National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR)

1. National Science FoundationExperimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) National Academies May 24, 2012

2. NSF Organization Director & Deputy Director National Science Board Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences Computer & Information Sci & Eng Mathematical & Physical Sciences Biological Sciences Geo- Sciences Engineering (BIO) (ENG) (CISE) (GEO) (MPS) (SBE) Office of Cyber-infrastructure (OCI) Office of Polar Programs (OPP) Office of Budget, Finance & Award Management Office of International Sci & Eng (OISE) Office of Information Resource Management Office of Integrative Activities (OIA) EPSCoR Education & Human Resources (EHR)

3. People: The EPSCoR Team Program Specialist

4. EPSCoR in Context • Established by NSB Resolution in 1978 • Target: States receiving lesser amount of NSF research support funding • Purpose: To build sustainable capacity of educational institutions in those states to compete more successfully in NSF and other research programs

5. EPSCoR Strategic Objectives • Catalyze key research themes • Activate effective jurisdictional and regional collaborations • Broaden participation • Use EPSCoR for development, implementation, and evaluation of programmatic experiments Strengthen Jurisdictions Capacity for Competitiveness

6. NSF EPSCoR Eligibility History

7. Eligible EPSCoR Jurisdictions • Have historically received lesser amounts of NSF Research Support; and • Have demonstrated a commitment to develop their research bases and improve science and engineering research and education programs at their universities and colleges.

9. What is EPSCoR? • State-based capacity-building program - Governance includes State committee - Alignment with State S&T plan - Research driven: Science First! - State co-investment – 20% Cost Sharing - Economic development • Multidisciplinary • Multi-institutional • Close interaction between NSF and the EPSCoR community Multi-faceted State-wide program!

10. EPSCoR Investment Strategies • Research Infrastructure Improvement Awards (RII) • Support physical, human, and cyber infrastructure within academic institutions at the state level • Co-Funding with NSF Directorates and Offices • Supports individual investigators and groups from EPSCoR jurisdictions by co-investment with disciplinary research programs in their meritorious proposals • Outreach Activities and Workshops • Brings EPSCoR jurisdiction investigators together with NSF program staff; builds mutual awareness andtransparency

11. RII Track-1 Program Up to $4M/yr for up to 5 yrs Statewide Virtual Center: Science First- PLUS Strategically aligned with State S&T Plans

12. Research Foci of Track-1 Awards Each Track-1 Project has multiple areas of interdisciplinary research that cuts across 2 or more of these overarching themes. • Sustainability & Water Resources • Modeling Climate Change • Energy • Environmental Science • Genetics, Genomics, & Proteomics • Materials Research • Nanoscience • Sensor Development

13. Arkansas- Renewable Energy: Plant biosynthesis, alternative energy, and nanotechnology Iowa - Sustainable Energy Systems: The transition in energy supply from subsurface energy stores to renewable energy flows at or near the earth’s surface Louisiana - Multiscale Modeling:Electronic, energy and biomolecular materials computational modeling Track-1 Awards Research Foci

14. Rhode Island- Impacts of Climate Change on Marine Life:Response of marine ecosystems to ocean warming and acidification Tennessee - Solar Energy Conversion and Storage:Sustainable methods and materials to enhance energy efficiency West Virginia - Bionanotechnology for Public Security and Environmental Safety:Sensors for heavy metals and toxins; biomimetics Track-1 Awards Research Foci (+)

15. EPSCoR Investment Tools for Capacity Building (+) • Research Infrastructure Improvement Awards (RII) • Track-2: Up to $2M/year for up to 3 years to consortia of jurisdictions to support innovation-enabling cyberinfrastructure of regional, thematic, or technological importance. (New in FY 2009) 15

16. EPSCoR Investment Tools for Capacity Building (+) • Research Infrastructure Improvement Awards (RII) • Track-2: Up to $2M/year for up to 3 years to consortia of jurisdictions to support innovation-enabling cyberinfrastructure of regional, thematic, or technological importance. (New in FY 2009) 16

17. EPSCoR Investment Tools for Capacity Building (+) • Research Infrastructure Improvement Awards (RII) • Cyber Connectivity (C2): Up to 2 years and $1M to support the enhancement of inter-campus and intra-campus cyber connectivity and broadband access within an EPSCoR jurisdiction. (New in FY 2010; ARRA) 17

18. EPSCoR Investment Tools for Capacity Building (+) Co-Funding: Joint support of research proposals submitted by EPSCoR researchers to non-EPSCoR NSF programs that have been merit reviewed and recommended for award, but could not be funded without the combined, leveraged support of EPSCoR and the Research and Education Directorates and Offices. 18

19. EPSCoR Co-Funding ($M)

20. FY11 Co-Funding by Directorates/Offices

21. EPSCoR Investment Tools for Capacity Building (+) Outreach & Workshops Support of outreach activities by NSF disciplinary and professional staff; Support of strategic planning and capacity-building workshops.

22. EPSCoR Budget ($M) FY 1992 – 2011

23. NSF EPSCoR Funding ($M) 1

24. Indicators of Progress FY 2011 • Patents – 22 awarded, 23 pending • Publications – Primary RII support = 153 • – Partial RII support = 362 • K-12 Outreach – Teachers trained = 4,340 • – Students reached directly = 46,538 • – Students reached via teacher training = 75,454