{"id":54915,"date":"2026-03-12T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=54915"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:47:30","slug":"research-excellence-fund-awards-500000-to-tarleton-state-for-doctoral-fellowships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/research-excellence-fund-awards-500000-to-tarleton-state-for-doctoral-fellowships\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Excellence Fund Awards $500,000 to Tarleton State for Doctoral Fellowships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Texas A&amp;M System Research Excellence Fund (REF) to support a new doctoral fellowship initiative designed to strengthen the university\u2019s research enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The funding will support 10 competitive doctoral fellowships through the System-Wide Innovation Fellowships at Tarleton State (SWIFT) Doctoral Fellows Program, which will recruit high-achieving doctoral students in three priority research programs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2013 Four fellows in Ph.D. in Animal &amp; Natural Resource Sciences<br>\u2013 Three fellows in Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology<br>\u2013 Three fellows in Ph.D. in Integrative Biosciences, <em>pending THECB approval<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are grateful for the unwavering support of The Texas A&amp;M System Board of Regents and Chancellor Glenn Hegar, whose leadership and commitment continue to expand opportunities for our students, faculty and researchers,\u201d said Tarleton State President Dr. James Hurley. \u201cThis award is another impactful milestone in our continued growth in research and innovation. Initiatives like this accelerate our progress, reinforce Tarleton State\u2019s role in advancing research, and strengthen our commitment to developing doctoral scholars whose discoveries will help shape the future of Texas and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SWIFT Doctoral Fellows Program aims to expand Tarleton State\u2019s research capacity by recruiting exceptional doctoral students and providing the support necessary for them to focus on high-impact research. The funding will allow fellows to accelerate research productivity while contributing to the university\u2019s broader research mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We are thrilled to receive our very first award from the Texas A&amp;M System Research Excellence Fund and thank the Board of Regents for their support,&#8221; said Dr. Rupa Iyer, Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Development. &#8220;This award will further enhance Tarleton State\u2019s capacity to build a strong pipeline of the next generation of a highly skilled workforce, expand our research capacity and move us closer to achieving our goal of R1 status.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A distinguishing feature of the program is its emphasis on cross-system collaboration. Students will be co-mentored by faculty from other institutions and agencies within The Texas A&amp;M System, expanding opportunities for collaborative research and joint scholarly work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to advancing research activity, the program will strengthen doctoral recruitment and retention while providing structured mentoring and professional development opportunities for participating students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This investment strengthens two priorities that matter deeply to Tarleton State: supporting outstanding doctoral students and expanding the impact of our research enterprise, said Dr. Barry Lambert, Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. &#8220;By attracting talented scholars into these programs and supporting them with strong mentorship, we are building the kind of research environment that benefits our students, our state,&nbsp;and the communities we serve.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Texas A&amp;M System Research Excellence Fund (REF) to support a new doctoral fellowship initiative designed to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":54921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":382,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,422,423],"tags":[430,436,437,441,465,445,454,456,457,458,459],"class_list":["post-54915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-morestories","category-academics-research","tag-academic-affairs","tag-college-of-agriculture-natural-resources","tag-college-of-education","tag-college-of-science-mathematics","tag-division-of-research","tag-division-of-research-innovation-and-economic-development","tag-rellis","tag-stephenville","tag-tarleton-state-fort-worth","tag-tarleton-state-online","tag-tarleton-state-waco"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"jpartin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/jpartin\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/03\/Tarleton-State-Campus-at-Sunset-300x200.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/homepage\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">_Homepage<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/morestories\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">_morestories<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/academics-research\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Academics &amp; 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Natural Resources<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">College of Education<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">College of Science &amp; Mathematics<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Division of Research<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">RELLIS<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Stephenville<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Tarleton State Fort Worth<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Tarleton State Online<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Tarleton State Waco<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 weeks ago","modified":"Updated 3 weeks ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on March 12, 2026","modified":"Updated on March 12, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on March 12, 2026 2:00 pm","modified":"Updated on March 12, 2026 9:47 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54916,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54915\/revisions\/54916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}