The mission of EPSCoR is to advance excellence in science and engineering research and education in order to achieve sustainable increases in research, education, and training capacity and competitiveness that will enable EPSCoR jurisdictions to have increased engagement in areas supported by NSF.
EPSCoR goals are to:
- Catalyze the development of research capabilities and the creation of new knowledge that expands jurisdictions’ contributions to scientific discovery, innovation, learning, and knowledge-based prosperity;
- Establish sustainable Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, training, and professional
- Development pathways that advance jurisdiction-identified research areas and workforce development;
- Broaden direct participation of diverse individuals, institutions, and organizations in the project’s science and engineering research and education initiatives;
- Effect sustainable engagement of project participants and partners, the jurisdiction, the national research community, and the general public through data-sharing, communication, outreach, and dissemination; and
- Impact research, education, and economic development beyond the project at academic, government, and private sector levels.
Research Infrastructure Improvement Program Track-1 (RII Track-1) eligibility is based on two primary considerations:
- A jurisdiction's demonstrated commitment to develop its research foundation and to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research conducted at its universities and colleges, and
- A jurisdiction's most recent three-year history of research funds awarded by NSF relative to the Foundation's total research budget for that same period.
The research and education program is the central piece of the RII Track-1 proposal. The intellectual merit and broader impacts of the proposed activities provide the rationale for the requested infrastructure investments that, in turn, enhance the overall research capacity and competitiveness of the jurisdiction. These proposals are unique in their jurisdiction-wide scope and complexity; in their integration of individual researchers, institutions, and organizations; and in their role in developing the diverse, well-prepared, STEM-enabled workforce necessary to sustain research competitiveness and catalyze economic development. The RII Track-1 award is intended to add specific value to the jurisdiction's academic infrastructure not generally available through other NSF funding mechanisms.
Essential to EPSCoR's goal of enhancing the competitive position of jurisdictions' research and education in science and engineering is a well-designed jurisdiction-wide S&T Plan, which must be in place in order to submit an RII Track-1 proposal. The S&T Plan establishes jurisdiction-wide goals and objectives and provides a framework that guides the jurisdiction's utilization of resources from EPSCoR and other stakeholders to achieve them. The S&T Plan should be informed by the jurisdiction's Economic Development Plan (if applicable) and should describe innovation pathways for bringing outputs and outcomes of the proposed RII Track-1 research to the marketplace. The S&T Plan must be included in supplementary documentation.
Successful proposals provide sound platforms and opportunities for enhanced academic R&D competitiveness by a jurisdiction's colleges and universities, including implementation mechanisms that have a high probability of realizing stated goals and objectives and pragmatic plans for generation of sustained non-EPSCoR support. It is expected that the infrastructure improvement strategies will enable targeted research areas to become viable for securing new sources of future non-EPSCoR funding.
Infrastructure enhancement strategies should focus available resources on research, education, and innovation activities that are consistent with specified long-term jurisdictional and regional objectives. In conjunction with this focus, the proposed education activities, innovation projects, workforce development efforts, and other project activities should be integrated with identified research theme(s). EPSCoR strives for improvements that will significantly increase the R&D capacity of a jurisdiction to enable stronger competitiveness in NSF, including large scale and cross-cutting opportunities.
Examples of RII Track-1 activities for jurisdictional research and educational infrastructure improvement include, but are not limited to:
All proposed activities should be related to, and integrated with, the proposed research themes. EPSCoR support of a proposed research improvement activity should not duplicate other available federal, jurisdictional, or institutional resources and should add significant value to increase scientific competitiveness at the national or regional level.