RESEARCH & INNOVATION
ANNUAL REPORT 2022
A MILESTONE YEAR It has been a year full of milestones for research at the University of North Texas. We are proud that the university increased its total research expenditures by more than $10 million from fiscal year 2021. Faculty across disciplines have made discoveries in everything from nanotechnology to Advanced Air Mobility technologies, earned top awards in their fields, and secured research funding from major national agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities and NASA. A testament to our continued rise as a major national research university, UNT was reaffirmed as a Tier One research university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s 2022 report and was invited to join the Association of Research Libraries. More than 60 faculty members were included in the Stanford University rankings of the world’s most cited researchers. We’ve also made strides that will increase opportunity for those historically underserved by higher education. This year, UNT was among 21 of the nation’s top research universities who became a founding member in the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities and also became a member of Presidents for Latino Student Success. UNT faculty continue to innovate, create, and discover. For example, for the first time in university history, UNT-sourced intellectual property for a SARS- CoV-2 (COVID-19) testing tool received FDA approval. The technology, which was named on TIME’s list of “The 200 Best Inventions of 2022,” could lead to possible noninvasive diagnostics for other diseases as well. I am proud of the meaningful contributions our research community has made in the last year and am excited for what the future will bring as we carry forward our mission of research excellence to make a difference in our region, state, and beyond.
Pam Padilla Vice President for Research and Innovation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Division Overview
10
Strategic Planning and Implementation
13
Grow UNT’s Research Portfolio
18
Promote Integrity in Research
20
Expand Researchers’ Work with the Private Sector
22
By the Numbers
34
Unit Reports
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DIVISION OVERVIEW The mission of the Division of Research and Innovation reflects a commitment to serve and support the faculty and staff at UNT with a primary purpose of collectively enhancing research. The core values outline the focus of the division’s employees as driven and committed team members.
Mission The mission of the Division of Research and Innovation is to support, facilitate and empower the growth of sustainable research at UNT.
Core Values Integrity — Committed to creating knowledge with a high degree of honesty and accuracy Interdisciplinary Focus — Focused on the development of solutions requiring complex multidisciplinary approaches Partnerships — Dedicated to building connections in teams focused on solutions to society’s biggest challenges
Efficiency — Dedicated to the strategic and focused use of resources Individual Growth — Focused individuals in and of themselves as part of multidisciplinary teams Diversity — Committed to empowered decision-making and the inclusion of talented individuals from a variety of different backgrounds
Innovation — Committed to identifying and supporting new and creative approaches
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion National events prompted higher education across the nation to fully examine their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). UNT is no exception to this national trend. Furthermore, UNT’s recent designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) underscores the commitment to DEI within the division. The Research Development team has been engaged with faculty working on grants that serve our diverse student population and informing about funding opportunities for HSIs. Furthermore, the division provided financial support for faculty and students to attend and present at diversityfocused conferences.
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Organizational Chart for the D
Brenda Barrio
P
Research and Innovation Faculty Fellow
Vice President
Tori Smith
Director of Budget and Operatio
Brier Lee
Laboratory Facility Manager, GH, BA
Chu
Aaron Roberts
Assistant Vice President,
Associate Vice President of Research and Innovation Katie Herring
University Core Facilities (BioAnalytical Facility • Computational Informatics Research Center • Genomics Center • UNT Greenhouse Core Research Facilities • Materials Research Facility) Ana Alonso
Director BioAnalytical Facility
Christophe Cocuron
Vacant
Lee Hughes
Research Assistant I Computational Informatics Research Center
Research Scientist I BioAnalytical Facility
Gail Shadle
Associate Director of Research Development
Raj Banerjee
Director Genomics Center
Greenhouse Lab Manager Greenhouse Research Center
Director Materials Research Facility
Vacant
John Sullivan
David Jaeger
Research Scientist II Genomics Center
Maintenance Technician Greenhouse Research Center
Vacant
Vacant
J
Jianchao Li
Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research (JMI)
Amie Lund
Rajiv Mishra
Kent Chapman
Terry Pohlen
Director
Wongbong Choi Associate Director
Gail Krueger
C
Center for Agile & Adaptive Additive Manufacturing (CAAAM)
BioDiscovery Institute (BDI) Director
Ana Alonso
Associate Director
Katy Tunks
Narendra Dahotre
Associate Vice President
Mary Chandler
Director
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
Clinton Purtell
Nancy Dreessen
Associate Director
Lauren Pratt
Venkata Mani Krishna Karri
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
Research Lab Manager
Shantelle McDonald
Krenare Skivjani
Natasha Gorski
Kathy Dreyer
Sheldon Dowden
Proposal Manager
Martha Frantz
Sr. Research Analyst
Crystal Garrett-McEwen Laboratory Facility Manager
Proposal Manager
Sharma Shashank
Srinivas Mantri
Administrative Coordinator
Jesse Smith
Research Assistant Professor
Research Assistant Professor
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
Proposal Manager
Madhavan Radhakrishnan
Administrative Specialist
Sr. Proposal Manager
Scientific Instrument Technician
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D
A
Research Lab Manager Cleanroom Lab
Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Processes Institute (AMMPI)
Program Project Specialist
Program Director
Grants & Contracts Accounting Specialist
Research Scientist II Multi-Dimensional Characterization Lab
Advanced Environmental Research Institute (AERI)
Kelly Basinger
DeeAnna Oliveira Christine Cail
Institutes of Research Excellence
Associate Director
Sally Pettyjohn
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
Research Assistant I Multi-Dimensional Characterization Lab
Research Coordinator BioAnalytical Facility
Lauren Fischer
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
Saul Sepulveda
Research Assistant BioAnalytical Facility
Director
Lacy Fenn
Assistant Director of Research Communications & Project Management
Administrative
Scientific Instrument Technician
Zane Hughes
Postdoc Research Assistant
Mohammadmehdi Shahzamanian Si Postdoc Research Assistant
Lida Haghnegahdar
Scientific Instrument Technician
Postdoc Research Assistant
Sameehan Joshi
Mohammad Parsazadeh
Research Assistant Professor
Postdoc Research Assistant
Division of Research and Innovation
Pamela Padilla
Lisa Martin
t for Research and Innovation
Senior Executive Assistant
Kalyan Gudikadi
ons
Associate Dir. of Research Computing Services
Richard Herrington Research Scientist III
AF, GC
Yuguang Ma
Research Scientist II
Bailu Zhang
Graduate Research Assistant
uck Tarantino
Michael Rondelli
Grants and Contracts Administration
Post-Award
Pre-Award Emiley Locey
Janet Thompson
Director of Pre-Award
Grants and Contracts Specialist
Ami Schackel
Michelle Hildebrand
Sr. Grants and Contracts Analyst
Amanda Thomas Sr. Grants and Contracts Analyst
Jamie Peno
Associate Vice President, Research Commercial Agreements
Isaac Collins
Financial Analyst
Administrative Amanda Anaya
Sr. Administrative Specialist
Holly Wang
Grants and Contracts Analyst
Sr. Contracts Analyst
Janice Tannehill
Grants and Contracts Specialist
Licensing Steven Tudor
Director of Licensing
Administrative
Biosafety
Vacant
Veena Naik, DVM, Ph.D.
