Research and Development

The Commonwealth is home to many internationally recognized research and development (R&D) facilities. Federally funded R&D facilities, coupled with the research from Virginia universities, provide Virginia businesses access to leading researchers and cutting-edge technology. From the automotive industry to medical research to the next generation of high technology, these research facilities have something to offer your business.

• Twenty-nine federal R&D functions are located in Virginia, including 15 Department of Defense research centers, the new Homeland Security Institute, NASA Langley Research Center, and DOE’s unique Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.
• More than 200 private sector R&D facilities in Virginia

• Fast Fact Lux Research’s 2005 report, "Benchmarking U.S. States for Economic Development from Nanotechnology," ranks Virginia as the fourth best state for economic development through nanotechnology.

  NASA Langley's facilities in Hampton include the only wind tunnels in the United States capable of testing structures in winds up to 17,500 miles per hour.
• Wallops Flight Facility, located on Virginia's Eastern Shore, is a unique research airport and is NASA's principal center for management and implementation of suborbital research programs.
• Seven university research parks offer private companies opportunities for co-location and cooperative relationships with the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Medical College of Virginia, The College of William and Mary, George Mason University and Old Dominion University.
• Four nationally prominent private, non-profit research institutes have established significant centers in Virginia in recent years: SRI’s Center for Advanced Drug Research in the Shenandoah Valley, The National Institute of Aerospace in Hampton; The Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Loudoun County; and Carilion Biomedical Institute in Roanoke.
• The National Institute of Aerospace is a strategic partner of NASA Langley Research Center and conducts leading-edge aerospace research and development through a consortium of research universities including Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, William and Mary, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland and North Carolina State University.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Northern Virginia is a unique new biomedical research complex modeled after the successful collaborative science centers in Europe. The complex will house and support 300 scientists across a wide range of disciplines engaged in biomedical research.