Proposal Preparation Guidelines
General Information Blurb
This general blurb is for researchers to use in grant proposals. Please feel free to download the MS Word Version and revise as needed. While USFRI makes every effort to provide the most frequently used data and information in this blurb, institutional data may be needed that is not maintained by USFRI but maintained centrally by other areas. For questions, contact Sponsored Research, phone (813) 974-2897.
The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News and World Report’s national university rankings than USF. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF is designated as a Preeminent State Research University by the Florida Board of Governors, placing it in the most elite category among the state’s 12 public universities. USF is home to medical clinics and hospitals, a major mental health research institute, and a public broadcasting station. The university employs more than 2,000 full-time instructional faculty and over 5,000 full-time staff. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. It has a $1.85 billion annual budget, and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion.
One of 12 universities within the State University System of Florida, USF is one of the nation’s top public research universities and a leading metropolitan research university. USF has 14 colleges: Arts and Sciences, The Arts, Behavioral & Community Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, Global Sustainability, Honors, Marine Science, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Graduate Studies. The university offers 242 degree programs, including the doctor of medicine: 85 bachelor programs, 107 master programs, two education specialist degree programs, 44 research doctoral programs, and four MD programs. The Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs is the center for all academic operations and functions at the university. USF has been ranked #1 in overall student success; #1 in greatest improvements in 6-year graduation rates among 4-year public universities by the Chronicle of Higher Education (2017). In addition, U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) ranked USF Tampa as a Best College for Veterans (2020).
The university is dedicated to the discovery of new knowledge, insights, and forms of expression through significant innovative research and other creative activity, and to the preservation, organization, analysis, and synthesis of existing knowledge. Designated as a “Preeminent State Research University,” the Tampa campus is one of the nation’s top public research university campuses and one of only 56 public research university campuses classified by the Carnegie Foundation as both a Doctoral University with “Highest Research Activity” and as a “Community Engaged” institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. As a leading publicly supported university, USF accomplishes its research mission by building on existing program strengths, fostering effective, transdisciplinary approaches, and contributing to the resolution of social, cultural, economic, medical and technological challenges facing the metropolitan population of our community, state, nation and the world.
USF faculty, students and staff are proactive in the search for new knowledge and consistently demonstrate their concern about the world in which we live. With the support of private and public agencies, they contribute to our knowledge about the world and apply their findings and skills to solving many of the problems facing contemporary society. Many contributions evolve from basic research; others, from practical applications of new knowledge. Other projects make specialized training available to public officials, organizations working for social betterment, religious and educational institutions, and business and manufacturing organizations. Through sponsored and non-sponsored activities, USF faculty, students and staff make significant contributions to instructional programs.
The dedication of USF researchers, students and staff has contributed to the phenomenal growth in research that USF experienced over the past 30 years. The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Almanac of Higher Education ranked USF as the nation’s fifth growing research university from 2000-2010. The University of South Florida is one of only 49 public research universities nationwide classified as both a Doctoral University with “Highest Research Activity” and as a “Community Engaged” institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
USF ranks 8th in the nation among public universities and 16th world-wide for granted U.S. patents among all universities according to the Intellectual Property Owners Association/NAI (2019), and has ranked in the Top 10 among public universities for U.S. patents granted for the past ten years (2010-2019). The university supports economic development and the translation of USF research and technologies to the marketplace, through an active Technology Transfer Office and USF CONNECT, the economic development arm of USF. USF’s Tampa Bay Technology Incubator is currently home to more than 60 resident and affiliate companies and growing. It is the only tech business incubator in the region to support bio and life science companies with state-of-the-art wet labs. Over 55% of TBTI companies focus on bio & life sciences and nearly 50% are commercializing technologies developed by USF researchers.
USF has numerous research and health care partnerships through affiliation agreements with hospitals and not-for-profit organizations in the metropolitan Tampa Bay area, including the U.S. Geological Survey. As a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Moffitt Cancer Center, located on the USF Tampa campus, is part of an elite group of cancer centers nationwide that focus on the quick translation of research advances to improvements in patient care and has developed a strong national reputation for excellence.
The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine System is affiliated with the following major participating institutions: Tampa General Hospital, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, James A Haley Veterans Hospital, Morton Plant/Mease Hospital, C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. These facilities provide training for USF Health Residents, Fellows and medical students in the Tampa Bay area. In January of 2020, a brand-new medical building in the heart of downtown Tampa was opened to house the Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute. Its proximity to Tampa General Hospital will be an invaluable asset moving forward with the partnership between Tampa General and the University of South Florida. Additional research and training is also provided by the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital on the USF campus, the facilities of the Florida Hospital network, Bayfront Medical Center, and the USF Health outpatient clinics and research facilities, which include the USF Health Neuroscience Institute (Home of the Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr., Alzheimer’s Center) on the USF Tampa campus.
Affiliate partnerships established with such organizations as Mote Marine Laboratory have expanded the research and development capacities, student educational opportunities, and economic development impact of USF. Affiliation agreements with organizations normally provide for collaboration through shared facilities, faculty, and equipment, as well as support for graduate students and internship programs. These types of agreements enable the institutions to pool resources, such as laboratory space, and enable compliance committees to stimulate an exchange of ideas.
Throughout the university's development, the faculty at USF have identified and satisfied needs on a local, national and global scale. A variety of activities in such areas as health care, heart health, neuroscience, transportation, informatics, cybersecurity, education and engineering are conducted by specialized research and development centers and institutes. The university currently has over 100 such centers and institutes, many of which function in an interdisciplinary fashion, enabling coordination of projects across colleges.
From developing sources of clean energy, to enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities, and leading the way in translating the discoveries of our researchers into new products, companies and jobs, USF’s research, innovation and economic development enterprise is focused on creating local, national and global solutions to society’s most difficult problems.
Last updated: 6/08/2020