Newswise — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a five-year grant award totaling $15 million to the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR). The grant covers a variety of research programs at universities across the state.
The NSF grant will fund diverse research programs, with special emphasis in the areas of research in sustainable energy and flexible electronics and materials. Significant research will occur in these areas in a collaborative effort among North Dakota's research universities. In flexible electronics and materials known as the FlexEm program, scientists will research ways to enhance the technology of placing electronic circuits on flexible materials like plastic, paper and fabric and develop third-generation solar energy materials. Research funds will also be devoted to SUNRISE, the Sustainable Energy Research Infrastructure and Support Education program to develop and improve sustainable energy options.
The principal investigator and author of the NSF grant which provides funding through 2013 is Philip Boudjouk, vice president for research, creative activities and technology transfer at North Dakota State University. Co-investigators on the grant include David Givers, co-project director of the North Dakota EPSCoR program at NDSU and Gary Johnson, EPSCoR co-project director and interim vice president of research at the University of North Dakota.
In addition to funding for flexible electronics and sustainable energy, the NSF five-year grant will provide research funding for the following:Grants for Faculty/Student Researchers"¢ New faculty start-ups with grant awards for approximately 75 new faculty members to develop research programs
"¢ Seed grants and awards to faculty members for new research programs and to groups of investigators to explore joint, multidisciplinary research projects that could lead to clusters or focal groups capable of obtaining independent funding. The emphasis will be on interdepartmental, inter-university, inter-institutional (e.g., federal labs), private sector, and international collaborations.
"¢ Funding for graduate and undergraduate research assistantships
Grants for Cyberinfrastructure to Support Research"¢ The award will provide desktop connectivity for up to 960 faculty, research staff and students at North Dakota State University in 20 research buildings.
"¢ The award provides funding to install a CAVE for visualization studies at the University of North Dakota. A Cave Automatic Virtual Environment is an immersive virtual reality environment where projectors are directed to three, four, five or six of the walls of a room.
Grants to Broaden Research Participation"¢ The award will fund Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), a new ND EPSCoR initiative. It will provide supplemental funding on a competitive basis to women faculty for upgraded lab equipment, additional graduate students and post-doctoral researchers.
"¢ The award will fund the Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education (NATURE) program. It provides an education pathway for American Indian high school and tribal college students to study science, technology, engineering and math. This collaborative model engages North Dakota university professors with teachers and faculty from reservation high schools and tribal colleges. The program provides Native American students with educational summer camps, Sunday academies, and mentored research.
Grants to Fund Partnerships"¢ The award will fund a Product Design Center (PDC). PDC bridges the gap between basic discoveries and commercialization, allowing researchers to enhance commercial potential of a discovery and protect intellectual property.
"¢ The award will fund The Plus Experience, a program designed to fill training gaps identified by regional industrial partners. The program trains upper level students with advanced skills to compete in the job market and provides employers with highly skilled employees.
"¢ The award funds Faculty In Technology Transfer (FITT) and Students in Technology Transfer And Research (STTAR) programs. Under the programs, North Dakota companies can submit proposals to ND EPSCoR that describe problems for faculty or students to address, helping the company and advancing the faculty or students professionally. The grant will cover approximately 125 students with 60 companies and 10 faculty with 10 companies during the grant period. Companies provide matching dollars to participate in the program.
About ND EPSCoRNorth Dakota EPSCoR was established in 1986 as a North Dakota University System program to strengthen the state's science and technology infrastructure and enhance its participation in the nation's competitive research and development enterprise. More than 550 graduate students and more than 675 undergraduate students have received research education through ND EPSCoR programs. Approximately 200 students and approximately 15 faculty members have worked on solving technology problems for more than 80 companies across the state. More than 25 patents have been issued for EPSCoR-supported research discoveries and inventions. http://www.ndepscor.nodak.edu/
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