Helping States Improve their Science and Technology Research Infrastructure and Competitiveness
The EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation is aimed at promoting the national importance of strong science and technology research infrastructure in all states and improving the university research infrastructure and competitiveness of states that have historically received less federal research funding.
Assistance History:
The EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation has a history of providing technical assistance to the EPSCoR/IDeA community, highlighted by the successful EPSCoR Centers Development Initiative (CDI). Operating from late 2001 to 2006, CDI was an NSF-funded project that worked with researchers and research teams from EPSCoR universities to help them compete for NSF centers and other large-scale research and education projects projects via a portfolio of technical assistance and centers development workshops.
EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation Technical Assistance Page 2 (Go Back to Page 1)
CDI Activities
Centers Development Technical Assistance
CDI worked closely with proposal PIs and others (e.g., university research administrators and state EPSCoR project directors) to provide customized packages of NSF-funded technical assistance to EPSCoR university research teams competing for NSF centers and other large-scale projects. CDI provided technical assistance catered to meet the needs of individual EPSCoR research teams, with several factors impacting the type and level of assistance provided by CDI, including:
- Targeted NSF centers program
- Needs of the research team
- Time scale under which assistance is provided
- Prospects that assistance by CDI can lead to a successful proposal
Overall, the types of services provided by CDI’s Senior Associates and network of outside experts included:
- Serving as an information resource and providing guidance about existing and emerging centers programs
- Advising on features most needed to strengthen centers proposals
- Reviewing pre-proposal materials (e.g. white papers, prior proposals, reviewers' comments)
- Providing advice on "next steps"
- Helping to identify, recruit, and support appropriate consultation from outside experts
- Supporting potential PIs in arranging productive dress rehearsals for upcoming NSF site visits
Centers Development Workshops
Major outcomes included:
- Information dissemination about established and emerging NSF centers programs
- Productive networking and interactions between directors of ongoing NSF centers and EPSCoR researchers
- Early access for the EPSCoR research community into new and emerging NSF programs and initiatives
- Partnerships between EPSCoR researchers in similar and complementary disciplines as well as linkages with nationally recognized experts and Center directors ahead of center proposal preparation
- Opportunities for EPSCoR researchers to meet with relevant NSF program officers
- Connections between EPSCoR research teams and CDI’s technical assistance service
CDI Resources
- Presentations on Developing, Competing for, and Managing Centers
- Historical project information:
- CDI Overview (October 2004; PDF)
- CDI Brochure (March 2003; PDF)
- CDI Press Release (January 2002; Word)
CDI Team
Principal Investigators:
- Royce Engstrom
- Joseph Danek
Project Director:
- Rand Haley
Senior Science Advisor:
- Melyvn Ciment
Senior Associates:
- Edwin Abbott - Physical Sciences and Engineering
- Melyvn Ciment - Computer and Information Sciences; Networking; Mathematics
- Phil Harriman - Biological Sciences
CDI was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0126795. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
ASCEND
ASCEND (Assistance Strategies for Centers Development) is a new project proposed to NSF by the EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation that is focused on developing strategic and financial partnerships with research leaderships in EPSCoR universities and jurisdictions. In collaboration with the NSF EPSCoR Office and the EPSCoR jurisdictions, the dynamic role that university research leaderships (from PIs to Deans to Vice Presidents for Research) play in strategic and investment decisions related to developing major federally-funded centers will be explored via cost-sharing and partnerships experiments and a focused leadership retreat.