The University Research Foundation (URF) is an internal funding program that supports the research mission of the university. While the details of structure and funding have evolved over its 37-year existence, the goals have remained the same: to support faculty as they start their careers; to help established faculty pivot into new research directions; to compete for external funding; and, to facilitate collaborations across disciplines. Applicants can submit to four disciplinary areas: Biomedical Science, Natural Science, Humanities and Social Science and Management. This report outlines the URF program, including recent changes, as well as trends and impact over the period of 2010- 2017.
Note that the Research Facilities Development Fund, a companion of the URF, supports infrastructure development, which is not in the purview of the URF.
The Research Fund was established as an endowment in 1980 for the purposes of general support of research and cost sharing required of external funding agencies. It was a target in President Meyer’s Campaign for the 80s. The Research Fund Program was initiated in 1984 as a grant program.
There was some confusion regarding the roles of the two programs during the late 80s. In recent decades, the grant program has been designated as the University Research Foundation and, while the details have evolved, the goals remain aligned with the combination of those of the original two grant programs.
The URF is supported from university funds and the original endowment.
Within the URF there are two application cycles per year and five grant opportunities. These include the traditional Research and Conference Support grants, Impact Seminar Grants, and two relatively new grant opportunities; Research Opportunity Development Grants (RODG) Phase I and Phase II.
Established In 2016, the Research Opportunity Development Grants Phase I and Phase II were designed to support strategic targeting of emerging opportunities that align with Penn’s strengths. Their goal is to facilitate the intersection of the forward trajectory of Penn’s research frontiers with the trajectory of national and global research priorities. The initial submissions to the RODG program did not align with the program goals and were not funded. After a focus on more effective communication, three Research Opportunity Development Grant proposals have since been awarded.
In fall 2017 an electronic grant application and management system was implemented to manage the URF program. The system facilitates on-line submission, assessment, committee processes, and reporting. Since implementation the URF has experienced an approximately 30% increase in submissions.
URF Goals
- Aid junior faculty as they apply for extramural funding and establish themselves as independent investigators
- Help established faculty perform novel, pioneering research to determine project feasibility and develop preliminary data to support extramural grant applications
- Provide support in disciplines where extramural support is difficult to obtain and where significant research can be facilitated with internal funding
- Provide limited institutional matching funds that are required as part of a successful external peer-reviewed application
- Catalyze unique collaboration and partnerships
- Foster a supportive environment where faculty can work together and understand that they have institutional backing
The Research Fund was established as an endowment in 1980 for the purposes of general support of research and cost sharing required of external funding agencies. It was a target in President Meyer’s Campaign for the 80s. The Research Fund Program was initiated in 1984 as a grant program.
There was some confusion regarding the roles of the two programs during the late 80s.
In recent decades, the grant program has been designated as the University Research Foundation and, while the details have evolved, the goals remain aligned with the combination of those of the original two grant programs.
The URF is supported from university funds and the original endowment.
The annual level of funding in the URF program has been relatively stable, varying between $1.4M and $1.6M over eight years averaging $1.5M per year. This compares to funding requested in submissions that average approximately $5.8M per year. A comparison of the total number of proposals submitted and those awarded between 2010 and 2017 shows that the success rate varied between 23% and 33%, demonstrating a reasonable balance between hyper-competition and quality assurance. Note that the number of awards remained nearly constant, and the variations in submissions can be attributed to differences in the level of research community engagement with the program.
During the reporting period, 1,138 Research Grant proposals were submitted to the four disciplinary areas. Of the proposals submitted, 352 were funded. During this same period, 200 Conference Support Grant submissions were received, and 118 Conference Support Grant awards were made. These ratios result in a success rate of approximately 60% for the Conference Support program. Across the entire URF program, $11.8 million in funding was provided to 306 faculty members across all 12 Penn schools between 2010 and 2017.
The Research Opportunity Development Grant program was established explicitly to expand the impact of URF support. The first grant was awarded to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations to establish a state-of-the-art platform, that combines two large data bases with GIS enabling 3-D visualization of the third millennium BCE environment. The platform can enable multiple schools, centers, and digital humanities initiatives to develop models and carry out collaborative research, ranging from urban planning to maritime studies. The second Development Grant was to a seven-investigator team working on new technologies for the treatment of glioblastoma. This research was originally targeted at a center grant opportunity that was cancelled and was redirected to two new proposal submissions to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The third Development Grant involved a cross campus effort to develop a Center for Health Equity and Policy. All the initial grants through this new mechanism are showing progress toward the stated goals; however, the impact will not be evident for several years.
In addition to the expected emphases within the areas of biomedical science, humanities, social science, and natural science, some interesting cross program themes emerge in this reporting period. Sixteen of the projects were related to public health, 23 to advanced instrumentation, eight focused on social justice issues, five on climate change, seven on art related topics, six on cities and urban issues, eight on education, and two on immigration. These trends highlight current research strengths at Penn, as well as the evolution of research directions with time.