The office of the vice president for research held its second Town Hall meeting last week to discuss a new bridge funding program and a research space allocation policy.
Presented by Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research, several Health Science Center faculty and staff members attended to discuss the two issues.
“Seventy-five percent of the Health Science Center’s extramural funds come from the National Institutes of Health (NIH),” Dr. Herman said. “But NIH funds are becoming more limited.”
Dr. Herman said the bridge funding program is intended to provide funds for previously-funded NIH investigators awaiting renewal of their competitive application. Up to $30,000 of bridge funding will be given by the office of the vice president for research to qualified individuals after the application is approved by the University Research Council. The program will provide matching funds to those provided by the department chair, center director and dean to allow the investigator up to three cycles of bridge support.
For more information, visit:
inside.uthscsa.edu/psp/paprd/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=HSC_POLICIES_GRANTS. Then click on "Draft Bridge Funding Program and Draft Research Space Allocation Policy" (PowerPoint file).
To ensure optimal use of research space, a discussion about a proposed research space allocation policy was also presented. A research space productivity index (RSPI), which is a rolling three-year average of direct plus indirect income divided by assignable square feet of research space, will be calculated on an investigator, departmental, center and school-wide basis. The target RSPI is determined for each school based upon national averages for similar schools. For example, the Medical School and Graduate Schools will be judged by the same national standard, which is $350 per square foot.
More information can be found at:
inside.uthscsa.edu/psp/paprd/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=HSC_POLICIES_GRANTS. Click on "Draft Bridge Funding Program and Draft Research Space Allocation Policy" (PowerPoint file).
The office of the vice president for research encourages questions and comments. Please contact Catherine Nail with any feedback. nail@uthscsa.edu
