UTSA releases its newest research numbers

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) released its newest research numbers today, reporting a 34% increase to $46,521,487 in total research spending for the Sept. 1, 2008 – Aug. 31, 2009 fiscal year (FY 09) over the previous fiscal year, when research spending totaled $34,601,444. The statistic is up 97% from just five years ago, when UTSA’s total research expenditures were $23,605,844.

In addition, UTSA reported $67,427,457 in total research and non-research spending, a sum known as “total sponsored programs expenditures,” for FY 09. The figure represents a 30% increase in total sponsored programs expenditures over the last fiscal year and a 71% increase over the last five fiscal years when the numbers were $51,869,574 and $39,463,871, respectively.

“As we build a tier one university for a tier one city, the success of our research program is critical,” said Ricardo Romo, UTSA’s president. “We will continue to focus on our academic and research strengths in health, security, energy, sustainability, and human and social development by recruiting top faculty and students, growing our graduate programs and strengthening our research collaborations within the United States and abroad.”

UTSA’s vice president for research, Robert Gracy, is also inspired by the University’s new numbers.

“To say we’ve almost doubled our research activities in the past five years is really significant,” said Gracy. “Today, we are certainly on an upward trajectory to tier one status. We have developed a stronghold of collaborative research partners in the region and our recruitment of top faculty will certainly lead to even larger increases in research expenditures in the coming year as those individuals gain traction at UTSA.”

This past year was particularly strong for UTSA research for a variety of reasons. The University’s College of Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Education and Human Development, and College of Liberal and Fine Arts were the top four contributors to overall research dollars. The colleges house most of UTSA’s campus-based research centers and institutes. Notably, UTSA biology researchers Bernard Arulanandam and Ashlesh Murthy in UTSA’s South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, in collaboration with Guangming Zhong at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, developed an agreement with Merck and Co Inc to develop a chlamydia vaccine. The revenue-producing license was UTSA’s first.

In addition, UTSA began receiving funding from a variety of new sources last year, including the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and multiple contracts with international partners. The University also began to focus on the development and commercialization of new marketable technologies developed by its faculty and students. By Aug. 31, 2009, UTSA’s invention disclosures increased 244%, and its provisional patent applications increased 400% over the prior year.

In the coming fiscal year, UTSA expects to spend $75 million in sponsored programs, including $50 million in research. Sources for the projections include:

• funding to be received by newly hired faculty
• the construction of a new research building
• additional funding from the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
• partnerships with strategic collaborators such as The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Southwest Research Institute, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and the military
• new funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a $3 billion, 10-year funding opportunity for cancer researchers in Texas
• increased research activity by UTSA’s research centers and institutes
• the addition of new senior leadership