Office of Sponsored Research Services

• RIT Standard Rates for budgets
• Printable reference to standard RIT proposal information (pdf file).

RIT - Brief Profile

Founded in 1829 as the Rochester Athenaeum, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has been a pioneer in career-oriented education and a leader in cooperative education since 1912. RIT has one of the oldest and largest co-op programs in the world, with more than 1,300 employers and 2,500 students participating. Many co-op employers hire co-op students upon graduation.

RIT is a coeducational, privately endowed Institute, enrolling 15,312 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students preparing for technical and professional careers. Its eight colleges include the new B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, Applied Science and Technology, Business, Imaging Arts and Sciences, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Liberal Arts, Science, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. There are more than 80,000 RIT alumni in all 50 states and many foreign countries.

RIT was ranked 14th in the Yahoo Internet Life "America's Most Wired Colleges" survey for 2000.

RIT's modern 1,300-acre campus is located in Rochester, the third-largest city in New York State.

RIT - Detailed Profile

Internationally recognized as the leader in imaging, technology, fine and applied arts and education of the deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology has established a tradition of excellence in professional and career education. Founded in 1829, RIT enrolls over 15,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students in more than 260 career-oriented and professional programs. The university has the fourth oldest and fifth largest cooperative education program in the nation. RIT’s operating budget exceeds $340 million, and its endowment ranks among the top 100 universities in the U.S.

Many RIT programs are unique and enjoy worldwide recognition, including state-of-the-art programs in software engineering, information technology and microelectronic engineering. RIT’s Ph.D. program in imaging science is the only one of its kind in the world. RIT has a broad range of programs including information technology and telecommunications; engineering; computer graphics; photographic illustration and biomedical photography; biotechnology and bioinformatics; printing management; international business; and imaging science. RIT has eight colleges, including the recently established B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, which we believe is the largest computing college in the country with over 3,000 students enrolled in computer science, information technology and software engineering. The other seven colleges are: Applied Science and Technology, Business, Engineering, Imaging Arts & Sciences, Liberal Arts, Science and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID).

RIT is a teaching university with an emphasis on applied research in selected focus areas, including imaging, microsystems, information technology, and manufacturing.

RIT recently received designation by the State of New York as a STAR Center, the result of a highly competitive selection process that established eight such centers at major universities throughout the State. The RIT STAR Center, called the Information Technology (IT) Collaboratory, will focus on four areas of research: microsystems, photonics, remote systems and high-bandwidth telecom networks. Key industry partners in this initiative include Global Crossing, Frontier, Corning, Kodak, Xerox, IBM and a number of small- and mid-size companies, along with University at Buffalo and Alfred University. RIT is also partnering with Kodak, Corning and Xerox, along with a number of universities, to establish a Center of Excellence in Infotonics in Rochester, New York.

The Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science is a partner in the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Electronic Imaging Systems. The Center’s mission is to conduct research in the field of electronic imaging, to leverage these results for economic advantage to New York State and the nation, and to contribute to U.S. efforts to retain world leadership in imaging, document processing and telecommunications.

The Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies (CIMS) was established to increase the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers through applied technology and training. Core competencies of CIMS include remanufacturing, printing and publishing, and lean manufacturing. In the past two years, CIMS has worked with over 1,000 companies, completed over 1,100 industrial projects and conducted more than 600 training courses for over 12,000 industry participants. The National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery (NCR3) is the nation’s leading center for applied research and development in environmentally conscious manufacturing. The Center works with companies to improve productivity, reliability and processes and to design and manufacture products with no negative impact on the environment.

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is a federally sponsored college of RIT. Established in 1965 by an Act of Congress, NTID is the world’s first and largest technological college for deaf and hard of hearing students. The College provides deaf students with outstanding technical and professional education programs, complemented by a strong liberal arts and sciences curriculum that prepares them to live and work in a rapidly changing global community. Nearly 1,100 deaf students from the United States and other countries are enrolled at NTID, as well as 75 hearing students enrolled in programs that are designed to prepare professionals to work in fields related to deaf people.

For the past decade, U.S. News and World Report’s poll of college presidents has ranked RIT as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. In the 2001 edition, RIT ranked fourth among the top regional universities in the north and tied for first in academic reputation. RIT was tied for fourth in the nation among undergraduate engineering programs whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s, and RIT’s College of Business is ranked among the top 50 programs in the country. RIT’s photography program has consistently been ranked as the top program of its kind in the nation.

More profile resources:

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Last Edited: 2008-02-05 ac