most is how intuitive and easy-to-use the visualizer is. What once took days of manual data wrangling can now be done in minutes. I no longer have to dig through dozens of spreadsheets or wait on custom reports. HERD Visualizer Pro gives me the answers I need, right when I need them.
Luis Cifuentes, PhDVice President for ResearchNew Mexico State UniversityIf you want to explore HERD data in a meaningful and productive way, Streamlyne’s HERD Visualizer is an incredibly effective and user-friendly tool. It is powerful and intuitive, providing clear, actionable insights into R&D expenditures by institution. It also allows you to segment by funding source and graph out year-over-year trends. I especially appreciate the ability to filter by top performers and benchmark against peers, which informs our annual strategic planning. The HERD Visualizer is a must-have for any institution that prides itself on data-informed, strategic decision making.
Dr. Can SayginSenior Vice President for ResearchUT Rio Grande Valley
PRO
When "where do we rank" isn't the question any more
The free visualizer answers the ranking question. PRO is for the conversation after it: against which peers, on which funding sources, and which direction is it moving.
Also included with FundFit →- Peer-group benchmarking — pick your comparison set instead of accepting a national ranking
- Deeper segmentation by funding source and field of research
- Interactive drill-down rather than static tables
- Available on demand with a low-cost monthly subscription
- Included at no additional cost with a FundFit institutional subscription
The survey itself
Why institutions take HERD seriously
HERD is how the federal government and everyone else analyses where university R&D money goes and where it is growing. Georgia Tech uses it to answer questions like who funds university R&D, where growth has been strongest, and how much minority-serving institutions spend on R&D. Arizona State publishes classification guides so its administrators submit accurately. Northwestern notes that accurate data strengthens both the national analysis and its own standing among peers.
The data is public. The difficulty was always getting an answer out of it before the meeting you needed it for.
Questions
About HERD, and about the tool
What is the HERD Survey?
The Higher Education Research and Development Survey is conducted annually by the National Science Foundation. It collects R&D expenditures by field of research and source of funds from U.S. universities and colleges, along with types of research and expenses and headcount of R&D personnel. Over 900 institutions complete it each year.
Is this NSF data, or your own?
It is NSF's data. HERD Visualizer does not change the numbers — it makes them navigable. The raw HERD tables are public and notoriously difficult to work with; this is the interface they never came with.
Why does the survey matter to my institution?
Two reasons that show up in practice. Benchmarking your R&D effort against peers informs strategic planning and where you prioritise future research focus. And accurate submissions strengthen both the national analysis and your own standing among peer institutions.
What does PRO add over the free version?
Peer-group benchmarking, deeper segmentation, and interactive drill-down. The free version answers 'where do we rank'; PRO answers 'against whom, on what, and which way is it moving'.
Do we need Streamlyne Research to use it?
No. HERD Visualizer stands alone. It is also included at no additional cost with a FundFit institutional subscription, which is how most institutions end up with both.