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50-in-5

Working together to increase research and scholarly output by 50 percent in 5 years

UH Preeminence: 50-in-5 is a new university-wide program focused on increasing our research and scholarly output 50 percent by 2023. This includes the doubling of our national centers from five to 10.

Our Goal

President Khator announced a bold new initiative to advance the University of Houston beyond a comprehensive research institution to better position it for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). The AAU includes 62 of the most distinguished research universities across the country.

Provost Paula Short and Vice President for Research Amr Elnashai have partnered with college leadership, the faculty senate and faculty leaders throughout the University to determine metrics and alternative measures for every discipline that would significantly improve UH’s position for AAU membership.

Learn more about AAU >
Learn more about the road to 50-in-5 >

President Khator, Provost Short and VP Elnashai discuss the goals of the 50-in-5 campaign and the importance of the initiative for the faculty and students.

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Measures that Matter

Every college has determined metrics that matter in moving specific disciplines to the next level of scholarly output. Here is a collection of measures that will help University of Houston be competitive for AAU Membership.
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    Total Expenditures
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    Federal Expenditures
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    Grants Awarded
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    Journal Publications
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    Conference Presentations
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    Faculty Awards
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    Performances
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    Exhibitions
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    Citations
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    Casebooks
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    Fellowships
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    Media Mentions

50-in-5 Scholars

Faculty across the University were celebrated for Year 1 50-in-5 individual achievements during Fall 2020. Faculty are celebrated for achievements in four categories, including major grant awards, patents, high-impact journal publications and national recognition.

Celebrate Year 1 Scholars

Faculty across the University were celebrated for Year 2 and Year 3 individual achievements in the high-impact journal publication and national recognition catetories in November 2021. Major grant awards and patents earned in FY20 and FY21 will be celebrated in February 2022.

Celebrate Year 2 Scholars

Celebrate Year 3 Scholars

Performance

There are several University-wide metrics measured through the 50-in-5 initiative. These measures allow us to benchmark our progress with peer institutions.

Research Expenditures

This measure is counted on the fiscal year and represents total research expenditures as reported to the National Science Foundation. For the first time in history, UH broke the $200 million mark for research expenditures.

Research expenditures

Federal Expenditures

This measure is counted on the fiscal year. UH continues to be competitive for federal grants funds, as demonstrated by the consistent rise in expenditures from funds awarded by federal sources. 

Federal expenditures

Citations

Citations are measured on a three-year rolling average. Therefore, the citation measure will increase over time and provide a more accurate view of publication relevance in the field after three years.

Total Number of Awards

Total Amount of Funds Requested

This measure is counted on the fiscal year. While we have seen the total number of proposals decrease, there has been in increase in the dollar amount proposed, showing faculty are working toward more competitive, larger grants.

InCites documents chart

Total Amount of New Funds Awarded

This measure is counted on the fiscal year and reflects new funds awarded UH during the reporting period. Given more new funds were awarded during the pandemic than the year before, this metric demonstrates that the UH enterprise is on an upward trajectory.

Total Amount of New Funds Awarded

Upcoming Events

Resources for Faculty

  • Workshops

    Town Halls

    Provost Short and VPR Elnashai will host a series of town halls to proactively address faculty concerns, provide resources and answer questions about 50-in-5 progress.
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    Workshops

    A series of major workshops will be scheduled around the year to provide faculty with the opportunity to learn more about how to improve scholarly and research output. Stay tuned for more information on these soon.
  • Faculty Cafe with VPR Elnashai

    Faculty Development

    Every month, the Office of Faculty Engagement and Development and Division of Research host a multitude of events that are relevant to increasing scholarly output. Events will be promoted in the FED monthly newsletter and in Inside Research Newsletter every Wednesday.

    Faculty Development Events
    Division of Research Events

McAllister & Quinn

UH has engaged with McAllister and Quinn, a DC-based firm specialized in large grants consulting, to identify funding opportunities, assist with major proposal development, and provide tailored training in complex proposal preparation. There will be opportunities for all faculty to participate in concept papers, calls for proposals and other initiatives.

As opportunities arise, emails will go out to all faculty.

Internal Awards

UH offers many internal awards for faculty to support a variety of scholarly activity, including center planning, grants for new faculty, support for small projects, and funding for equipment and thrust-focused research.

Memberships in National Organizations

  • 16National Academy of Engineering Members
  • 4National Academy of Science Members
  • 1National Academy of Education Member
  • 21American Law Institute Members
  • 30National Academy of Inventors Members

Scholarly Output

books

Our faculty published 3,540 journal articles in the 2019 calendar year.

citations

Faculty received 180,072 citations in 2019, reflecting a three-year rolling average.

global partnerships

Faculty participate in international research collaborations in over 90 Countries

Faculty Awards

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NSF CAREER Winners: 65 since 1996

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Fulbright Faculty: 18 over the last five years

international citations

Clarivate Analytics list of Highly Cited Researchers: 9

Research and Innovation

  • 203MResearch Expenditures (FY21)
  • 25Patents (FY21)
  • 73Disclosures (FY21)
  • #79Rank in the Top 100 Global Universities for U.S. Utility Patents