UTSA to serve as home of new UT System partnership with Mexico’s national science and technology council
(May 16, 2016) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will lead an effort by the University of Texas System to enhance ties with Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) by administering new academic and research exchange programs for the mutual benefit of the United States and Mexico.
The UT System Board of Regents has approved the allocation of $5 million to support the initiative. CONACYT will also provide significant funding — approximately a three-to-one match — of UT System’s investment.
UTSA expects to launch an office to oversee the UT System-CONACYT exchange programs in the fall and to begin recruiting and promoting the various programs. The following year, the university will welcome the first cohorts of doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty researchers and students from Mexico to UT System institutions.
“This is an incredible opportunity for collaboration between two exceptional organizations,” said UTSA President Ricardo Romo. “I believe that we are about to launch one of the most exciting educational student exchanges in the country. This agreement allows UTSA to be a key player in strengthening the ties between Texas and Mexico, and to support the bilateral agenda of these two countries.”
The funding approved by the UT System and by CONACYT will support:
• 30 Mexican doctoral students per year at UT System institutions, creating a total cohort of 150 Ph.D. students over five years;
• collaborative research projects designed to increase and enhance exchanges between faculty from UT institutions and Mexican universities. These projects will serve as seed grants to facilitate the pursuit larger grants;
• funding for nine postdoctoral fellows and six faculty fellows a year -- fellows from Mexico conducting research at a UT System institution, or fellows from UT System institutions at Mexican universities;
• short fellowship visits by non-degree students, allowing Mexican master’s and Ph.D. students to engage in research experiences at UT System institution either for six months or 12-month periods.
Since 1982, CONACYT has supported 530 Mexican fellows at various UT System institutions, including 22 fellows at UTSA. Since 2012, it has supported approximately 35 new fellows each year.
UTSA currently has 26 exchange agreements with universities and organizations in Mexico.
“Mexico is more than just our friend,” UT System Chancellor William H. McRaven said while signing the agreement. “Each one of our academic and health institutions benefits from our proximity to and relationship with Mexico, and the same can be said of Texas itself. Our partnership with CONACYT is essential to building a knowledge exchange to make new discoveries in science, health care and technology.”
McRaven and Romo laid the groundwork for the UT System’s partnership with CONACYT, Mexico’s peer to the U.S. National Science Foundation, when they signed a memorandum of understanding with the agency in August 2015. That agreement enabled the UT System’s 14 institutions to develop a wide variety of STEM-related research and academic programs for faculty and students in areas such as applied math and modeling; biology and chemistry; biochemistry and agricultural sciences; earth, coastal and marine sciences; energy; environment; industrial manufacturing technologies; information technology and telecommunications; materials; medicine and health; nanotechnology; and space sciences and technologies.
“The opportunity to oversee the UT System’s programs with CONACYT will expand UTSA’s visibility and presence with our neighbors to the south, and sends a positive signal to our friends in Latin America of our desire to partner and recruit their top talent,” added Rene Zenteno, UTSA vice provost for international initiatives.
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