Announcements from SVP Tomás Díaz de la Rubia
Building a research enterprise of purpose and impact
Dear colleagues,
President Garimella’s inspiring letter to the community was a wonderful way to begin a new academic year. The momentum we have built together is worthy of celebration, especially when it comes to your research and creative accomplishments.
As I have said many times over the last nine months, I remain in awe of the incredible research DNA and spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Arizona. Ours is a storied institution, one of the world’s most impactful research universities, driving over $1 billion in research annually that benefits our communities here in the Sonoran Desert and far beyond.
As President Garimella emphasized, research at the U of A is central to our land-grant mission and expanding opportunity for the people of this state. I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment in his recent letter: “the U of A is vibrant, resilient and ready for a bright future.”
We live in a time of extraordinary change. From climate extremes and geopolitical instability to pandemics and widening health and other social disparities, the stakes are high. And the role of public research universities has never been more essential. We are responding with purpose, bringing our knowledge to bear on the issues that matter most.
Convergence and support for students, faculty and staff
To address these challenges and drive solutions at the global, regional and local scales, innovative approaches and new methodologies that merge perspectives from science, technology and engineering with the social sciences, arts, design and the humanities are needed. True solutions with positive social impact require working across and beyond traditional boundaries that often separate humanists, legal scholars, artists, designers and social scientists from natural and life scientists, engineers and technologists.
Our strategic research verticals – namely national security; energy, resources and the environment; the future of health; and the human condition – map into these global grand challenges and provide a long-term framework for organizing interdisciplinary work. The verticals are supported by cross-cutting foundational capabilities that are aligned with excellence in traditional academic disciplines and connect people and programs across the university. Our most transformative work emerges when we bring diverse perspectives to the intersection of these verticals and horizontals.
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To accelerate progress in areas of national and global relevance that reside at these intersections, we received $20 million from the Arizona Board of Regents to launch a set of strategic research initiatives. These initiatives reflect focused opportunities where we can build on our strengths, lead today and grow for the future. They mobilize faculty expertise, strengthen capacity and support the pursuit of large-scale funding to drive innovation and impact. In recent months, faculty and staff have engaged in strategic planning sessions that examine options and define where we aim to be in five years, where we will focus our efforts and what investments will be needed to succeed.
At the same time, we’ve launched new internal programs that serve students, faculty and staff, and provide meaningful support to convergent research and creativity across the university. The Big Idea Challenge encouraged transdisciplinary teams to propose ambitious solutions to real-world problems. More than 70 teams submitted proposals, and six received significant seed funding of $250,000 for two years per team to pursue visionary research and external investment. The Bridge Funding Investment Program set aside $1 million to help dozens of researchers stabilize operations, retain staff and maintain momentum during difficult times these last few months. We plan to sustain a robust bridge funding program well into the future.
Working with the Office of the Provost, we are in the process of finalizing the details and launching a new university-wide Committee on Faculty Awards & Nomination Strategy. This committee will serve as a central advisory body dedicated to identifying, supporting and executing external nominations of faculty for prestigious and highly prestigious awards, as designated by the National Research Council, that contribute to institutional reputation and faculty recognition. While disciplinary awards will remain within colleges and departments, this committee will focus on broader, institutionally significant awards, such as National Academy memberships. The committee will also evaluate early- and mid-career faculty with high potential for future prestigious recognitions and ensure they are supported in a long-term awards pipeline.
Partnerships power innovation and impact
Translating our discoveries into innovations that impact society in positive and tangible ways requires strong partnerships. This year, our office adopted a new name – the Office of Research and Partnerships. That shift signals our focus on the connections that power innovation and impact: relationships among researchers, institutions, local, state and federal agencies, and public and private sector communities, industries and philanthropies. This convergence is grounded in a shared sense of responsibility.
About a month ago, we launched a national search for a Chief Research Partnerships Officer, and I hope to be able to share some good news with everyone soon. The goal is for this new office to help advance our common research objectives and ambitions by working across campus, serving as a portal to the university to industry, philanthropies and the communities that surround us and helping close and execute on agreements that drive research forward beyond the federal government.
