Office of the Senior Vice President for Research
The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research is responsible for facilitating the $1.337 billion-per-year research enterprise at Penn State by working with a broad range of units across the University. The mission of the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research is to support a rigorous program of faculty and student research and creative accomplishment by enhancing the environment for scholarly and artistic endeavors, encouraging the highest standards of quality, and fostering ethical conduct in research. And supporting the University’s Presidential Goal of ‘Growing interdisciplinary research excellence.’
The Office is responsible for:
- The effective administration of sponsored programs which provide the financial support for a substantial share of the research activity at the University
- Serving as the University's advocate and spokesperson on research issues, and as a representative in activities that may produce major new programs and facilities for research
- Facilitating strong programs for interdisciplinary research
- Regulatory research compliance including appropriate standards for the protection of human and animal subjects
- Serving as a catalyst for economic growth and transformation through development of the Innovation Park
- Sponsorship of cooperative initiatives to enhance technology utilization
- Transfer of University-developed technologies for commercialization, thereby providing benefits to researchers, the University, and the citizens of the Commonwealth
- Seeking to inform its internal and external constituents of research accomplishments in collaboration with the Office of University Relations and through popular reporting on faculty and student research in the magazine, Research/Penn State
Also associated with OSVPR:
- The Office of Industrial Partnerships (OIP) – fosters strategic relationships with industry partners and supports Penn State’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, accelerating the pace at which technologies move from discovery to implementation and delivering new-found value & differentiation to industry and economic impact to Pennsylvania and beyond.
- The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) - responsible for managing, protecting, and licensing the intellectual property of faculty, graduate students, and staff at all Penn State locations.
- The Office for Research Protections (ORP) - ensures that research at the University is conducted in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and guidelines that protect human participants, animals, students, and personnel involved with research.
- The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) –provides central coordination and oversight of Penn State sponsored projects.
- Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO) – provides coordinated expertise to grow and support research at Penn State in professional preparations of proposals and management of funded projects.
- Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS) -- supports the University's Research Mission by providing support to all researchers and more than 180 staff members by designing, developing and maintaining web-based software systems in the Office of the Vice President for Research.
- Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State (ARL) – conducts essential research, development and systems engineering in support of our nation’s priorities.
- Animal Resource Program (ARP) – provides Penn State University Park campus with high quality animal care services and facilities to improve animal research and ensure the health, well-being and human treatment of animals in research and teaching at the University.
- Seven interdisciplinary research institutes – Huck Institutes of Life Sciences, Institute for Computational and Data Sciences Links to an external site., Institute of Energy and the Environment, Materials Research Institute Links to an external site., Social Science Research Institute, Cancer Institute, and Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Primary Strategic Office Goals
Penn State will advance its research worldwide and be known as a leader in research that impacts all aspects of our society, our nation, and the public good. From fundamental discovery to innovative applications, knowledge creation, sustainable implementation, economic development, and national security – our research will, more than ever before, have a transformative impact on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the nation, the world, society as a whole and the condition of our planet.
New faculty may want to contact the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research to:
- Share the breadth and depth of their research efforts at Penn State to help OSVPR support, elevate and communicate the impact Penn State Research has on the world.
- Discuss various needs, from Research Protections, to Sponsored Programs, to Partnerships and Entrepreneurship, as well as strategies across the Research enterprise.
The Top Items Faculty Should Know about the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research
Power Stats Long Description
The image highlights Penn State’s research strengths and accomplishments using a combination of text and numerical icons. On the left, a paragraph explains that the university’s research prowess is supported by seven interdisciplinary research institutes, the Applied Research Laboratory, and 18 colleges that conduct research across disciplines from STEM to the arts, law, and communications. On the right side, four blue bookmark-shaped icons each introduce a key metric: $1.337 Billion in research expenditures for 2023–2024; Ranked 26 nationwide for research expenditures; 2000+ industry partnerships in the past decade; 9000+ industry research projects since 2013. The design visually separates narrative and statistics for emphasis, using bold fonts and blue accent colors to highlight key figures and achievements.