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
Biosafety Officer
Research Compliance Autumn Pinckard
Research Compliance Director
Vivarium Imelda Norton
Vivarium Manager
Joan Powers
Sr. Research Compliance Analyst
Daniel Bassett
Nermin Zhakary
Sr. Research Compliance Analyst
Sr. Grants and Contracts Accounting Analyst
Grants and Contracts Analyst
Janis Miller
Sr. Contracts Analyst
Marlena Maniecka
Sr. Grants and Contracts Accounting Analyst
Gretchen Ward
Contracts
Assistant Vice President, Research Integrity & Compliance
Sarah Romack
Gleb Filatov
Sr. Research Compliance Analyst
Maria Gonzalez
Research Compliance Analyst
Grants and Contracts Accounting Analyst
Rodney Fernandez
Grants and Contracts Accounting Analyst
Mickey Herrera
Accounting Assistant
Vice President for Research and Innovation
Emerging Research Centers
Research Development Grants and Contracts Administration
Center for Integrated Intelligent Systems (CIIMS)
Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society (CREEHS)
Andrey Voevodin
Chandra Carey
Terry Pohlen
Tony Carey
Co-Director
Co-Director
Co-Director
Co-Director
Research Commercial Agreements Research Integrity and Compliance Institutes of Research Excellence University Core Facilities Emerging Research Centers Research & Innovation Faculty Fellow
ichani
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VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
PAMELA PADILLA Pamela Padilla, vice president for research and innovation, succeeded Mark McLellan upon his retirement on June 5, 2022. A professor of biological sciences, Padilla joined UNT in 2002. She previously worked as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Science and was permanently appointed UNT’s associate vice president for research and innovation in October 2019, after serving one year as interim. In 2010, she earned the UNT Early Career Award for Research and Creativity, and she was a Faculty Leadership Fellow from 2015 to 2016. Prior to being named VPRI, Padilla served as the dean of the College of Science. Padilla’s research, which has been continually supported by either the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation, focuses on how environmental and dietary stress affects living organisms at the cellular, genetic, and molecular levels as a means to model human health issues such as ischemia and diabetes. She has earned numerous fellowships and grants, including an NSF CAREER award. Padilla is the current president and former treasurer and member of the board of directors of SACNAS, the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, the largest STEM diversity organization in the country. She also was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute and SACNAS Advanced Leadership Institute Fellow in 2017, received a Science magazine Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction in 2012 and was a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow in 2008. Padilla earned her Ph.D. in biology from the University of New Mexico, conducted her post-doctoral research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, and was a visiting scholar at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
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ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
AARON ROBERTS Aaron Roberts, professor of environmental toxicology in the College of Science and director of the Advanced Environmental Research Institute (AERI), serves as associate vice president of research. Prior to his appointment as AVP, Roberts spent the last two years as the director of AERI. He is considered an expert on the fate and effects of chemical contaminants in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Roberts’ research ranges from investigations of the impacts of oil spills on fish and shellfish to the accumulation of industrial chemicals in fur seals in the northern Pacific. His research group has been funded by federal and state agencies as well as the private sector. Roberts earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Missouri and his master’s and doctorate in zoology from Miami-Ohio University. He completed his postdoctoral training in environmental toxicology at Clemson University. He received the UNT Decker Scholar Award in 2021 and is a member of the Endowment Board of Trustees for the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. As associate vice president, his portfolio includes overseeing the management of UNT’s shared instrumentation facilities across campus, working with advisory groups and directors of each facility and assisting with the development, approval and implementation of partnership agreements with other universities, national labs and industry. Additionally, Roberts is heavily involved in research development training and limited submissions, amongst other duties.
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RESEARCH FACULTY FELLOW
BRENDA BARRIO Brenda L. Barrio, an associate professor of special education in the College of Education, has been named the newest faculty fellow in the Division of Research and Innovation. Her yearlong appointment began Sept. 1, 2022. Barrio’s experience unites research expertise across disciplines and serves as a critical voice for inclusivity in the broader campus community. “We are proud to welcome Brenda as our newest fellow. Her innovative and inclusive research has set an inspiring example across her field and its impact has been felt throughout our community,” vice president for research and innovation Pamela Padilla said. “She also brings important insight with her background in the social sciences, which is critical to UNT’s continued rise as a Tier One Institution. Barrio’s research focuses on the areas of disproportionality of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education, culturally responsive teaching, equity and access in higher education, and teacher preparation. She has more than 18 years of teaching experience including, graduate and undergraduate special education courses and K-5th bilingual and inclusive education in Texas. “As a researcher, I am honored to have been considered for this role and that my work is valued at the university level,” Barrio said. “I am looking forward to connecting with faculty, students, and staff, across the campus to enhance interdisciplinary research collaborations. I’m also very excited to enhance our research efforts as a Hispanic Serving Institution through projects and grants.” Barrio is also the PI and co-founder of the UNT ELEVAR, which stands for Empower, Learn, Excel, enVision, Advance and Rise. UNT ELEVAR gives young adults with intellectual disabilities the educational training to pursue a meaningful career and skills to lead an independent life. UNT ELEVAR is part of the Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society or CREEHS, an interdisciplinary effort at UNT to increase the quality of life for all Texans by narrowing longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in healthcare.
