Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) – a research, training and outreach program working to advance understandings of the role of religion in public life Rice Design Alliance (RDA) – outreach and public programs of the Rice School of Architecture Rice Center for Quantum Materials (RCQM) – organization dedicated to research and higher education in areas relating to quantum phenomena Rice Engineering Initiative for Energy Transition and Sustainability (REINVENTS) – research initiative on energy generation, long-term energy storage and the development of processes and materials for sustainable energy systems Rice Neuroengineering Initiative (NEI) – fosters research collaborations in neural engineering topics Rice Space Institute (RSI) – fosters programs in all areas of space research Smalley-Curl Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology (SCI) – the nation's first nanotechnology center Welch Institute for Advanced Materials – collaborative research institute to support the foundational research for discoveries in materials science, similar to the model of Salk Institute and Broad Institute Woodson Research Center Special Collections & Archives – publisher of print and web-based materials highlighting the department's primary source collections such as the Houston African American, Asian American, and Jewish History Archives, University Archives, rare books, and hip hop/rap music-related materials from the Swishahouse record label and Houston Folk Music Archive, etc. Admissions Admission to Rice is rated as "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report. For fall 2020, Rice received 23,443 freshmen applications of which 2,346 were admitted (10.0%) up from a record-low 8.7% acceptance rate in 2019. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for the class of 2023 were 1470–1560; the middle 50% range of the ACT Composite score was 33–35. Rankings Rice was ranked tied at 17th among national universities and 108th among global universities, 6th for "best undergraduate teaching", 5th for "Best Value", and tied for 16th "Most Innovative" among national universities in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 edition. Forbes magazine ranked Rice University 21st nationally among 650 liberal arts colleges, universities and service academies in 2019, 19th among research universities and 2nd in the South. In 2020, Rice was ranked 105th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In 2020, Rice was ranked tied for 95th internationally (41st nationally) by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Rice University was also ranked 85th globally in 2020 by QS World University Rankings. Rice is noted for its entrepreneurial