Accelerate New Mexico
Office of the Vice President for Research
Advancing Discovery, Creativity, and Innovation for New Mexico
Every breakthrough begins with a question. At The University of New Mexico, Research is Education. Students, postdoctoral fellows, early career faculty, and established researchers work across disciplines to address complex challenges, create new knowledge, and turn promising ideas into solutions that improve lives and strengthen communities. As New Mexico’s premier R1 research institution, UNM integrates research and education, giving students hands-on experience while advancing discovery, innovation, and economic opportunity.
The Accelerate New Mexico campaign provides an opportunity to expand this work. Philanthropic investment can supply flexible resources at critical stages of innovation, strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, and prepare the next generation of researchers and problem solvers. These investments will help UNM compete for major external funding and deliver meaningful impact for New Mexico.
Overview:
The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) leads and supports UNM’s research enterprise. The OVPR provides the infrastructure, resources, and strategic leadership that enable faculty, students, and research staff to pursue discovery, create new knowledge, and translate ideas into real-world impact.
The OVPR oversees a diverse portfolio of research programs, centers, institutes, and initiatives that bring together expertise from across the university and beyond. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships with communities, industry, government agencies, national laboratories, and philanthropic organizations, the OVPR helps researchers address complex challenges that affect New Mexico and the world.
Through its support of research development, student engagement, innovation, and strategic initiatives, the OVPR strengthens UNM’s role as a leading research university while expanding opportunities for discovery, education, economic development, and community impact.
List of Priorities:
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Fueling Discovery. Accelerating Innovation. Advancing New Mexico.
The Research Innovation Fund provides flexible support for high-potential opportunities across UNM. It invests in pilot projects, interdisciplinary collaborations, emerging areas of excellence, strategic partnerships, and other work that can strengthen future proposals and accelerate progress. By providing resources when they are most needed, the fund helps transform promising ideas into discoveries, discoveries into solutions, and solutions into meaningful impact.
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Where Discovery Becomes Impact
The world’s most pressing challenges do not fit neatly within a single discipline, and neither do the solutions. Through UNM’s Grand Challenges program and interdisciplinary centers and institutes, faculty, students, industry partners, national laboratories, government agencies, and communities work across traditional boundaries. These collaborations advance discovery, workforce development, technology translation, and economic growth while strengthening New Mexico’s leadership in areas such as drylands resilience, quantum science, artificial intelligence, aerospace, and advanced energy.
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Developing the Next Generation of Problem Solvers
Tomorrow’s breakthroughs depend on the talent we cultivate today. UNM students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty gain hands-on experience working alongside world-renown scholars, innovation leaders, and external partners to tackle real-world challenges. Investments in people expand pathways into high-demand fields, strengthen New Mexico’s workforce, and provide emerging innovators the support they need to turn bold ideas into practical solutions.
Through Accelerate New Mexico we are seeking philanthropic support for these initiatives:
$1 million for the Innovation Fund
$5 million for the Centers of Excellence and Grand Challenges Program
$5 million for student participation in meaningful, hands-on research opportunities and experiential learning opportunities
Ellen Fisher
Vice President for Research
“Research universities like The University of New Mexico play a pivotal role in developing discoveries, technologies, and the talent that will shape New Mexico’s future economy. Through Accelerate New Mexico, we have an opportunity to strengthen research infrastructure, support bold ideas, and expand opportunities for students to participate directly in discovery and innovation. At UNM, we believe that every research experience prepares students to become the scientists, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and community leaders who will drive our state’s prosperity for generations to come.”
We realize that these are ambitious goals. But the university-wide momentum and energy of the Accelerate New Mexico campaign presents us with an historic opportunity to rise to the challenges of today to build a better tomorrow through the OVPR.