In an effort to become a major research university, the University of North Texas is earmarking $25 million to fund research projects, President Gretchen Bataille said Tuesday.

Gretchen Bataille

“We’re going to focus our efforts on research,” Bataille said. “We needed that focused energy, and now we’re able to move forward.”

Moving forward would require faculty to come together across departments to pull UNT up to a top-tier school, a coveted spot on the ladder of higher education, said Vish Prasad, UNT’s vice president for research and economic development.

Holding the higher status could ultimately translate into more research dollars coming into the university and thus add to the academic prestige.

But UNT is not alone in the race for the top; six other Texas universities also want to be among the state’s top research schools.

“We have very strong programs in arts and sciences, and with the different ways people rank universities, research publications and criteria is important,” Prasad said. “To be a major university, one needs to have a very comprehensive approach, and our effort is in that direction.”

The investment announced today is substantial.

Last year UNT brought about $22 million into the school from federal sources and private industry, and the university spent about $3 million of its own money on updating research infrastructure, Prasad said.

When UNT hired Prasad last year, he wanted to help the university improve its status in the state.

And in a projected five-year endeavor, UNT plans to hire recognized researchers, Prasad said.

Current faculty members also will be involved with these research projects, he said.

Prasad said the university is petitioning the Legislature for about $10 million to hire senior researchers and lecturers, which could cut down on the student-teacher ratio.

Other dollars UNT is seeking from the Legislature include $63 million in tuition revenue bonds for a new College of Visual Arts and Design building and $2.5 million for 2010 and 2011 for a project called Next Generation Course Redesign, said Kim Reasoner, director of external and government relations at UNT.

A total of 37 proposals were brought to a review committee, which chose six.

Faculty will submit research proposals again this fall for the next school year, Provost Wendy Wilkins said.

The six clusters announced Tuesday include bio/nano photonics, materials modeling, developmental physiology and genetics, signaling mechanisms in plants, autism spectrum disorders and advanced research in technology and the arts.

A commitment to the arts, especially arts grounded in research, is good news, said Robert Milnes, dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design.

“Arts are part of it,” Milnes said. “The president has it just right — comprehensive re­search grounded in the arts with strong science and re­search labs will drive the quality of the university overall. You don’t want to leave anyone behind.”

The College of Visual Arts and Design will work on the advanced research in technology and the arts cluster to increase effective communication in electronic arts and music, said Milnes.

Other areas of research — human health and sustainable environment and multi-scale damage, lifetime prediction and design of materials — will receive seed money for further development. 

The exact funding structure hasn’t been released yet, but Prasad is calling the funding a “collaborative effort” across the board from the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth to UNT’s Center for Advanced Research and Technology at Discovery Park in Denton, as well as the Dallas campus.

However, most of the upcoming infrastructure improvements will occur on the main campus in Denton, Prasad said.

The $25 million investment comes from recent tuition increases, as well as funding from the state that has been requested from the Legislature, Prasad said.

“Instead of hiring junior faculty, we are going to hire senior faculty that are internationally recognized,” Prasad said. “We won’t make compromises; we will wait a year to make sure we have the right people.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com .