NSF awards $38M to strengthen research infrastructure, build partnerships and improve STEM workforce development

The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded researchers in Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island roughly $38 million through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research(EPSCoR), which promotes the development of research competitiveness among 28 targeted states and territories, called jurisdictions. The awards, facilitated by the NSF EPSCoR Collaborations for Optimizing Research Ecosystems Research Infrastructure Improvement (E-CORE RII) program and NSF EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence Research Infrastructure Improvement(E-RISE RII) program, aim to enhance research facilities, form new networks, support workforce development and accelerate economic growth in parts of the U.S. that have historically received less funding for scientific research.

"The NSF EPSCoR program is critical to ensure that we are creating opportunities and investing in innovation in every part of the United States," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "These new E-CORE RII and E-RISE RII awards will positively impact our nation by advancing the breadth of STEM research, research infrastructure and workforce development while catalyzing opportunities for research and education in EPSCoR jurisdictions and beyond."

The E-CORE RII opportunity aids in building capacity in targeted research infrastructure cores within a jurisdiction's research ecosystems. Capacity building may include developing, enhancing and sustaining research administration, facilities, workforce development, partnerships, community engagement and economic development.

The E-RISE RII opportunity supports research teams and products in a scientific area linked to jurisdictional science and technology plans. It seeks innovative proposals for sustainable networks to enhance STEM research capacity in a selected research area that has the potential for sustainable socioeconomic impact within the jurisdiction. E-RISE RII projects aim to build research competitiveness, develop a skilled workforce, promote diversity and inclusion and integrate research efforts.

E-CORE RII and E-RISE RII were established in response to the 2022 Study of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the Envisioning the Future of NSF EPSCoRreport and the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022." This round of awards will catalyze economic growth by propelling laboratory research to scalable commercial products and bringing together expertise from multiple institutions to unravel complex scientific challenges. The awards will strengthen workforce development through educational initiatives that will help economically disadvantaged students and promote diversity, inclusion and accessibility by cultivating scientists and researchers from different backgrounds with various experiences and points of view.

The awardees and a summary of each project are listed below:

E-CORE RII: Research Infrastructure Optimization for New Mexico
Led by The University of New Mexico, this project aims to connect New Mexico's emerging research institutions (ERIs) with the broader state research ecosystem consisting of national laboratories, high-tech industries and established research universities. By strengthening New Mexico's research infrastructure, the project will foster innovation, which will lead to economic growth in critical sectors and create high-value employment opportunities for graduates from ERIs. The project will also provide the state legislature with insights on economic and workforce trends to enable strategic investments in key areas and foster a culture of inclusion and diversity, thereby broadening participation in the scientific enterprise across individuals, institutions and sectors.

Collaborating institutions (subawardees): Central New Mexico Community College, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Navajo Technical University and New Mexico State University.

E-CORE RII: Rhode Island Inclusive Network for Excellence in Science and Technology
The University of Rhode Island is leading this project to enable the state of Rhode Island and the Narragansett Indian Tribe and its citizens to develop and maintain a sustainable, broadly inclusive and competitive research ecosystem that supports use-inspired S&T and workforce development. The project will sustainably develop capacity, programming, platforms and partnerships that serve and benefit institutions of higher education across Rhode Island by institutionalizing research infrastructure support programs and implementing innovative programs that lead to increased collaborations across the state's institutions. These platforms and systems will lead to an inclusive network for scientific opportunities with low barriers to entry, an increased number of students from minoritized and tribal backgrounds that flourish in STEM, and the creation of new initiatives that align with the strategic diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and access plans of the collaborating institutions.

Collaborating institutions (subawardees): Brown University, Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design and Roger Williams University.

E-CORE RII: Mississippi Research Alliance
The vision of this project, led by Mississippi State University, is to be a transformative force in the Mississippi research and innovation ecosystem. The project will forge strategic partnerships that harness and enhance existing human and physical assets and coordinate new investments to position Mississippi as a national front-runner in S&T. The project will strengthen strategic governance, improve sustainable access to instrumentation and foster cross-institutional collaborations, thereby boosting cutting-edge research carried out by interdisciplinary teams and resulting in exponential gains to Mississippi's knowledge-based economy. The project's integrated approach will create a research and development ecosystem that builds strategic alliances among research and ERIs, state agencies and public and private organizations to positively impact education, workforce development and the broader societal understanding of scientific endeavors.

Collaborating institutions (subawardees): The University of Southern Mississippi, The University of Mississippi, Mississippi Vally State University.

E-RISE RII: Maine Algal Research Infrastructure and Accelerator
The Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences leads this project to build the Maine Algal Research Infrastructure and Accelerator which will serve as a nucleus for algae-based innovation in Maine and catalyze economic growth and workforce development. This state-of-the-art research infrastructure will be used to streamline exploration of algae's commercial potential -- from individual cell-level analysis to product optimization and eventual scaling. The project will lead to the discovery of novel approaches to harness algae as efficient biofactories for synthesizing new high-value products relevant to the "Maine Innovation Economy Action Plan," while aligning strategic collaborations, including with local farmers and algal companies, to create an accelerated network to enhance the agricultural, aquaculture and pharmaceutical potential of algae in Maine.

Collaborating institutions (subawardees): Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, University of New England, Colby College, Maine Center for Entrepreneurs and Gulf of Maine Ventures.

E-RISE RII: Cracking the Developmental Blueprint of Life: Omics, Computational Science, and Artificial Intelligence
This project, led by the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, will position Puerto Rico as a thriving hub for innovation and economic growth in the life science and biotech/molecular sectors. Faculty from seven institutions will come together to unravel the complexities of developmental biology by examining the evolutionary and developmental framework of butterfly divergence. The project will delve into the fundamental science of evolution and adaptation, seeking to decipher the molecular intricacies that govern cellular processes and organismal development. The novelty of the project lies in the single cell-genomic resolution around which all other molecular information will be integrated using cutting-edge computational and AI approaches. Also included in the project will be workforce development initiatives that integrate STEM education and interventions to cultivate skills for both academic and non-academic careers, in part by generating important resources for the broader scientific community and through outreach activities tailored to K-12 teachers and students.

Collaborating institutions (subawardees): Centro Comprensivo de Cancer de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.