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CHAPTER 1
Strategic Planning and Implementation
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STRATEGIC PLANNING The division’s three main goals focus on improving UNT’s research portfolio, ensuring a commitment to integrity and expanding the university’s partnership with private industry. These goals serve as the division’s overall effort to guide and achieve its mission. Each goal is supported by a set of critical strategies by each of the supporting units. Each strategy will move forward through a developed set of programs, including short-term initiatives and legacy efforts, as well as new initiatives.
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GOAL 1
GOAL 2
GOAL 3
Grow UNT’s Research Portfolio
Promote Integrity in Research
Expand Researchers’ Work with the Private Sector
Strategies:
Strategies:
Strategies:
1. Increase the Quantity and Quality of UNT’s Proposals
1. Mitigate Risks to the University
1. Encourage Faculty to Disclose New Inventions
2. Improve Research Support Infrastructure 3. Support Strategic Research Needs 4. Communicate Internally and Externally in Support of Research
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2. Provide Guidance and Education for Compliance Programs 3. Improve Workflow Efficiency
2. Market IP for Licensing and Corporate-Sponsored Research 3. Support/Operate an Effective and Efficient Research Contracting Process
GOAL 1
GROW UNT’S RESEARCH PORTFOLIO One of the most important goals for the Division of Research and Innovation is growing and strengthening the university’s research portfolio. Strategy 1: Increase quantity and quality of UNT’s proposals •
Grantsmanship Training — Distinguished grantsmanship training was provided by the AtKisson Group and continues to be one of the division’s most robust and sought-after training programs. Two tailored workshops were delivered this year, one offered to faculty and a second focused on graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. These workshops will be repeated in FY23.
•
UNT Washington D.C. Research Faculty Fellows — The division sponsored a nomination process in which UNT named 19 faculty to participate in a semester-long program to train them to visit with program managers based in Washington DC. The cohort traveled to Washington and met with program managers, representatives from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU), and congressional staffers at a reception. Faculty met with agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Endowment for the Arts and many more. This training opportunity was focused primarily on pre-tenured faculty to jumpstart their programs early at UNT.
•
Research BREAKS Training Program — The division continues to provide regular training and communication with faculty researchers. The program focuses on “nuts and bolts” topics, spending 15 to 20 minutes going into detail on them and then opening the floor for a Q&A discussion.
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In-College Proposal Managers — To support faculty grant writing efforts, the division partners with colleges and institutes to share the cost of hiring inunit proposal managers. There are now seven full-time proposal managers on campus. The proposal managers have been successful in shepherding several successful, large multi-PI grants to campus.
•
Year-Round Research Training — To support faculty efforts, the division has provided targeted informational sessions that focus on specific agency
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programs such as the NSF CAREER and NIH grant opportunities. Strategy 2: Improve Research Support Inf rastructure •
Research Core Facilities — The division manages core research facilities to promote collaboration and provide multi-PI resources to all faculty and students. Each of these facilities operates on a fee for service model and is available to any PI. Fees are used to provide maintenance, staffing support, and new equipment acquisition. •
Current Core Facilities: •
Materials Research Facility, offering high-end materials assessment instruments
•
High-Performance Computing services, through the Texas Advanced Computing Center in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin
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Vivarium which provides support to animal researchers
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BioAnalytical Facility, featuring state-of-the-art mass spectrometers with advanced capabilities for separating and quantifying small molecules and macromolecules
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Genomics Center, providing RNA and DNA sequence analysis using the latest technology
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Greenhouse Support Services Facility, including three major greenhouses: one on the roof of the Life Sciences Complex, one outside the Science Research Building and another at Discovery Park
•
HURON IACUC Implementation — Implementation of Huron’s GRAMS software continued this year. GRAMS allows for integration of multiple modules including financial and compliance oversight into a single platform.
•
Development of CREEHS and CIIMS — Collaborative research is necessary to find solutions that meet societal needs. The division continued development of two emerging research centers: •
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Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS) — The university is encouraging integrated, intelligent mobility systems such as connected and autonomous vehicle research, spanning several disciplines including engineering, business, science, information and health and public service.
Researchers and students are working collaboratively on the complexities inherent in the field, including the technology itself, the data collection that helps drive its development and planning and the policy and business practices necessary to support it. •
Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society (CREEHS) — CREEHS seeks to increase the quality of life for all Texans and to foster an environment for economic growth and innovation by narrowing longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in healthcare. Grounded in an understanding of the social determinants of health, CREEHS will redress inequity in the conditions in which people in Texas, live, work, learn, and interact socially. The Center seeks to investigate health quality and related systems by examining the economic, social, and environmental factors that have contributed to the state’s current health crisis. CREEHS is committed to seeking solutions to stimulate movement toward health equity.
•
Reorganization of Institute Budgets — Division leadership established a reorganization of metrics-based budgets for the University Institutes of Research Excellence that were fully implemented in FY22. These new metrics will result in an incentive-based budget to promote growth in the National Research University Fund program.
•
Management of HEERF Funds — In response to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), both in 2021, the president appointed a program director to administer the university’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). The program director works closely with division leadership to make certain the various projects and programs that have launched under CARES, CRRSAA and ARP are executed properly. The funds fall under the Department of Education’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. The acts allocated an additional amount to UNT because of its designation as a Minority-Serving and Hispanic-Serving Institution. Together, the funds total approximately $171 million.
Strategy 3: Support Strategic Research Needs •
Seed Grants Program — The division offers a seed grant program to fund new
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ideas from faculty for preliminary data to be used in future grant proposals. In FY22, the program funded eight projects from seven colleges. •
Faculty Startup Investment Summary — Each year, the division supports the startup funding of new faculty hires across the university.
•
InfoReady Implementation — To help manage its intramural funding competitions, the division implemented the UNT InfoReady Review Portal, an online portal to help investigators locate and apply for limited submissions opportunities and many internal grant opportunities.
