PROJECT DIRECTORS & PROJECT ADMINISTRATORS MEETING Dr. Sherry O. Farwell Head of NSF EPSCoR Office May 10, 2006 1:00-5:00 pm DoubleTree Hotel Nashville,

PROJECT DIRECTORS&

PROJECT ADMINISTRATORSMEETING

Dr. Sherry O. FarwellHead of NSF EPSCoR Office

May 10, 20061:00-5:00 pm

DoubleTree HotelNashville, Tennessee

AGENDA FOR PD/PA MEETING

I. Welcome (1:00 pm)

II. ACI & NSF (1:05-1:15 pm)A. EPSCoR 2020

III. New NSF Funding Opportunities (1:15-1:35 pm)A. EPSCoR Responses

1. Proactive Outreach2. Collaborations

IV. NSF & Evaluation (1:35-1:45 pm)A. Agency Perspective B. EPSCoR Evaluation Steering Committee Report

V. COV Recommendation (1:45-2:00 pm) A. Project Monitoring via Reverse Site Visits

AGENDA (continued)

VI. EPSCoR News (2:00-2:30 pm)A. RII Solicitation B. PIO Workshops C. PA Meeting Plan D. National Conference Plan

VII. Break (2:30-2:45 pm)

VIII. PD Session (2:45-4:30 pm)

IX. PD Report To NSF (4:30-4:45 pm)

X. Discussion & Wrap-Up (4:45-5:00 pm)XI. Adjourn (5:00 pm)

“Don’t Look Back, Something Might Be Gaining On You.”

Leroy “Satchel” Paige(June 1948)

INTRODUCTION

RECENT STIMULI FOR CHANGES IN NATIONAL S&E ENTERPRISE

American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI)

& Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACE)

GOALS Increase Federal investment

in critical research Ensure that the U.S.

continues to lead the world in opportunity and innovation

Provide U.S. children with a strong STEM foundation

FY 2007 FUNDING = + $910 million (9.3% above FY 2006) for: NSF, DoE/OS, NIST

ACI/PACE plan to double investments in innovation-enabling S&E research

INVITATION FOR EPSCoR PARTICIPATION

National Academies Convocation  "Rising Above the Gathering Storm:  Energizing

& Employing Regions, States, & Cities for a Brighter Economic Future”

National Academies Building Washington, DC on Sept. 12, 2006

Focus: Research, STEM Education, & Innovation Environments

Purpose: Convene Leaders Of Academic, Industry, Research, & Government From All States To Discuss National Proposals For Responding To Competitiveness Challenges & Their Implications For States & Regions.

Think big and different New ideas that DO NOT simply make a minor

change or difference in R&D Transformative for NSF as well as its S&E

funding programs What completely new investment programs

would you build?

HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE CHAIR’S ADVICE TO DIRECTOR BEMENT

Dr. Kathie Olsen Deputy Director Chief Operating Officer National Science Foundation

EPSCoR 2020 PLANNING PROCESS

Concept Developed In Partnership With Dr. Kathie Olsen

Employ One Or More Community-Based Workshops During CY 2006 To Obtain Input On EPSCoR 2020 Vision Plan

Workshop Participants Should Include Diversity Of Representatives From EPSCoR & non-EPSCoR Jurisdictions 

Pending Proposal from USC-RF To Organize Initial Workshop In Washington, DC On June 15/16, 2006

For Further Information About Plans For June 15/16 Workshop, Contact Either Dr. Jerry Odom (USC) or Dr. Nat Pitts (NSF-OIA)

NSF’s ROLE IN ACI:FUNDING SCIENCE ACROSS BOUNDARIES

“Discovery increasingly requires the expertise of individuals from different disciplines and with diverse perspectives, working together, to accommodate the extraordinary complexity of today’s science and engineering challenges. Cooperation is often essential to meeting the grand scientific challenges of our era.”

Dr. Arden Bement, 2006

EPSCoR OPPORTUNITY REPORT

Dr. Jim Gosz - Senior Program Director & Reporter

NSF Funding Priorities & Programs In FY 2007

Related Opportunities For EPSCoR Collaborations

Proposed Partnership Plan For Proactive Outreach Program

Jim Collins, Biological Sciences AD

“the key (to understanding biological problems) is an integrative approach…intersection of biology and the social sciences…of biology and physics,…of biology and mathematics…of biology and the geological sciences…of biology and education, biology and engineering, biology and humanities. We need to push forward on the edges in some of these interdisciplinary areas.”