Office of the Senior Vice President for Research Fun Facts
Penn State Research Annual Report 2024 Links to an external site.
Graph Descriptions
The Pennsylvania State University Total Research Expenditures in Millions of Dollars 40 Year History
Image Description: This vertical bar chart visualizes research expenditures at Penn State over a 40-year period (1985 to 2024). It separates federal and non-federal funding, showing a steady increase in total expenditures over time, with the highest amount—$1.337 billion—recorded in FY 2023–2024. Federal funding consistently forms a significant portion of the total, with notable growth starting in the late 1990s and continuing through 2024.
Alt-text: Bar chart displaying 40 years of research funding at The Pennsylvania State University, with two colored bars per year, growing overall from 1985 to 2024. Non-federal funding is in blue and federal funding in dark gray, with the total for 2024 noted as $1.337 billion.
Text Transcription: Title: "The Pennsylvania State University Total Research Expenditures in Millions of Dollars 40 Year History" Legend: "Non Federal" (blue), "Federal" (dark gray) Label: "$1.337B"
Industry, Foundations, and Other Sponsors in Millions of Dollars
Image Description: The image shows A stacked bar chart displays annual funding from four sources—Private Industry, Gifts/Endowments, Foundations, and Other Sponsors—from 2015 to 2024. The total funding increases steadily, with the largest increase from FY 2021 to FY 2024. The “Private Industry” and “Gifts, Endowments” categories make up the largest segments in recent years.
Alt-Text: Clustered bar chart showing sponsor contributions in millions of dollars across four categories: Private Industry, Gifts, Endowments, Foundations, and Other Sponsors, with an ascending trend over time
Text Transcription: Title: "Industry, Foundations, and Other Sponsors in Millions of Dollars" Subtitle: "(excluding Federal, Federal flow-through, Commonwealth of PA, and internal PSU funds)" Legend (right side): "Other Sponsors," "Foundations," "Gifts, Endowments," "Private Industry." Other Sponsors includes associations, institutes, societies, hospitals, state governments (excluding PA), local governments, and foreign governments. Y-axis labels: 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 140, X-axis labels: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Research Expenditures by College/Unit
Image Description: The image showcases a circular doughnut chart representing the distribution of funds for the fiscal year 2024 in Penn State colleges and units, labeled "FY2024 Total." The chart is on a textured tan background with varying shades of blue, orange, and purple representing different sectors. The center of the chart displays the total funds in bold, black font: "$1,336,627,000." Starting from the top and moving clockwise, the chart segments and their corresponding percentages are as follows: Applied Research Lab (29%), Engineering (18%), Medicine (13%), Agricultural Science (10%), Eberly College of Science (9%), Earth and Mineral Sciences (7%), Health and Human Development (5%), Liberal Arts (3%), Other (3%), Education (2%), and Information Sciences & Technology (1%). Each segment is annotated with its name and percentage, with lines connecting the labels to their respective segments.
Alt-Text: Doughnut chart with funding allocations for FY2024 totaling $1,336,627,000, with segments for various departments such as Applied Research Lab, Engineering, and Medicine as the largest sectors.
Transcribed Text: FY2024 Total $1,336,627,000. Applied Research Lab (29%) Engineering (18%) Medicine (13%) Agricultural Science (10%) Eberly College of Science (9%) Earth and Mineral Sciences (7%) Health and Human Development (5%) Liberal Arts (3%) Other (3%) Education (2%) Information Sciences & Technology (1%)
Research Expenditures by Source
Image Description: The image is a circular doughnut chart with a textured beige background resembling recycled paper. The chart is segmented into different colors representing various funding sources with respective percentages for the Fiscal Year 2024 budget. In size order: 'Department of Defense" in yellow (30%), 'University Funds' in medium blue (22%), 'DHHS' in darker blue (15%), 'Industry, Foundations, and Other Sponsors' in the darkest blue (10%), 'Other Federal' in black (7%), 'NSF' in lighter blue (6%), 'Appropriations' in lightest blue (3%), 'DOE' in light gray (3%), 'Commonwealth of Pennsylvania' in light purple (2%) and 'USDA' in purple (2%). In the center, bold text reads "FY2024 Total $1,336,627,000". The colors from yellow to purple seem to signify larger to smaller contributions respectively.
