Washington, D.C. — The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is pleased to announce Temple University as a new member. An institution renowned for living its mission of fostering opportunity, engagement, and discovery, Temple stands out for its dedication to educating a diverse and vibrant student body through innovative teaching, research, and other creative endeavors. Its commitment to access, community engagement, and discovery resonates deeply with SURA’s goals of advancing transformative scientific research and collaboration.
Dr. Sean J. Hearne, President and CEO of SURA, remarked, “The synergy between Temple’s values and SURA’s mission is clear. Temple’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community engagement perfectly aligns with our consortium’s objectives. We are excited about the potential for innovation and impact that this collaboration holds.”
Temple’s strategic contributions to SURA will be manifold, rooted in its core values of inclusivity, community-mindedness, and innovation. These principles are reflected in Temple’s robust academic offerings, especially within the College of Science and Technology (CST), which will support SURA’s key program areas including space science and technology, nuclear physics, coastal and environmental science, information technology, and data science.
Philadelphia’s only public research university, Temple is an R1 research institution and a global center of academic excellence. With 17 schools and colleges and more than 35 research centers and institutes, total research expenditures topped $300 million in 2022.
“SURA has an expansive program of building collaborations across the scientific spectrum with its member institutions,” said Josh Gladden, Temple’s vice president for research. “This includes taking on ideas proposed by its members for inter-institution collaborations, and reaching out to its members when projects become available that are in need of specific scientific talent. These are excellent opportunities for Temple to expand its already formidable research portfolio and continue to lead national initiatives in areas vital to the nation and the world.
Temple University’s mission to provide access to an excellent, affordable higher education and its focus on creating a collaborative community, foster an environment ripe for groundbreaking research and transformative educational experiences. This can be seen across the university, particularly within Temple’s Department of Physics.
“The Physics Department has long been a collaborator at SURA facilities, most notably within the nuclear physics community at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab),” explained Miguel Mostafá, CST dean and a physics faculty member. “Currently this includes CST faculty who conduct experiments at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab and others who are leading a new theoretical nuclear physics collaboration centered on Jefferson Lab physics topics. Furthermore, with the advent of the High-Performance Data Facility at Jefferson Lab, new opportunities will open for many researchers within the College of Science and Technology.
These efforts are further amplified by Temple’s dedication to service and engagement not only in Philadelphia but globally, enriching SURA’s initiatives across various scientific domains. Additionally, Temple’s commitment to fostering a welcoming environment and embracing global connections will enhance SURA’s collaborative efforts, encouraging a culture of shared success among its member universities.
With a student body of more than 30,000 students across diverse campuses, including in Philadelphia, Tokyo, and Rome, Temple exemplifies global leadership and commitment to academic excellence and innovation. This ethos, coupled with Temple’s unwavering dedication to community engagement and providing access to affordable education, makes it an invaluable addition to the SURA consortium.
As SURA welcomes its fifty-sixth member, the consortium reaffirms its dedication to fostering scientific collaborations that transcend individual capabilities. Through its management of significant projects like the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility for the Department of Energy and its commitment to enhancing the scientific community’s capacity for transformative research, SURA, alongside Temple University, is poised to make significant advances for the betterment of society and the world.
Contact: Victoria Aikens, vaikens@sura.org