Run to R1 Progress

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  • 2022-2023

      • Cabinet approved the allocation of $6 million of university reserves to admit 50 new PhD students for Spring and Summer 2023 in three PhD programs: Material Science, Engineering and Commercialization, Computer Science, and Aquatic Resources and Integrative Biology. As more funds become available, TXST plans to invest more in current and future PhD programs. TXST will also make available $2,000 per student, per full year, to the Graduate College to support these students, as needed. 
      • TXST will also set aside $200,000 to award scholarships to current students for retention purposes. The programs will have the discretion in collaboration with the dean of the Graduate College as to how they would like to deploy those funds to retain students in financial need. 
      • Recruiting more international and graduate students is a critical part of our Run to R1. To that end, we removed a cap that limited the funds we could invest to recruit international students through partner agencies.
      • We announced a $40 million investment to recruit 50 additional Ph.D. students to current doctoral programs, add 50 new post-doctoral researchers, fund grant faculty course releases, increase graduate student tuition scholarships, and several more investments in student success and research growth.

      • $2.1 million in FY2024 and $3.3 million in FY2025 to attract additional post-doctoral researchers to support our faculty members in their research endeavors.  This is envisioned as one-time seed money that will eventually be replaced by future grant proposals that include post-doctoral research funding (when possible). 
      • $2 million per year (FY2024 through FY2026) for additional PhD tuition scholarships and course release time for faculty members to allow for devoted concentration on research.    
      • $50,000 per year (FY2024 through FY2026) to fund operating and marketing initiatives necessary for recruiting additional doctoral students. 

      This brings our total investment since we began our Run to R1 last fall to nearly $18 million.

      • The Division of Research held a Run to R1 Town Hall and 1K Walk/Run to provide faculty and staff the opportunity to ask questions and share feedback about TXST’s R1 trajectory.
      • Cabinet approved the position of Associate Vice President for Research and Federal Relations be elevated to Vice President for Research. 
      • Dr. Shreek Mandayam now serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet. 
      • The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs was elevated to the Division of Research. 

      • Key research metrics are on track to achieve new institutional records – including total R&D expenditures (a 40% increase over last year’s record expenditures) and a record number of admissions to our Ph.D. programs. 
      • The new Postdoc Researcher Catalyst program has exceeded expectations in applications submitted for the 30 funded slots.
      • We exceeded previous records with 85 doctoral student applications and 45 doctoral student admissions for Summer 2023 in programs supported by our Run to R1 investment in research assistantships and tuition scholarships.
      • Similarly, there were a record 343 doctoral student applications across all programs for Fall 2023.
      • International FTIC student applications and admits are up a staggering 377% (+467 applications) and 213% (+136 admits), respectively, over last year.