Increasing the Competitiveness of EPSCoR Research Teams for Centers and Other Large-Scale Projects NORTH DAKOTA EPSCoR 2002 STATEWIDE CONFERENCE Research Opportunities and Forging Partnerships 26 October, 2002 Dr. Charles M. Woolston EPSCoR Centers Development Initiative

Centers Development Initiative (CDI) Three-year project (November 2001 – ) Funded by the National Science Foundation Focused effort aimed at strengthening the research competitiveness of universities in the EPSCoR states by helping to enhance proposals and build the partnerships necessary to excel in large-scale, collaborative science and technology research and education projects and Centers

“Centers” “Center-based research brings together scientists from diverse disciplines to work on complex problems, often in partnerships with other academic institutions, national laboratories, and industry. Centers are strongly committed to the integration of research and education, at levels from pre-college to postdoctoral, and they maintain sophisticated experimental facilities generally accessible to a broad range of users.” – National Science Foundation

Why EPSCoR Centers Development? Rational for the CDI Project stems from a number of factors, including: Universities in the EPSCoR states participate at a low level in NSF centers programs. For example, only one of the 28 STCs ever awarded was led by an EPSCoR university and only about 10% of existing ERCs and MRSECs are led by universities in the 22 EPSCoR states. EPSCoR participation in and competitiveness for NSF centers are important for multiple reasons, including: NSF is increasing its emphasis on research center funding – Research center funding at NSF increased 76% from FY (according to a June 2002 article from The Chronicle of Higher Education) versus an overall budget increase over the period of only 39%. Centers play an important role in the development of science and engineering competitiveness – Centers play a role in integrating research and education; encouraging university-university, university-industry, and university-national lab research and education collaborations; highlighting outreach programs; and stressing research management. And all of these activities in centers often occur with cutting edge multi-disciplinary fields of science and engineering.

CDI Strategies: Initiation and Infusion Centers Initiation Providing consulting and technical assistance to strengthen proposals being developed by EPSCoR research teams for submission to NSF Centers and other large-scale competitions. Centers Infusion Fostering synergistic collaborations between EPSCoR research teams and ongoing Centers. Planning a workshop (2003) exploring Centers Infusion as a viable strategy for expanding EPSCoR participation in NSF center-scale projects.

Consulting and Technical Assistance Available from CDI Assisting in Center and large-scale project planning and strategy development Reviewing and strengthening proposal drafts Conducting site visit dress rehearsals Helping identify and support interactions with: –Disciplinary experts / consultants –Directors of current Centers in target program –Former Center competition panelists –Potential collaborators (academic, industry, gov’t lab) Assisting with negotiation of collaborative arrangements with existing Centers

NSF Centers & Large-Scale Programs “Classic” Centers –Science and Technology Centers (STCs) –Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) –Industry/University Cooperative Research Ctrs (I/UCRCs) Physical Sciences –Materials Research S&E Centers (MRSECs) –Nanoscale S&E Ctrs (NSECs) | large-scale comp (NIRT) –Physics Frontiers Centers Development / Innovation / Diversity –Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) –Centers of Research Excellence in S&T (CRESTs)

NSF Centers & Large-Scale Programs, cont’d Education –Integrated Grad Educ Research & Traineeship (IGERT) –Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLTs) –Math and Science Partnerships (MSPs) –[ Science of Learning Centers (SLCs) ] Biological / Biomedical / Environmental Sciences –Plant Genome Research (PGR) program –Centers for Ocean Sci Education Excellence (COSEE) –Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) –Joint NSF/NIH Initiative to Support Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS)

NSF Centers & Large-Scale Programs, cont’d Informatics Biological Databases and Informatics (BDI) Information Technology Research (ITR)

CDI Web Site NSF Centers and Other Large-Scale Programs –Organized by proposal deadline –Links to program solicitations, program Web sites EPSCoR Participation in NSF Centers and Other Large-Scale Programs –Baseline data ~ current NSF Centers in EPSCoR states CDI Information and Resources

Working with CDI Individual Center Development –Portfolio of 20 plus individual center development projects Networking –Development of extensive network of contacts & collaborators MRSEC Reverse Site Visit Preparation –Paired individual CDI-led consulting teams with three EPSCoR research teams that made it to the reverse site visit stage of the competition: Universities of Alabama, Nebraska, So. Miss –Held CDI-driven on-campus dress rehearsals –Facilitated interactions between MRSEC proposal teams and the directors of on-going MRSECs in similar disciplines

Working with CDI, cont’d IGERT Assistance Workshop –Workshop for 30+ EPSCoR teams planning pre-IGERT proposals held in Boulder, CO, in August Presentations made by: Director of NSF IGERT Program Two directors of IGERT programs at University of Colorado Collaborative Development –Oklahoma/Arkansas NSF center opportunities and development brainstorming sessions brought together: State EPSCoR directors, Vice-presidents for research and other university research administrators, Leaders of EPSCoR RII research thrusts, PI’s of existing NSF centers –Discussed opportunities for NSF center development in Oklahoma and Arkansas