Connecting as a research community
As you saw last semester, we have created space for campuswide dialogue through our Distinguished Research Lecture Series, which brings thought leaders to campus to spark conversation and connection with broader global conversations. I encourage you to join us Thursday, Oct. 23, for our next lecture. Brian Schmidt, U of A alum and Nobel Laureate in Physics, will share insights into the fundamental nature of the universe and the role of scientific institutions in shaping our understanding of it. Later this fall, Kyle Harper, G.T. and Libby Blankenship chair in the history of liberty, professor of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma, and fractal professor at the Santa Fe Institute, will join us to discuss the relationship through history among climate change, pandemics and the fate of civilizations.
We are also launching a new Research Town Hall series this semester. These gatherings will provide faculty and staff with updates on our research priorities and strategy, highlight important advances and create space for open conversation. They are another way for us to stay connected and move forward together as a research community. The first town hall will be offered at two times — please join us at whichever is most convenient: Session 1 – Oct. 6 or Session 2 – Oct. 10.
We live in a complex, changing environment that can create stress and uncertainty among our faculty, staff and students. We are committed to providing as much information as we can in a timely and transparent manner. To this end, we’ve launched federal funding meetings and research administration forums for ongoing dialogue and collaboration. These touchpoints will help us build a culture of transparency and collective problem-solving while making us more responsive to your needs.
Bolstering research infrastructure
Many of you have heard me say it is my strong conviction that a university’s research office is a service-leadership organization. Our Office of Research and Partnerships is only as good as you think it is, based on how well we do our work to enable the success of your research. In my mind, successful organizations are learning organizations. To that end, we are partnering with a firm with decades of academic research administration experience to provide an expert opinion on the efficiency and effectiveness of our research enterprise and ideas to empower a process of continuous improvement. In the months ahead, you will receive surveys from ORP aimed at identifying strengths and opportunities for growth in our work and inviting your ideas for ways in which we might turn challenges into opportunities for improvement. We will never be perfect, but we strive for excellence every day.
You will also notice changes to research administration that are designed to make it easier for faculty, particularly early-career and new faculty, to engage in sponsored research. A restructuring of our onboarding services and proposal development support will help faculty members build strong research teams and navigate compliance more easily. ORP has extended its proposal and contracts support to all the Health Sciences colleges as well. Our goal is to help you succeed as we expand and elevate our research enterprise.
In addition to strengthening research administration support, we are enhancing how research achievements are communicated and celebrated. Communications staff who were formerly part of Health Sciences have joined ORP, and the expanded team is already enabling greater visibility of research activity and faculty successes to internal and external audiences. Led by Rachel Reinhardt, the team provides strategic storytelling and communications support to amplify our research excellence and its impact on communities near and far.
Aligning institutional strengths
As part of the university's broader realignment, several formerly Health Sciences centers and institutes recently joined ORP, bringing strengths in cancer research, neuroscience, immunology, pain and addiction, respiratory health and biomedical data science. These centers, each addressing critical health challenges, are now part of our growing research enterprise. I have met with the center directors and am inspired by their passion for solving some of health care’s greatest challenges.
As we welcome these centers, it is especially exciting to highlight a leadership transition at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. The Cancer Center – the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center headquartered in Arizona – gained a new leader in February when internationally renowned cancer researcher Dr. Dan Theodorescu joined the university. His visionary leadership and pioneering work in precision oncology align perfectly with our mission to drive innovation that directly benefits communities across Arizona and beyond.
Momentum and the path ahead
Our success stories, many of which President Garimella shared in his letter to the community, are shining examples of the impact we can have in our communities and around the world. We’re already seeing strong indicators of progress. Research expenditures surpassed $1 billion in FY24, placing Arizona among the top 25 public universities in the country, according to The Times Higher Education rankings. While we do not have final numbers for all research expenditures in FY25, I can tell you that our sponsored research expenditures exceeded FY24 by just over 3%. This is a remarkable achievement by everyone on this campus, particularly given the uncertainties facing the nation’s research enterprise over the last nine months. Our faculty are among the most cited in the world, and our innovation ecosystem is thriving with record highs in disclosures, licensing and startups.
These achievements are the result of your hard and excellent work. They are not just numbers; they represent ideas pursued, partnerships formed and knowledge translated into action. We are committed to making sure our operations keep pace with our ambition. That includes improving access to core facilities and strengthening infrastructure to support large-scale proposals and transdisciplinary research.
Through it all, one truth remains clear: the future of research at the U of A is being shaped by you – your vision and guidance define what comes next. I’m honored to serve alongside you, and I look forward to what we will accomplish together in the year ahead.
Cheers,
Tomás Díaz de la Rubia
Senior Vice President for Research and Partnerships
University of Arizona