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NASA EPSCoR
HISTORY
NSF established EPSCoR in 1979 in response
to congressional concerns that federal R and D supported
only a handful of states. A decade later, in 1990, Congress
began the process of expanding EPSCoR beyond NSF. Consequently,
NASA, along with the Departments of Agriculture, Energy,
and Defense; the Environmental Protection Agency; and
the National Institutes of Health; are developing or implementing
EPSCoR programs.
The NASA EPSCoR program was conceived
to improve a state's competitive research capacity in
areas relevant to the agency's mission. NASA EPSCoR was
initiated in 1994 through the Office of Human Resources
and Education. 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.
In 1999 NASA EPSCoR awarded Vermont
a Preparation Grant to establish the Vermont-NASA EPSCoR
Program. A key goal of this Preparation Grant was to fund
a core group of promising research projects which would
help Vermont faculty develop links to collaborators at
NASA Centers. This Preparation Grant was awarded a second
year of funding.
At the heart of the Vermont-NASA
EPSCoR program in Year 2 are two clusters that include
eight research projects in the Space Life and Earth Sciences.
The five projects in the Space Life Sciences are biomedical
in nature and involve interdisciplinary research which
aims to develop the mathematics, science, engineering
and technology base necessary for the biomedical support
of long-term human survival in space. Of special interest
in this research are the systems or "weak points"
in the human body that may limit man's potential exposure
to space and low gravity environments. These projects,
which may provide the basis for new and innovative countermeasures
to help insure the success of future NASA space missions,
are thus in an area of strategic importance to NASA under
the HEDS Enterprise. Similarly, the three research projects
in the Earth Sciences should enhance understanding of
aspects of the global climate, and they thus fall squarely
within the scope of NASA's investments in Earth Science.
All eight projects have current or planned ties to NASA
Centers.
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.
Our original five research projects from Year 1 will be
joined in Year 2 by two new projects directed by promising
young faculty members. These new research projects were
recruited into the program through the award of Research
Initiation minigrants. A third research project, which
has just been awarded a Research Initiation minigrant,
will be continuing to explore possibilities through this
support mechanism in Year 2.
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. A pilot project to demonstrate the
potential of this Initiative was started during the summer
of 2000. 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.
In the initial year of our Preparation
Grant, Graduate Research Fellows have assisted in Projects
2 and 5. Dr. Scott A. Stevens was recruited as a Postdoctoral
Fellow this year on Project 1, and he will serve through
August 2000. In Year 2 of the Preparation Grant, Dr. Laura
Gross has been recruited as a Postdoctoral Fellow on Project
4 beginning June 1.
Update for 2000
As a result, Vermont's NASA EPSCoR Program received full
funding in the NASA EPSCoR 2000 Program competition among
all 19 NASA EPSCoR states (See Map at
http://calspace.ucsd.edu/epscor/map/) for NASA EPSCoR
Implementation Grants. The National Program at NASA Headquarters(
http://calspace.ucsd.edu/epscor/)
awarded the Vermont-NASA EPSCoR Competitive Research Grant
Proposal.
The Grant included the CORE Implementational Funding and
two Research Groups:
- Biomedical Aspects of Human Health
in Space
- Advanced Remote Sensing Technologies
for Monitoring Indicators of Global Climate Change
Proposed research projects were to be
in an area of interest to NASA. Individual principal investigators
should either have established links with colleagues at
a NASA Center,or should have a plan for establishing such
links. It is difficult to quantify the necessary congruence/linkages
with NASA Centers and Strategic Enterprises. However,
it will be a requirement of the National Program that
all research proposed be specifically identified (by title
and number) in the NASA EPSCoR Research Compendium. For
a PDF copy of this document, please click on either the
preceding link or on the labeled button on the Vermont-NASA
EPSCoR Homepage.
State proposals did not need be built around clusters.
The state proposals that will be funded are those that
make the most convincing argument that they will lead
to the development of long term research capabilities
within the state with high potential to become nationally
competitive and self-sustaining, and to be best aligned
with the state technological, economic, and education
goals. However, a maximum of 3 research areas per state
proposal will be allowed.
NASA EPSCoR funding awarded to a state must be matched
1:1 by local funding. Matching funds can be "soft"
and can include in-kind cost-sharing such as donated time
during the academic year.
Potential participants who have questions or concerns
should be directed to Prof. William D. Lakin, Vermont-NASA
EPSCoR Project Director, by email (lakin@emba.uvm.edu)
, telephone (802 656-8541), or fax (802 656-2552).
For more information, see
http://calspace.ucsd.edu/epscor/StratPlan/projection.html
on the NASA EPSCoR website.
We invite you to browse the remaining
sections of this website for more details of our program.
For more information, please contact
Laurel Zeno:
e-mail:
zeno@cems.uvm.edu
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& NASA EPSCoR