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Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors

OVPR Research Development
UT Research Management Suite
Bridging Barriers

Research Development Contact

  • Jennifer Gardner, Ph.D., Deputy Vice President for Research
  • Lena Suk, Ph.D., Associate Director of Investigator Skill-Building
  • Kayla Dryden, Executive Director, Research Development
  • Bob McGarrett, Program Director - Limited Submission and OVPR-Administered Grants
  • Bridging Barriers: BridgingBarriers@austin.utexas.edu

Services Provided

The OVPR Research Development team strategically oversees campus-level initiatives that promote collaborative research, including the UT Pop-Up Institutes and our campus-wide research grand challenges initiative, Bridging Barriers. We also provide competitive intelligence and tactical proposal development support to cross-college teams of researchers pursuing center grants and other major external funding. We facilitate collaborative relationships among faculty through a research mentor-pairing program, and we organize investigator skill-building events that enable motivated early career researchers to seek advice from successful PIs.


Past Awards