The UNLV Division of Research and Economic Development reports data characterizing institutional research activity in order to measure and evaluate campus research productivity and to facilitate benchmarking to promote future growth. The following report contains compilations of standard institutional research metrics, as well as pertinent graduate education data.

Sponsored programs activity is a dominant component, including dollars sought through grant proposals, funding received through awards, and research expenditure data depicting funding used for the conduct of research. (The latter is the national gold standard for measuring research funding activity.)

Also contained in this report are data on technology transfer outputs, which include intellectual property activity in the form of IP disclosures, patent applications, and patents. Data on the number of doctoral graduates are also included. Not included in this document is a depiction of faculty scholarly outputs in the form of publications, presentations, books, and creative activities. Data collection and analysis are underway in this area but are not available at this time.

Sponsored Program Activity

Proposals

UNLV faculty and staff have submitted an average of approximately $262 million in proposals each year since 2008. The annual proposal totals have decreased in recent years as budget cuts have led to three factors: a reduced number of research-productive faculty, increased teaching workloads, and increased administrative burden on researchers due to cuts in research support staff.

Awards

Total award funding and research award funding are down overall in recent years, though a slight increase was observed in FY13. It should be noted, however, that a large portion of this decline is attributable to the national moratorium on federal appropriations funding, which previously comprised a large portion of award funding at UNLV. As federal appropriations funding has declined, competitive funding has proportionately increased.

*Total awards include research, instruction & training, other sponsored activity (i.e. public service, student services, etc.), and financial aid.

Sponsored Program Funding

*Includes 3 awards for $35.8 million in financial assistance

Expenditures

Expenditure data are considered the national standard of measurement for research activity. (Standards for reporting award funding vary by institution, but the reporting of funds expended is standard among all.) Research expenditures also tend to depict research activity more accurately, as the occasional spikes seen in award data are not as prevalent.

*Total awards include research, instruction & training, other sponsored activity (i.e. public service, student services, etc.), and financial aid.

Technology Transfer Activity

The Division of Research and Economic Development recently enhanced support of faculty development of intellectual property. In May 2012 the division established the Office of Technology Development and Transfer, which helps faculty and staff bring discoveries and inventions to the marketplace. The division also formed the Intellectual Property Committee in 2012 to evaluate and promote university intellectual property. Since that time, UNLV faculty disclosures have increased substantially; the total number of UNLV disclosures on file is currently 140.

UNLV holds 14 patents listing UNLV inventors and has filed 32 patent applications in the last four years. Patented technology available for commercialization can be found online.

Doctoral Degrees Conferred

Another measure of university research activity is the number of doctoral graduates, as doctoral programs typically require a strong research component culminating in the doctoral dissertation. The number of doctoral degrees conferred at UNLV has steadily increased since 2008.