Research

University-Recognized Centers and Institutes

The intent of a university-recognized center/institute as an approved organizational unit of the university is to help faculty, staff, and students in the pursuit of excellence and achievement in research, instruction, and outreach. University-recognized centers and institutes provide stimulating and organized opportunities to enhance research particularly of an interdisciplinary nature as well as instruction and outreach beyond what is possible from traditional academic units. Each university-recognized center/institute should conform to university policies as well as to state regulations and statutes.

General guidelines for determining whether a unit should be titled an institute or a center are:

• A center is composed of faculty and potential staff and students who declare a shared technical interest and pursue shared research, instruction and/or outreach that involve common activities.
• An institute is broader and more complex than a center and may be a collection of centers.

Formal proposals for establishing a university-recognized center/institute should be initiated through the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) according to guidelines established in OP 74.14.

Centers/institutes operating solely within an academic department may be established by the respective dean.

 

Intellectual Property Rights

Statement of Basic Philosophy and Objectives

It is recognized that research and scholarship on the part of members of the faculty, staff, and students of Texas Tech University (hereinafter referred to as TTU) will result in inventions, manuscripts, computer software, and trade secrets of other products that are potentially marketable. It is the policy of the Board of Regents to encourage scholarly activity without regard to potential gains from royalties and other forms of income; however, all TTU policies governing patentable or copyrightable inventions, publications, or other marketable products will provide adequate recognition and incentives to sponsors, inventors, assignees, and authors and at the same time assure that TTU’s duty to serve the public interest will be served.

 

General Policy

The Intellectual Property Policy, as adopted, shall apply to all persons employed by the component faculties of TTU, to all students of TTU, and to anyone using TTU facilities or under the supervision of TTU personnel. Every employee, faculty, staff, or student is expected to be aware of the TTU policies regarding such copyright or patentable developments or discoveries and agrees to accept and abide by them as a condition of employment or enrollment.

It is the intent of this policy to foster the traditional freedoms of the TTU faculty, staff, and students in matters of publication and invention, through a fair and reasonable balance of the equities among authors, inventors, sponsors, and TTU. The purpose of the policy is to outline the respective rights that members of the faculty, staff, and students have in intellectual materials created while they are affiliated with TTU.

As a public institution, TTU is entrusted with the responsibility to facilitate application of scientific, technical, artistic, and intellectual endeavors of its faculty and staff for public use and to provide for an equitable disposition of interests among the authors and inventors, TTU, and, where applicable, the sponsoring or contracting funding source. The entire Intellectual Property Rights Policy appears in OP 74.04.

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Research Council

The Research Council serves in an advisory capacity to the Vice President for Research on research-related matters. Upon request of the Vice President, the committee provides advice on such matters as university research policy, research goals, and improving the research climate. The Research Council is composed of the Associate Vice Presidents for Research, the Associate Dean for Research from each college and the Law School and representatives from university-supported multidisciplinary centers and institutes.

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Research Services

This office supports the university’s research mission by providing centralized administrative and management services for sponsored projects. Sponsored projects include grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements—from both public and private sectors—that support research, instructional, and service projects. It also provides information on funding programs, assists with proposal development and submission, reviews and negotiates grants and contracts, and prepares reports concerning university research activity.

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