•
Development of TACC — The division helped facilitate the transition of its HighPerformance Computing (HPC) services and migration of existing research projects from the UNT Talon3 system to the UT-Austin TACC system. The partnership with TACC will allow UNT researchers to use UTRC resources, and their involvement will allow TACC to build more enhanced supercomputers for shared use.
Strategy 4: Communicate Internally and Externally in Support of Research •
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Training/Development/Communications Position Creation — The division hired an assistant director of research communications and project management to assist in the training and development workshops that the division offers. In addition, the assistant director manages the content for the research.unt.edu website, has developed communication and social media strategies for the division and serves as a liaison with University Brand Strategy and Communications to promote communications.
The communications team developed a monthly speaker series called Research on Tap, where UNT researchers give micro-talks on timely and interesting topics. In addition, the social media efforts have increased followership on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter by more than 500 percent. •
Department Reports and Newsletters — The Division produces monthly newsletters to its constituents to provide resources, policy updates, rules and regulations, commercialization successes and updates, as well as innovations in science, technology, math, and social sciences. Newsletters are disseminated from the Research Development, Research Commercialization Agreements, Research Integrity and Compliance teams.
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GOAL 2
PROMOTE INTEGRITY IN RESEARCH UNT has an expanding portfolio of funding from major sponsors including federal, state, and private sources. Many of these sponsors have significant requirements to ensure the integrity of research conducted with their funding. The division is charged with helping faculty meet these requirements. Strategy 1: Improve Workflow Eff iciency •
Conflict of Interest — Research Integrity and Compliance (RIC) supports the administrative processes of UNT’s COI program by overseeing the functions of the COI committee, reviewing and routing COI disclosures, advising and following-up with investigators and overseeing the annual COI disclosure process. The division is currently part of a UNT System-wide effort that is working to implement the use of the Huron GRAMS system for future processing of COI business.
•
International Affiliation — To support continued collaborations with universities and organizations worldwide, the division offered training to staff members to help them understand the current regulatory landscape and serious growing concerns by the U.S. Government concerning inappropriate influence by foreign entities over federally funded research.
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Visiting Scholar — The division has developed a Standard Operating Procedure to delineate systematic process activities and functions for compliance with the regulations and UNT requirements for the management, coordination, and collaboration with international visiting scholars. The procedure outlines established procedures for obtaining approvals, providing guidance, and communicating the necessity of assuring intellectual property protections.
Strategy 2: Increase Training for Compliance Programs •
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Responsible Conduct of Research Training — The Research Integrity and Compliance team offered a number of Responsible Conduct of Research
training opportunities to provide education and support to the research community in the ethical foundations of research. Training was offered in the following areas:
•
•
Research Misconduct
•
•
Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing, and Ownership
Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
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Mentoring
•
Conflict of Interest
•
Care and Use of Animals in Research
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Collaborative Research
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Human Subjects Research
• Peer Review In-Class Training for Students — The Research Integrity and Compliance team offered a number of personalized training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate level classes with an interest in research to provide a foundation and understanding of requirements surrounding ethical foundations of research.
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GOAL 3
EXPAND RESEARCHERS’ WORK WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR Strategy 1: Encourage Faculty to Disclose New Inventions •
Increased Contact with Faculty Researchers — Staff gave presentations on intellectual property at departmental meetings and reached out to individual principal investigators. Principal investigators served by the division were encouraged to spread the word about their experiences to their peers.
•
Brought Awareness to Administrators — Staff members briefed deans and associate deans of research on what technology transfer means and the best ways to gain value from the technology transfer function.
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Relationships with University Advancement — The department accelerated relationships with University Advancement for industry outreach and continued to encourage partnerships for leveraging IP for donors, foundation funding and corporate licensing.
•
Increased Reporting — Monthly reporting to served PIs and deans keeps them up-to-date on the activities of Research Commercial Agreements and encourages more disclosures and reduces problems with faculty not being aware of contract status.
Strategy 2: Market Intellectual Property for Licensing and Corporate-Sponsored Research •
Launched IN-PART — The department joined IN-PART, a matchmaking platform for university-industry collaboration that provides the initial introduction for new licenses in technology transfer. The tool allows the department to connect with potential licensees globally.
•
Increased Licenses — The department realized licenses for IP the department had been marketing since starting in 2015, increasing the number of licenses from 12 in FY 2020 to 35 in FY 2021. Of the 35 licenses, 25 were copyrights and 10 patent-based, demonstrating that software-based and educational technologies provide a great value and are of high Interest to solve commercial needs.
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•
Targeting Industry Contacts — Staff developed collaborations with companies and UNT inventors; intern marketing reports were used to target potential licensees; licensing consultants were used to target specific contacts at large potential licensees; staff connected with potential licensees through LinkedIn; and used data mining related patents for relevance to the UNT portfolio targeting potential licensing opportunities.
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Spinout Companies — Staff discussed with inventors and their graduate students options for spinout companies based on their technology.
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Industry Visibility and Networking — Staff spoke at or attended industry events to increase visibility and push specific technologies.
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Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship — Research Commercial Agreements worked with UNT’s Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship to target potential licensees.
Strategy 3: Support/Operate an Effective and Efficient Research Contracting Process •
Research Commercial Agreements — Continued to operate research contracting with the same time-sensitivity and understanding of commercial needs since establishing Research Commercial Agreements in FY 2020.
•
Guaranteed Turnaround for Contract Response — Research Commercial Agreements implemented a four-tier guaranteed turnaround time for contract response.
•
Increased Communications — Monthly reporting continued to keep PIs and deans up-to-date on activities of Research Commercial Agreements and encouraged additional disclosures. Transparency and clear processes were maintained from FY 2020 by collaboration with college administrators and bi-weekly meetings with University Advancement.