BioScience 56:108

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding

BIO Budget Request by Division

• Advancing the Frontier

Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research program (FIBR) (+$5.0 million)

Plant Genome Research Program (+$2.5 million)

Long-Term Ecological Research program (+$1.2 million)

New Theoretical Biology program ($3.6 million)

New Biology and Society program ($0.5 million)

BIO FY 2007 Budget Priorities

• Identifies a major, unanswered or understudied question in biology

• Engages integrative researchers utilizing an effective range of concepts and tools from all areas of science and engineering

• Is not limited by conceptual, disciplinary or organizational boundaries

• Integrates education and research, providing young scientists with training in a strong, interdisciplinary environment

• Involves effective partnering with minority serving and primarily undergraduate institutions

• Awards Up to 5 million over 5 years

•New FIBR solicitation in 2008

The goal of the FIBR Program is to support research that:

Ecology of Infectious Diseases (EID) Joint NSF and NIH initiative

How large-scale environmental events alter the risks of emergence of viral, parasitic, or bacterial diseases Any environment (marine, terrestrial,

freshwater, organismal)

2008 NSF/NIH Neurobiology effort

Environmental Observing Systems (EOS)

Proposed new large infrastructure support and tools for the

environmental sciences in various development stages

NEON

EarthScope

CLEANER, CUAHSI

Margaret Leinen, Geosciences AD

“Major NSF programs (e.g., observing systems) create a vastly enriched context for individual scientists, teams, and multi-institutional science efforts. They serve as ‘attractors’ for other scientific and education efforts” (including other agency efforts).

NEON is designed as a research platform to advance ecological theory and provide a

fundamental understanding of the earth’s life support system on which we all depend.

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EPSCoR Jurisdictions

overlaid with NEON Climate Domains

WATERS NetworkMISSION STATEMENT:

To transform understanding of the Earth’s water and relatedcycles across spatial and temporal scales to enable forecasting of critical water-related processes that affect and are affected by human activities…

and develop scientific and engineering tools to enable moreeffective adaptive management of large-scale, human-impacted environments.

A bold initiative in NSF’s Engineering and Geosciences Directorates

The Idea: The WATERS Network will:

1. Consist of (a) teams of investigators studying human-stressed landscapes, with an

emphasis on water problems and questions; (b) a national network of interacting field sites; (c) specialized support personnel, facilities, and technology; and (d) integrative cyberinfrastructure to provide a shared-use network as the framework for collaborative analysis

2. Transform environmental engineering and hydrologic science research and education by:

(i) providing advanced sensor systems for data collection and state-of- the-art informatics tools for data mining, analysis, visualization, and

modeling of large-scale environmental issues; and (ii) engaging academics and others in collaborative, interdisciplinary studies of real-world problems

3. Enable more effective adaptive management of human-dominated, environments based on observation, experimentation, modeling, engineering analysis, and design

OVERARCHING QUESTION

How do changes in human populations and their behavior, climate variation, altered biogeochemical cycles, and biotic structure interact to affect ecosystem structure and function and their services to society?

Changes in human population density Redistribution of population nationally and locally Increased availability and distribution of limiting

resources Altered biotic composition and structure Increased variability in environmental drivers (e.g.

climate, sea level rise)

Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH)

This topical area focuses on the complex interactions among human and natural systems at diverse spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. To be competitive for support, teams of investigators drawn from natural, social, and mathematical sciences, engineering, and education must examine the dynamics of appropriate natural and human systems as well as the interactions that link those human and natural systems.

Directorate for Geosciences

This solicitation invites proposals aimed at closing significant gaps in our understanding of the complex relationships between and within the global water and carbon cycles. In particular, we seek proposals that cross the interfaces of land, atmosphere and oceans. Proposals should span traditional interdisciplinary boundaries…

Carbon and Water in Earth Systems

•Estimated Number of Awards: 14 to 25 •Anticipated Funding Amount: $32,000,000 pending availability of funds.

Intersections of the hydrologicalhydrological and ecologicalecological sciences, for example, climate alteration by terrestrial vegetation, ecosystem and hydrological functions of riparian zones, hydrological controls on aquatic ecosystems, and ecosystem vulnerability and resilience to extreme hydrological events. ·         The effect of soil physical and chemical properties on rhizosphere functioning, alteration of the rhizosphere by changes in land use, and the responses of soil processes to global change.  ·        Innovative investigations into the coupling of chemical and physical processes or the kinetics and mechanisms of complex chemical reaction pathways important to achieving a quantitative, mechanistic understanding of a biogeochemical system.

Coupled Biogeochemical Cycles (CBC)

Proposals may be submitted by single investigators or by teams, but must be highly interdisciplinary. Proposals may be submitted for projects up to 5-year duration. No project will be supported for more than $2 million.

