Texas Tech increased restricted research funds to $35 million and total research funds will reach $80 million, according to Tech estimates for Fiscal Year 2009.
The new numbers would mean about an $8 million increase in restricted research expenditures and about $33 million increase in total research expenditures.
“One factor is that we have had more research expenditures, but we have also done a better job of accounting,” President Guy Bailey said. “Our new vice president of research Taylor Eighmy identified research dollars that we had not been counting.”
The increase of restricted funds places Tech about $10 million dollars away from achieving a required benchmark to reach National Research University Status. To reach the status, it is required that a university sustain $45 million in restricted research dollars for two consecutive years and achieve $100 million in total research dollars, as set out by House Bill 51.
“I think that in the next few years we are going to get there,” said Eighmy, Tech vice president for research. “We will be strategically hiring faculty that will bring research resources with them that will count as expenditures. We are also going after large funding initiatives from the federal government and looking to develop additional partnerships with corporations and foundations that will support our research enterprise.”
The Texas Research Initiative Program, or TRIP, funds are another contributor to Tech’s research funds. HB 51 set up TRIP and authorized the use of state funds as a match for private gifts made in support of research. Matching criteria depends on the size of the gift up to a one-to-one match.
Last year Tech received $24 million in gifts which were eligible for $23 million in matching during two years, Eighmy said.
“Tech was by far the number one university in fundraising for this program,” Eighmy said.
Tuesday’s passage of Proposition 4 will be another source of research funds once Tech achieves National Research University Status.
“Once we are eligible, Proposition 4 would mean $12 (million) to $13 million dollars in additional research funds for Tech,” Bailey said. “This is one of the most important things that has ever happened to the university.”
The increase in research funds will aid research projects like the TTU Forage Research Program, which focuses on sustainable agricultural research practices.
Vivian Allen, a Horn Professor at Tech, is leading the project and said the increase in funds allows the university to pursue even more research funding.
“The increase in research funds allows us to improve the basic infrastructure that we use to conduct research by bringing in more people, talent and perspectives that would give us a better understanding of the system,” Allen said. “It builds capacity and strengthens our ability to do our job well and be successful in all measures.”
Raising research funds also benefits students, Eighmy said.
“I think that obtaining National Research University Status will greatly increase the prestige of Tech and will continue to allow us to attract the best and brightest students and faculty,” he said. “I also believe that our focus on research will have a direct translation benefit for our students in the classroom as they experience research opportunities as part of their academic programs.”
Chancellor Kent Hance said he hopes Tech will reach more than $100 million in research expenditures per year in research by 2015.