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CHAPTER 2
By the Numbers
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UNT PROFILE UNT is a Carnegie-ranked Tier One research university, which is a very high research activity university, and is the flagship university in the UNT System, located in Denton, Texas. UNT has 14 colleges and schools: • G. Brint Ryan College of Business • College of Education • College of Engineering • College of Health and Public Service • College of Information • College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences • College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism • College of Music • College of Science • College of Visual Arts
• • • •
and Design Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism Honors College New College Toulouse Graduate School®
Tenured and Tenure-Track Research Faculty Members (FY 2022)
743
Total Undergraduate Headcount Enrolled
32,965
Total Graduate Headcount Enrolled
11,567
Total Headcount Enrolled
44,532
Graduate Degrees Offered
131
Total # of UNT Sponsored Awards
260
Total UNT Sponsored Awards
$42,083,185
Total UNT Proposals Submitted
580
Total UNT Dollar Amount of Proposals
$357,623,917
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UNT Sponsored Awards FY 2016 - FY 2022
5% 8%
9%
7%
16%
83% 77%
75%
76%
70%
15%
79%
15%
Instruction
17%
15%
Research
17%
12%
Public Service
UNT Research Award by Source FY 2022
Federal Private State
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NOTABLE NEW GRANT AWARDS In any one year, UNT faculty are awarded many significant and important grants based on proposals for research submitted. We would love to share all of them, but due to space limitations, we have chosen a few notable award highlights.
COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND PUBLIC SERVICE
Erin Schafer, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Department of Audiology
Grant Title: Impact of Listening Effort on Hearing Aid Adoption and Performance in Adults Grant Amount: $274K Agency: Hearing Industry Research Consortium (HIRC) Co-PIs: Sharon Miller and Boji Lam Abstract: According to the World Health Organization, disabling hearing loss affects approximately 25% of older (60+ years) worldwide, and by the year 2050, almost one in every ten people will experience disabling hearing loss. Persons with hearing loss often report increased listening effort and fatigue in challenging acoustic environments relative to peers with normal hearing, suggesting peripheral deficits increase reliance on top-down cognitive resources. Despite the large population of individuals with hearing loss and the known consequences of untreated hearing loss, only one-third or fewer adults with disabling hearing loss consistently use hearing aids (Jorgensen & Novak, 2020; Lin et al., 2013). While hearing aids and other hearing assistance technologies are commonly prescribed by audiologists to improve performance in difficult listening environments, how these technologies interact with cognition, motivation, and emotion in impacting listening effort and hearing aid adoption in persons with hearing loss remains unclear. As a result, the proposed exploratory research study will examine how individual differences in cognition, motivation, and emotion predict hearing aid adoption and self-perceived hearing aid benefit as well as how interventions with hearing technology (i.e., hearing aids and remote microphone technology) modulate physiological measures of listening effort and attention in new hearing aid users. There is a critical need to determine how individual patient characteristics drive hearing aid usage and modulate listening effort to maximize social and communication outcomes in persons with hearing loss. Why the Grant Matters: “We believe hearing health care is important because approximately 25% adults ages 60 years and older hearing loss that impacts their interactions with friends
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and loved ones and their overall quality of life. At this time, only one-third or fewer older adults who really need hearing aids are consistently using them. In our study, we hope to find out how cognition, motivation, and emotion predict consistent hearing aid use and self-perceived hearing aid benefit. We are thrilled to receive this grant, which has the potential to help our participants and the larger population of adults with hearing loss. Long term, we hope our research will help hearing health care professionals know how to modify current counseling and rehabilitation practices to improve hearing aid use and adoption in older individuals who have hearing loss that negatively impacts their life.” – Erin Schafer
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Haifeng Zhang, Professor Department of Materials Science
Grant Title: Multi-Modal Surface Acoustic Wave Sensing System for Pressure and Temperature Monitoring of Spent Fuel Canisters Grant Amount: $615,750 Agency: Department of Energy Professor Haifeng Zhang is researching new and safer ways to store nuclear waste, thanks to a three-year $800,000 grant from the Department of Energy. Nuclear waste is stored in stainless steel containers, which radiate extreme amounts of heat that can cause cracks in the container and waste to leak. Zhang’s proposal is to create a new sensor that could monitor the container’s pressure and temperature while withstanding high amounts of heat. The sensor would also be able to signal when the container may be reaching a breaking point. Zhang is the principle investigator, working alongside co-principle investigators Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Energy Technology Laboratory. The project’s funding also goes toward hiring two graduate students and purchasing new equipment. Why the Grant Matters: “There is no existing technology that has been one-hundred percent proven to work to monitor what is happening inside the cannister,” said Zhang. “With our proposal, we’re hoping to change that. What we’re doing here has never been done before.” – Haifeng Zhang
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NOTABLE NEW GRANT AWARDS (continued)
COLLEGE OF INFORMATION
Sarah Evans, Assistant Professor Department of Information Science
Grant Title: Raise Up Radio Grant Amount: $420K Agency: Institute of Museum and Library Services Co-PI: Lance Simpson, University of Alabama About the Grant: Raise Up Radio came about after Assistant Professor Sarah Evans in UNT’s College of Information Department of Information Science was speaking with a colleague in library youth services about how families used to listen to stories on the radio. “The coronavirus brought this mainstream attention to the fact that the rural areas still have a lot of people who don’t have broadband,’” Evans said. “Even if they do, there’s great inconsistency in service and prices. There are definitely important efforts to remediate that. However, it’s going to take several years, and kids are learning and growing right now.” Local radio stations are a vital lifeblood for rural communities, which led to the idea that they could broadcast STEM content produced by local libraries to families who may not be able to access internet at home. “It’s not just the library putting together another thing. It’s actually involving families and looking at what STEM issues are relevant to their local communities, because those can all be slightly different,” Evans said. “In some communities, they’re like, ‘We have a community garden,’ so maybe we’ll do some STEM stuff around gardening. In other communities, there are seniors who don’t understand how the internet works, so what are some things we could talk about on the radio to address that?” The radio broadcasts also would connect to activity kits that community members could check out from the library, creating further learning opportunities. The work focused on one library to start. Additionally, researchers are creating an online toolkit and network for librarians to use to share their ideas and experiences
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between those who have started working with their local radio stations and those who are interested in doing so. For the first year of the grant, Evans was joined by Assistant Professor Lance Simpson at University of Alabama and UNT Graduate Assistant Lacy Molina in working with a library in Texas and a library in Alabama to create a STEM radio program for local children in coordination with a local station. The second year will expand to four more libraries, allowing the initial libraries to act as mentors to the new libraries. As new libraries join in the program, more experienced librarians would act as resources for librarians starting similar programs. The work is funded by a $420,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, which supports creating a diverse future workforce and furthering professional development to support the information needs of communities. Why the Grant Matters: “Rural America needs more resources,” Evans said. “There are children who are growing up in rural areas, which have all kinds of wonderful experiences and lots of things that they know about in terms of STEM. If you’re a farmer, you know a lot about science. We want to tap into those resources and add to them, so that rural kids can recognize their knowledge and grow. People can’t always get to the library, but at least they’ll get a broadcast. They can be part of this community effort to learn more about the concepts that they need to think about, the information that they need.” – Sarah Evans
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Calvin Henard, Assistant Professor Department of Biological Science
Grant Title: Development of Advanced Biocatalyst Tools and Resources to Enable Biogas-Based Biomanufacturing Grant Amount: $537,995 Agency: National Science Foundation Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are higher than ever, leading to warmer average temperatures and altering the planet’s climate. Two of the most abundant greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide and methane — can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds and even thousands of years. temperature while withstanding high amounts of heat. The sensor would also be able to signal when the container may be reaching a breaking point.
