Regents approve additional $5 million to boost UT System’s emerging research institutions

GALVESTON—The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved $5 million in additional funding for the UT System Research Incentive Program known as UTRIP.

With today’s allocation of funds, Regents have invested a total of $45 million in UTRIP to promote research and faculty recruitment at the UT System’s four emerging research institutions: UT Arlington, UT Dallas, UT El Paso and UT San Antonio.

The program provides matching funds for philanthropic gifts to support research initiatives at each institution. Since UTRIP was created in 2009, UT’s four emerging research institutions have leveraged more than $142 million in private gifts with the Regents’ investment.

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 50 percent, or $2.5 million.

UT Regents created the UTRIP program to supplement the Texas Research Incentive Program, or TRIP, established by the Texas Legislature and administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to support emerging research institutions throughout the state. To date, UT institutions have secured more than $143 million in TRIP funds through the Coordinating Board.

The funding is making a significant impact. Earlier this month, UT Arlington and UT Dallas were both named top research institutions by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Only 115 institutions in the nation have earned the prestigious classification.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to see the investments by both the state and the UT System making an impact on our institutions as they drive to tier one status,” Regents Chairman Paul Foster said. “And we are very thankful to our donors, whose gifts are supporting research that improves the lives of Texans and people across the globe.”

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking basic, applied and clinical 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 14 institutions and an enrollment of more than 217,000, the UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates almost two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public institutions in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $16.9 billion (FY 2016) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 20,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates – and more than 70,000 health care professionals, researchers, student advisors and support staff, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.