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The primary mission of the
Experimental Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is to foster
systemic and sustainable change in the capacities of
universities in eligible states to support
nationally competitive academic research. Eligible
states, of which there are 19 designated by the
National Science Foundation (NSF) are those that
have received the smallest amounts of federal
research and development (R and D) funding.
The NASA EPSCoR program was
conceived to improve a state's competitive research
capacity in areas relevant to the agency's mission.
This program targets states of
modest research infrastructure with funds to develop
a more competitive research base within their member
academic institutions. NASA EPSCoR research projects
are closely related to one of NASA's strategic
enterprises. The project clusters collaborate
frequently with NASA's field installations and
program offices.
NASA EPSCoR fosters cooperation
among departments, across institutions, with state
and local government, and with business and
industry. In addition to strengthening the research
base of the state's academic institutions, EPSCoR
outcomes include the transfer of developed
technology to industry, the increased economic
development of the participating states, and the
communication of the benefits of research to the
public.
As a mechanism for recruiting new
research projects into our program, Vermont-NASA EPSCoR
has developed a Research Initiation Award. These
minigrants provide a small amount of "seed money" to
faculty researchers who wish to explore research
directions which may mature into full research projects
in one of our research clusters.
The Vermont-NASA EPSCoR project also has
developed, with State of Vermont support, a new
Industrial Partners Initiative which will link faculty
and small to medium business and industry in Vermont to
facilitate technology transfer. In the area of Education
and Professional Training, the Vermont-NASA EPSCoR
program provides funding for Postdoctoral and Graduate
Research Fellowships to address the important pipeline
issue of training the next generation of scientists.
EPSCoR HISTORICAL
ARCHIVE
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