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As scientists and engineers look for ways to reduce the man-made greenhouse effect, University of North Texas Department of Biological Sciences faculty member Calvin Henard is beginning a three-year project to develop a methanotroph that can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by eating carbon dioxide and methane. Henard’s work is backed by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Agile BioFoundry, a consortium of national laboratories committed to accelerating biomanufacturing. The Agile BioFoundry is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office. Henard’s proposal was one of only six selected nationwide for this inaugural opportunity. As a researcher in UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute, Henard’s research and teaching are focused on microbiology. Specifically, his lab engineers methanotrophic bacteria to convert methane gas into bioplastics, biofuels and other valuable products. His work led to the discovery that some methanotrophs also consume carbon dioxide. By feeding gases to these bacteria rather than releasing them into the atmosphere, engineers can help reduce the greenhouse effect. It’s also a more sustainable way to produce chemicals, plastics and fuels that would otherwise be sourced from petroleum. For another aspect of the project, Ana Paula Alonso, professor of plant biochemistry at UNT, will trace how carbon moves throughout the organism. As a result, they will be able to create a roadmap showing movement through the bacteria, which will be used to guide engineering efforts. The methanotrophs can be engineered to convert methane and carbon dioxide into any number of products, but that simple genetic modification currently takes months to complete. The goal of Henard’s project is to develop more advanced genetic tools that will increase the throughput of their engineering efforts and reduce the genetic modification time to a matter of weeks. There are numerous practical applications for this work. For example, the technology could be attached to every wastewater treatment plant in the world. Rather than being released into the atmosphere, the waste gas could be converted into molecules used to make bioplastics. Why the Grant Matters: “I’m really happy to be part of this unique collaboration between NSF and ABF because the goal is to move from basic science to more industrially relevant applications,” Henard said. “These technologies are really a win-win because they’re an alternative way — and a sustainable way — to make products, but they also mitigate greenhouse gas production.” – Calvin Henard
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New Faculty Startup Allocation f rom Division of Research and Innovation (All Funding Sources) College
FY 2020
FY 2021
FY 2022
$478,075
$384,428
$276,358
G. Brint Ryan College of Business College of Education College of Engineering College of Health and Public Service College of Information College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
$35,000
College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism College of Music
$89,600
College of Science
$554,841
$661,348
601,203
$1,067,916
$1,135,376
$877,561
College of Visual Arts and Design Total
F&A Reimbursements FY 2021
FY 2022
Fund 850000 (F&A)
Fund 850000 (F&A)
Colleges (PI, Dept., and College)
$1,855,525
$2,161,831
VP Finance and Administration
$1,644,572
$1,956,728
VP Research and Innovation
$2,053,376
$2,381,967
Total
$5,553,473
$6,500,526
Revenue Distribution
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Division of Research and Innovation F&A Budget FY 2021
FY 2022
Fund 850000 (F&A)
Fund 850000 (F&A)
Prior FY Balance Carried Forward
$1,767,973
$1,820,997
FY 2021 New F&A Distribution
$2,053,376
2,381,967
$3,821,349
$4,202,964
Salaries/Fringe
$133,591
$149,387
Materials and Office Supplies
$24,255
$78,798
Division of Research and Innovation Total
Total Resources Allocation VP Research and Innovation
Dean and Associate Dean Meetings Travel Staff Professional Development
$1,496 $338
$3,146
Data Analytics & Institutional Research (DAIR) support
$21,000
$21,000
Risk Management - Hazardous Waste Disposal
$33,838
$33,838
Research Development
$58,209
$48,559
Grants and Contracts Administration
$50,919
$65,000
Research Integrity and Compliance
$90,664
$100,000
Research Commercial Agreements
$219,000
$200,000
Core University Shared Research Facilities
($269,367)*
$410,759
Research Institutes and Centers
$389,170
$298,116
Faculty Grantsmanship Training and DC Fellows
$30,114
$23,579
Other UNT Research Program Support
$77,630
$36,141
Direct College Support for Research
$81,444
$ 107,507
New Faculty Startup
$484,318
$322,188
Faculty Retention
$10,000
Faculty Research Seed Grants and Awards
$264,666
$204,087
Sponsored Grant Award Cost Share
$34,637
$15,364
Support for Winter Storm Research Damages (one-time)
$285,483
$92,468
Total Budget Allocation
$2,019,909
$2,211,430
Expected Year Ending Net Balance
$1,801,440
$1,991,533
COVID-19 Related Expenses
EIS Budget Conversion Error Correction (one-time)
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CHAPTER 3
Unit Reports
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GRANTS AND CONTRACTS ADMINISTRATION
Charles Tarantino Assistant Vice President for Grants and Contracts
In 2022, the Post-Award Team focused on team building and incorporated many new talented team members into its operations and was pleased to fill its final vacancy. It was also a year of systems implementations, process refinement and improvements. The Post-Award team implemented the awards component of the new Huron Grants and Agreements module “Grants and Agreements,” called GRAMS. The system interfaces with PeopleSoft and no longer requires duplicative data entry, which provides streamlining to the award process. The costing area of the Post Award team implemented the new Huron Effort reporting module called Effort Compensation Compliance (ECC). The university will be reducing the three effort reporting periods down to two semi-annual reporting periods, reducing faculty workload and strengthening the controls by adding pre-reviewers to the effort reporting process. In addition to the effort reporting implementation, the costing team implemented a new cost sharing process that integrates an important function into the general ledgers where faculty will be able to obtain current cost sharing data for their awards online. The team has completed and submitted the first F&A proposal submitted to the Federal government in 10 years. This was a dynamic effort that involved working with many areas of the university, such as facilities, asset management and space that are not normally involved in sponsored project activity. The Post-Award team created a suite of accounts receivable reporting tools that allow for comprehensive data and intelligence gathering related to our receivable activity. This along with revised procedures has allowed for a reduction in outstanding receivable balances by 50 percent. Finally, in terms of award closeout, the Post-Award team created a reporting tool that will assist the team in closing out our sponsored projects, reducing the amount of time and areas of our systems that need to be reviewed in order to ensure a proper closeout.