Alt-Text: Doughnut chart displaying FY2024 funding sources percentages, with "Department of Defense' at 30% being the largest, followed by "University Funds" at 22%, and other sources. In the center, it reads "FY2024 Total $1,336,627,000".
Text Transcription: FY2024 Total $1,336,627,000 Department of Defense (24%) University Funds (22%) DHHS (15%) Industry, Foundations, and Other Sponsors (10%) Other Federal (7%) NSF (6%) Appropriations (3%) DOE (3%) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2%) USDA (2%)
Research Expenditures by Source of Funds
Image Description: The image is an infographic titled "Research Expenditures by Source of Funds." It contains a donut chart and a legend correlating to the chart. The chart is split into four colored sectors representing various funding sources for research expenditures in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The center of the donut chart displays the total FY2024 research expenditures as $1,336,627,000. The largest sector is colored yellow and labeled federal with an expenditure of $845,734,000. The second largest is light blue representing university at $300,353,000. The third sector, in medium blue, corresponds to industry, foundations, and other with $133,594,000. The smallest sector, in the darkest shade of blue, represents funds from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, totaling $56,946,000. The background is tan, speckled with tiny black dots.
Alt-Text: Infographic with a donut chart showing FY2024 research expenditures by source, with Federal funding being the largest, followed by University, Industry, Foundations & Other, and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Total expenditures are $1,336,627,000.
Text Transcription: Research Expenditures by Source of Funds FY2024 Total $1,336,627,000 Federal ($845,734,000) University ($300,353,000) Industry, Foundations, & Other ($133,594,000) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ($56,946,000)
Research Expenditures from Federal Agencies ($845,734,000)
Image Description: The image presents a donut chart overlaid on a tan background with black dots. At the center of the donut chart, there's a label that reads "FY2024 Total $845,734,000." The donut chart is segmented into several colors indicating various departments' allocations, each with corresponding labels and values in a legend below the chart. Here's the breakdown: Yellow represents the "Department of Defense" with an allocation of $396,096,000. medium blue represents the "Department of Health and Human Services" with $199,735,000. darker blue is for the "National Science Foundation," with $85,845,000. The darkest blue labeled "Other" accounts for $58,109,000. Bright blue is for the "Department of Agriculture" with $38,007,000. Light teal represents the "Department of Energy," which has $35,652,000. The lightest blue for "NASA" shows an allocation of $19,568,000. Purple represents the "Department of Transportation" with $12,722,000 allocated.
Alt-Text: A donut chart depicting U.S. Federal funding allocations with segments for different departments, the largest segment for Defense, and smaller segments for Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, and others, against a tan background. Total funding is $845,734,000.
Text transcription Federal Total: ($845,734,000) Department of Defense: ($396,096,000) Department of Health and Human Services ($199,735,000) National Science Foundation: ($85,845,000) Other: ($70,160,000) Department of Agriculture: ($38,007,000) Department of Energy ($35,652,000) NASA: ($19,568,000) Department of Transportation ($12,722,000) Footnote: includes federal appropriations for agricultural research
If you'd like to see more about the Penn State Research Enterprise, check out the Penn State Research website. Links to an external site.
Additional Resources and Contact Information
Resources
- Penn State Research News Links to an external site.
- Penn State Research LinkedIn Links to an external site.
- Penn State Research Instagram Links to an external site.
Contact: Office of the Senior Vice President for Research
OSVPR@psu.edu
304 Old Main, University Park
814-865-6332