On April 25, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) instructed the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to suspend work on the Regional Innovation Engine and Aerospace Center pending further review. The NSF stated that they became aware of a potential issue with the NSF Regional Innovation Engine and immediately referred the issue to their Office of Inspector General for further review.
UTEP acknowledged that they became aware of potentially incorrect statements in their proposal to the National Science Foundation for the Regional Innovation Engine Program on April 6. Upon review, they found that the statements in question committed resources to the NSF grant that UTEP does not have. UTEP sent a letter to the NSF on May 6 informing them of these erroneous claims. However, there has been no additional response from UTEP at this time.
ABC-7 reached out to UTEP for more comments and information on the matter but received no response yet. KVIA ABC 7 encourages civil and constructive conversation on their platforms and asks participants to keep their comments respectful and relevant. They provide Community Guidelines for reference, and invite individuals to share their story ideas through their submission process.
In summary, UTEP is currently suspended from working on the Regional Innovation Engine and Aerospace Center due to a potential issue with their proposal, which was discovered by them themselves after receiving funding from NSF for this project. This situation highlights how important it is for universities to carefully review their proposals before submitting them to funding agencies like NSF, as incorrect or misleading information can have serious consequences such as suspension of work or even loss of funding altogether.