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RESEARCH COMMERCIAL AGREEMENTS
Michael Rondelli
Associate Vice President for Research Commercial Agreements
In FY22, Research Commercial Agreements (RCA) continued to focus on customer service and build on FY21 progress in streamlining the contracting and tech transfer processes. RCA’s continued success was the product of its team approach to our work. The team created 789 contracts, including 12 technology license agreements. Technology Transfer: Technology transfer is the process of commercializing intellectual property developed by UNT faculty and staff. While the tech transfer metrics were done from the record-breaking year of FY21, all metrics remained above average. The university filed 43 new patent applications and issued 11 new patents – a record high over the past five years. The total of 12 license agreements is the third highest in UNT history (FY21 and FY20 are first and second) and included UNT surpassing the one-million-dollar mark in cumulative licensing revenue for the university. In addition, a UNT licensed technology (InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer) received an Emergency Use Authorization from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), the first such authorized device for UNT. UNT also received its first licensing royalty based on sales from a licensed emergency management software platform. Research Contracting: FY22 brought on the introduction of the GRAMS platform for sponsored award management. RCA transitioned the processing and storage of all funded contracts to GRAMS when it went live in March. Since the agreements module tracks the status of the contract processing, this all-in-one suite allows faculty to check on the status of their agreements on their dashboard. Even while going through this transition, the contracting team increased the number of contracts created to 789 and continued to efficiently process contracts with short turnaround times. This is a testament to how quickly the team adjusted to processing contracts through the new system and learned how to take advantage of the new functionality.
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RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND COMPLIANCE
Jamie Peno
Assistant Vice President for Research Integrity and Compliance
In FY22, the Research Integrity and Compliance team continued our commitment to ensuring transparency, collaboration, efficiency, and consistency in research compliance operations. We integrated UNT’s Biosafety Program into our area and added a Biosafety Officer position to our team. The integration strengthened compliance by providing effective monitoring of biosafety protocols and our collaboration with the Risk Management Services team. The Biosafety Program oversees and reviews research protocols involved in both teaching and research, and in areas of overlap, it coordinates with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the Radiation Safety Committee when applicable. The IRB Program provided additional recruitment resources to our research community by joining ResearchMatch, a national recruitment registry that brings together researchers and people who are interested in volunteering to participate in health-related research studies. Additionally, Tango Card and Greenphire’s ClinCard platforms were implemented to provide researchers with more compensation tools and resources. The IACUC Program implemented an electronic system through Huron Research Suite for researchers to electronically submit their research protocols. The Program is part of the Grants and Research Administration Management Suite (GRAMS) software solution. With this implementation, researchers will have the ability to complete their IACUC protocols in GRAMS with the goal of streamlining processes. Programmatic improvements were made to our International Affiliations and Foreign Influence Program to safeguard our research endeavors while supporting our international collaborations. The goal of our program is to be welcoming to all individuals in a safe and inclusive manner while maintaining compliance and meeting the highest ethical standards. Lastly, we continued to focus on research integrity by providing ___ training
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opportunities to the research community to increase awareness and to continue our education and outreach efforts.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Aaron Roberts
Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation
In FY22, Research Development continued to work to improve opportunities for faculty to garner extramural funding through workshops, seed grants, and proposal support. The Proposal Manager Program consisting of seven full-time professionals who help to identify opportunities, create research teams, and manage submission of large proposals resulted in several new multi-PI awards from federal agencies including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and UNT’s first ever award from the Keck Foundation. Faculty-led workshops were conducted on opportunities from the National Institutes of Health (18 attendees) and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (27 attendees). Two grantsmanship training workshops, including one for faculty and one for postdocs/graduate students) were conducted virtually by the AtKisson Group, with nearly 200 registrants. The Research BREAKS series, an informal research education series, was held monthly covering “nuts and bolts” topics ranging from cost-share to the National Science Foundation (NSF) REU program. Research Development also managed the Limited Submissions and Research Seed Grant programs. This year, 34 applications for Seed Grants were received and eight teams of researchers funded at $10,000 each. Finally, to promote collaboration and celebrate faculty research, Research Development and research communications founded the new Research on Tap series. Held monthly, Research on Tap highlights a short Ted-style talk from a UNT faculty member at a local venue open to the public. Beginning in January, Research on Tap featured seven faculty from seven departments covering topics ranging from supply chain issues to inclusion in education to astronomy.
