Regents approve additional $10 million in funding for research incentive program

The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved $10 million in additional Permanent University Funds to extend the UT System Research Incentive Program, or UTRIP.

In 2009, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Research Incentive Program, or TRIP, a competitive gift matching program administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to enhance research activities at emerging research universities throughout the state.

To supplement this program, the UT Regents created UTRIP as an additional means to augment philanthropic gifts at UT’s four emerging research institutions, which include UT Arlington, UT Dallas, UT El Paso, and UT San Antonio.

Gifts matched under the UTRIP program include research-designated gifts that range from $500,000 to $5 million or greater, with a matching cap of fifty percent, or $2.5 million.

Since its inception, almost $84 million in private gifts have been submitted and almost $30 million in matching UTRIP funds have been paid or committed by the UT System through this initiative. Including today’s approval of funds, the Regents will have invested a total of $40 million in the program over a five year period.

“Research is a vital component of our institutional missions because of the clear impact it can have on the lives of Texans and people throughout the nation and world,” Regents Chairman Paul Foster said. “The success of the UTRIP program has been astounding and it is our hope that the additional funding approved today will allow more UT institutions additional leveraging capacity in their push toward achieving tier one status.”

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and a fall 2013 enrollment of more than 213,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $14.6 billion (FY 2014) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 90,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.