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An El Paso First: UTEP Tops $100 Million in Research

The University of Texas at El Paso has surpassed the $100 million threshold in annual research expenditures for the first time in its history.

 

UTEP President Heather Wilson announced Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, that the University is reporting $108 million in research expenditures for fiscal year 2019 to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges.

 

“UTEP is one of the top research institutions in the nation,” President Wilson said. “We produce meaningful research of public value and make a positive impact on the community we serve.”

 

Annual spending totals take into account research and development expenditures across all sources of funds, including federal, state, industry and foundations. This figure is a measure of UTEP’s research productivity that is consistent with the Carnegie R1 designation awarded to the University in December 2018. The $100M+ milestone also represents a doubling of total annual research expenditures since 2008.

 

Roberto Osegueda, Ph.D., UTEP’s vice president for research, has played a key leadership role in the University’s journey to the $100M+ milestone. Nearly a decade ago, Osegueda was part of the team that orchestrated the creation and implementation of a strategic plan that set the University on its current course of sustained growth in research.

 

“It is an incredible credit to our faculty and staff that we’ve come this far,” Osegueda said. “Thanks to their tenacity and talent, the University’s power to innovate, discover and give back has been augmented far beyond our initial expectations.”

 

Administrators and faculty members across the campus agree that while it is unquestionably a significant landmark in the life of the University, what the $100M+ milestone truly represents is the beginning of a new phase in UTEP’s long-standing commitment to the advancement of knowledge and its application. Moreover, plans to keep the momentum going, such as the opening of new research facilities and the strengthening of strategic partnerships, are an ongoing priority on the to-do lists of leaders across the campus.

 

“UTEP is the best it has ever been,” President Wilson said in a recent meeting of staff and faculty members. “Now, together, we will focus on how we’re going to get even better.”