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RESEARCH CENTERS Center for Agile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing (CAAM) — UNT’s CAAAM has positioned Texas as a leader in additive manufacturing innovation and workforce development. Many innovations now are feasible through CAAAM’s synergistic approach involving computational processes, materials modeling and in-situ and ex in-situ process, materials analysis/diagnostics along with data and decision sciences and machine learning sciences. The center is poised to forge innovative interdisciplinary collaborations across a multitude of science and engineering aspects of additive manufacturing including cybersecurity, data and decision sciences, complex logistics and supply chain, and high-performance computing. Additionally, the center works to address acute shortages in the manufacturing workforce by empowering companies to embark on additive manufacturing innovation and create industry-research partnerships with regional and multinational manufacturing industries and their partners to meet the needs of public, private, federal and defense industry domains. These research and industrial collaborative activities have resulted in generating nearly $12 million in external funding. Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS) — The university is encouraging integrated, intelligent mobility systems such as connected and autonomous vehicle research, spanning several disciplines including engineering, business, science, information, and health and public service. Researchers and students are working collaboratively on the complexities inherent in the field, including the technology itself, the data collection that helps drive its development and planning, and the policy and business practices necessary to support it. Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society (CREEHS) — CREEHS works to increase the overall quality of life for all Texans and to foster an environment for economic growth and innovation by narrowing longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in health care. Grounded in a biosocial frame of the determinants of health, CREEHS and its community partners investigate health quality, health policy and related systems by examining the economic, social
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and environmental factors that have contributed to health disparities in the state. CREEHS research projects promote health equity across the DFW metroplex and the State of Texas.
INSTITUTES OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE Advanced Environmental Research Institute — In FY22, the Advanced Environmental Research Institute (AERI) expanded its membership to 30 researchers across six colleges, allowing for increased multidisciplinary team-based research and proposal submissions. Additionally, Lauren Fischer from the Department of Public Administration was appointed as the associate director of AERI to assist director Amie Lund in facilitating collaborations within the social sciences and engagement in community outreach activities in support of AERI’s mission to foster interdisciplinary environmental research and education. During FY22, 61 proposals were submitted totaling more than $22 million, which represents a 20% increase in submissions and a nearly 3-fold increase in funding requested over FY21. AERI researchers were awarded more than $4.8 million in new funding from various federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as foundation gifts to support ongoing research in environmental monitoring, restoration, conservation, sustainability, water usage in crop production, the impact of environmental stressors in development and physiologic function across species, toxicology, and issues surrounding urban development and environmental justice. Furthermore, a new AERI Advisory Board was assembled, comprised of ten members from local industry, government, non-profit organizations, and academia. AERI Advisory Board members are actively engaged in the institute and are assisting with strengthening faculty relationships and student opportunities with ESGfocused industry partners. Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes Institute — The Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes Institute (AMMPI) reorganized its membership by adding an associate director, Wonbong Choi from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, an original member from 2016. AMMPI also reorganized and formed its leadership teams to include a both a six-member leadership team along with a 14-member team. AMMPI members brought in more than $6.5 million in research
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funding FY 2021, highlighted by a $5.5 million research grant from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory with five AMMPI members (Rajiv Mishra, Raj Banerjee, Tom Scharf, Srinivasan Srivilliputhur and Marcus Young), a $500,000 CAREER National Science Foundation grant for Diana Berman and a $498,000 National Science Foundation grant for Francis D’Souza. BioDiscovery Institute — BioDiscovery Institute — The BioDiscovery Institute (BDI) aims to deliver research solutions that underpin the utilization of living systems for the production of polymers, oils and additives, chemical feedstocks, composite materials, proteins and other macromolecules, bioactive molecules, and biofuels. It gathers a collaborative, interdisciplinary network of biochemists, molecular biologists, chemists, engineers and computer scientists. BDI network increased in FY 2022 with four new faculty members: Lee Hughes (Biological Sciences), Diana Berman (Material Sciences), Clement Chan and Brian Meckes (Biomedical Engineering). During FY 2022, BDI research projects were supported by 34 grants and contracts totaling $3.1 million in research expenditures. The interdisciplinary research activities led to 79 scholarly publications and six patent applications. For FY 2022, the BDI is particularly proud of our junior faculty’s accomplishments: Drs. Antunes, Chan, Henard, and Skellam are leading new multidisciplinary projects funded by the Welch Foundation, NIH, NSF-DOE, and Keck Foundation; and Dr. Berman received the prestigious UNT Early Career Award for Research and Creativity. Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research (JMI) — The Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research (JMI) expanded to more than 40 researchers from across six colleges during the past year. Researchers submitted 42 proposals requesting $29M proposals to federal sources and 10 to non-federal. As a result of these proposal submissions, $1.6M was awarded. The institute jointly funded the Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS) with the Dean of the College of Engineering to advance the study of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous ground vehicles (AVs), and UAV to AV communications. JMI continuously offers seed grants to support the formation of multidisciplinary teams pursuing externally funded, NRUF eligible grant opportunities. Future plans include pursuit of a U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Center and collaborative research between NASA and the
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Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in the areas of UAVs, AVs and increasing supply chain resiliency. In addition, the institute continues to maintain a research office in Austin manned by two research professors conducting research in support of the Texas Department of Transportation.
RESEARCH CORE FACILITIES Core research facilities, available for researchers across the university’s campus on a fee-for-service basis, are under the daily management of Aaron Roberts, associate vice president of research and innovation. The cores are designed to increase access to facilities for all UNT researchers and supports future development of cross-college and cross-departmental collaboration. Current core facilities:
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•
BioAnalytical Facility, featuring state-of-the-art mass spectrometers with advanced capabilities for separating and quantifying small molecules and macromolecules
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Genomics Center, providing RNA and DNA sequence analysis using the latest technology
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Greenhouse Support Services Facility, including three major greenhouses: one on the roof of the Life Sciences Complex, one outside the Science Research Building and another at Discovery Park
•
High-Performance Computing Services, through the Texas Advanced Computing Center in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin
•
Materials Research Facility, offering high-end materials assessment instruments
•
Vivarium which provides support to animal researchers
“As our world transforms, the need for creative solutions to complex problems will only increase, and our faculty researchers are at the forefront of groundbreaking work in numerous areas. UNT remains committed to investing in the outstanding work done by this community. I am confident they will continue to rise to the challenge, and exponentially increase the positive contributions to the North Texas region, Texas and our nation.”
UNT President Neal Smatresk
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