New 2008 program focused on integrative modeling efforts among researchers in:

water cycle science

hydrologic science

watershed science

~ 8 million

Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI)

•Biology in Engineering

•Complexity in Engineered and Natural systems

•Critical Infrastructure Systems

•Manufacturing Frontiers

•New Frontiers in Nanotechnology

programs coming with the 2007 funding request

Math and Physical Sciences Funding

Astronomical Sciences 15.46 7.7%Chemistry 10.32 5.7%Materials Research 14.54 6.0%Mathematical Sciences 6.44 3.2%Physics 15.37 6.6%Multidisciplinary Activities 2.72 9.2%

Increase ($M)

Cyberinfrastructure is ever-increasing (Bement, Apr. 2006)

•Data mining•Big iron•Networking•Large sensor arrays•Observing systems$600 M for CI NSF-wide in 2007 request; $180 M (43.5% increase) in the new Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI)

NSF EPSCoR PROGRAM

NSF/EPSCoR In-Outreach efforts;•Increase NSF staff member visits to jurisdictions to inform administrators, scientists, jurisdiction leaders, students and the general public about NSF programs, priorities, policies, and procedures, and educate NSF about successes in EPSCoR•Internal efforts to educate NSF staff about the resources, capabilities and potential in EPSCoR jurisdictions (in-reach!)•Work with coordinators in each of the NSF Directorates and Programs in identifying and initiating contacts with NSF staff who can best respond to specific requests related to NSF programs •Cooperate with OLPA in NSF Day events held in EPSCoR jurisdictions•Work with jurisdictions on potential workshops of relevance to regions and the nation, including other NSF Directorate support

•Increase communication and opportunities between and among jurisdictions and the NSF EPSCoR Office on S&E strengths and needs. These topics can be the basis for funded workshops.

•Develop leadership in jurisdictions to identify and organize S&E workshops of value to jurisdictions, regions, and the nation. These workshops can range from S&E issues to management needs for large or complex programs. Proposals requesting workshop funding can come from the jurisdictions

EPSCoR Workshops Discussion Topic

COLLABORATION DISCUSSION TOPIC

ADDING CAPABILITY THROUGH INCREASED FUNDING, DEMONSTRATING THE ROLE EPSCoR CAN PLAY IN ACI AND IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS BEING DEVELOPED AT NSF

Focused Scientific Themes of Regional Relevance & National Importance

Utilizes Entire Gamut of Jurisdiction’s Talent & Infrastructure for Thematic Research in Areas of Physical Sciences and Engineering

Catalyze Formation Of Quality Research Collaborations/Collaboratories

Expands Talent & Infrastructure Base Via Intra/Inter-Jurisdiction Partnerships

Uses Cyber-Infrastructure

Integrates R&E and Diversity

AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS INITIATIVE (ACI)Four major elements:

Double the Federal investment in basic research programs in the physical sciences and engineering at NSF, Energy and NIST over 10 years

Make the Research and Development tax credit permanent

Invest $380 million in new Federal support for K-12 programs to improve the quality of math, science, and technological education at the Department of Education

Evaluate STEM programs across Federal Agencies to determine which are effective in meeting their stated goals

EPSCoR & CE-PART Purpose

Identify Program's Strengths/Weaknesses & Inform OMB Funding Decision & NSF Priorities

CE Elements (Ideas)EPSCoR, SBIR/STTR, CREST, I/UCRC, RUI/ROA

FormatAnswers to 30 Questions (Purpose, Planning, Management, Results) + Propose

Metrics For Future Reporting 

ScheduleDec-Mar: Team Meetings and Prepare Draft DocumentApril: Meet with BFA & OMB Examiner to Review ResponsesMay: Final Draft to NSF SMART For ReviewJune: Official Document to OMB for Review/RatingSept: Rating Used In OMB/NSF FY-08 Budget Request

FURTHER EVALUATION EMPHASIS AT NSF

ONGOING GPRA & PART WITH NEW INITIATIVE VIA NSF FY-2007 BUDGET REQUEST THAT STATES AGENCY WILL:

"RELIABLY EVALUATE RETURNS RECEIVED FROM PAST R&D INVESTMENTS AND FORECAST LIKELY RETURNS FROM FUTURE INVESTMENTS.”

AS NOTED IN SCIENCE (APRIL 21, 2006, P. 347) ARTICLE ENTITLED: "NSF BEGINS A PUSH TO MEASURE SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF RESEARCH":

“THE WHITE HOUSE IS ALSO FORMING AN INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO OVERSEE THE EVALUATION INITIATIVE.”

