By Maria Gonzalez

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – OCT. 14, 2024 – UTRGV is reporting a record-breaking $86.9 million in total research expenditures for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), a steady and significant increase from $28.68 million in FY2016 (UTRGV's first year). 

The amount nearly triples the university’s total research expenditures and highlights UTRGV’s growing research impact on the Rio Grande Valley, as well as the state of Texas and beyond.

UTRGV President Guy Bailey emphasized the importance of this milestones for the university's future. Since UTRGV started in 2015, he said, steady advancements have demonstrated its progress toward a pivotal and strategic goal – achieving Carnegie R1 status.

“This is just the beginning for UTRGV,” Bailey said. “As we continue to grow our research strategy and expand our infrastructure, both our research expenditures and national rankings will continue to climb.”

He also highlighted the broader effects of the university’s growth.

“The impact of our research on the Valley, and elsewhere, will be transformative. We are proud of our success in one of the university's core missions – the commitment to research. This growth is the ultimate measure of our work,” Bailey said. 

As a result of the university’s research expenditures, UTRGV’s ranking in the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey has seen a notable increase. 

• Before UTRGV was established, the combined research ranking of its two legacy institutions, UT Brownsville and UT Pan-American, was 279th out of 625 universities. 
• However, the latest HERD results for FY2022 show UTRGV ranked 193rd out of nearly 900 universities – an improvement of 86 positions in just seven years.

Dr. Can (John) Saygin, UTRGV senior vice president for Research and dean of the Graduate College, said the university’s research community demonstrates strong commitment. 

  “These numbers are a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at UTRGV,” Saygin said. “We are steadily establishing ourselves as a leading regional research university, and we look forward to what lies ahead.”

HISTORIC RECORDS: DOCTORAL DEGREES, PROGRAM EXPANSION

In the 2024 academic year, UTRGV awarded a record-breaking 68 research doctoral degrees – a fivefold increase from the 14 degrees awarded in 2016 and the 45 awarded in 2023. 

“The growth in doctoral degrees underscores UTRGV’s accelerated progress and its successful attainment of Emerging Research University (ERU) status and National Research Support Fund (NRSF) eligibility – a key milestone in the institution’s strategic plan,” Saygin said. 

To qualify for NRSF eligibility, UTRGV needed to meet specific criteria, including awarding an average of 45 research doctoral degrees over three years and averaging $20 million in federal and private research expenditures over a three-year period (FY22, FY23 and FY24). 

“By building research capacity and capability, along with substantial expansion of our research doctoral programs, we have surpassed these benchmarks,” Saygin said. “We are now confidently moving toward achieving Carnegie R1 status by the 2028 Carnegie cycle.”

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

In addition to its record-breaking total research expenditures and doctoral degrees awarded, UTRGV also secured a record $200 million in sponsored project awards during FY24, including:

• A $18.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Research Centers for Minority Institutions (RCMI) program, for the project “Minority Health and Health Disparities Research.”
• A $10.6 million grant from the NIH, to establish the UTRGV Diversity Center for Genome Research.
• A $7 million award from the NIH for the project, “Omic Approaches to Factor VIII Inhibitor Development in Hemophilia Patients of Mexican Descent.”
• A $5 million award from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, for “America's Additive Foundry (AAF): Secure U.S. Supply of Tactical Alloys through Additive, Hybrid, and Intelligent Manufacturing.”
• A $5 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education for the project, “Target 2030: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Research Strategic Plan to Reach R1 Status.”
• A $2.25 million award from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, for the project “Tailored Flow Control: Exploiting Triangular Porous Texturing Elements and Architected Materials for Enhanced Air Vehicle Performance.”
• A $1.2 million award from the National Science Foundation, for the project “Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence for Transportation Cyber-Physical Systems.”
• And a $1.2 million grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), for the project “Remote-sensing and Analytics for Integrating Science Education with NASA SMD to Strengthen Student Research Capacity at Minority-Serving Institutions.”

“These accomplishments highlight the tremendous strides we’ve made in enhancing our research enterprise,” Saygin said. “With each success, we strengthen our foundation for establishing an R1 culture at UTRGV that will make a lasting, potentially global impact.”