“Doubling the budget will be based on yearly evidence of improving each year. Next year’s money depends on showing that or how we have done more than last year.”

Dr. Arden BementEHRAC Meeting, May 2006

EPSCoR Evaluation Steering Committee

Paul Hill (Chair) Steve Borleske Fred Choobineh Barbara Kimball Jean’ne Shreeve Brad Weiner

Doug MacTaggart

Rose Shaw

Norman Webb

2005 COV RECOMMENDATIONS & OFFICE RESPONSES

ASSESSMENT OF LARGE RII-TYPE PROPOSAL WILL BE MORE RIGEROUS VIA COMBINATION OF AD HOC & PANEL REVIEWS.

USE OF REVERSE SITE VISITS DURING MIDDLE YEAR OF RII

AWARDS AS PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL.

  OFFICE WILL WORK WITH JURISDICTIONS TO INCREASE OVERALL

CAPACITY FOR PROGRAM/PROJECT EVALUATION USING EVIDENCE-BASED OUTPUTS & OUTCOMES.

OFFICE WILL INITIATE NEW PROGRAMMATIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR CAPABILITY ENHANCEMENT & RELATED JURSIDICTIONAL COMPETITIVENESS.

EPSCOR 2006 REVERSE SITE VISIT STRATEGY

Concept and Implementation Plan

PD discussion requested on need, process for implementation, and scheduling of proposed efforts.

CONCEPT

A component of EPSCoR’s oversight, management, assistance to awardees, and EPSCoR funding promotion strategy consisting of presentations to a panel at NSF’s headquarters.

This was a strong recommendation of the EPSCoR COV review

PURPOSE

To assess programmatic accomplishments and progress made by EPSCoR jurisdictions at or near the midpoint of their current three-year grant.

To develop additional evidence of the value of the EPSCoR programs and suitability of these programs for increased funding under the ACI directives

2006 PARTICIPATING JURISDICTIONS

Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Montana, Delaware, New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Idaho, South Carolina, Kentucky, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Nevada

Based on mid-term funding status of current RII awards (i.e., 2nd-3rd yr of award)

PROCESS A group of up to five representatives from each

jurisdiction, including PI/PD will visit NSF and make a presentation to a panel (time available is two hours).

The presentation will be followed by a discussion period of approximately one hour. This will allow 2 jurisdictions to present per day (morning and afternoon).

The panel will include outside experts representing the broad spectrum of the jurisdictions’ research focus areas, NSF Program Directors, and EPSCoR staff.

PROCESS (CONTINUED) The panel will submit a written report to the EPSCoR

Office, including areas of strength, aspects to improve, and recommendations.

The EPSCoR Office will share the panel report and schedule a meeting with the PI and appropriate local leadership to discuss findings and recommendations for program as well as values to be promoted.

Benefits of the programs will be communicated to NSF Directorates, Director’s Office, and other agencies.

PRESENTATIONS

Focus on major project accomplishments according to the specified goals and objectives of the current award, in addition to the overall goals of the jurisdiction.

PRESENTATION TEMPLATE Overview: Project’s goals & objectives, current

management structure, evaluation plan, and demonstrations of successes

Progress: Scientific research, education & outreach, and broadening participation

Mid-Point Corrections: Barriers and challenges faced by the project, identification of mid-course corrections

Action Plan: Strategic plan to ensure accomplishment of project’s goals during remaining duration time, technical assistance needed, anticipated successes relative to goals of jurisdiction

PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR GROUPS OF 4 OR 5??

Group 1:     Group 2:   

Group 3:  

Each group of 4 or 5 jurisdictions would present material during a one-week period (e.g., Tuesday-Thursday). The PDs are requested to identify potential weeks for these future efforts.

AGENDA (continued)

VI. EPSCoR News (2:00-2:30 pm)A. RII Solicitation B. PIO Workshops C. PA Meeting Plan D. National Conference Plan

VII. Break (2:30-2:45 pm)

VIII. PD Session (2:45-4:30 pm)

IX. PD Report To NSF (4:30-4:45 pm)

X. Discussion & Wrap-Up (4:45-5:00 pm)XI. Adjourn (5:00 pm)

FY 2006 RII SOLICITATION

Very Similar to FY 2005 RII Solicitation Currently Under Administrative Review For Pending

Approval/Release

Proposals Will Be Due Sept. 28, 2006

Expecting Eight Proposal Submissions

Combination of Ad Hoc & Panel Reviews

OTHER EPSCoR EVENTS COMING THIS SUMMER/FALL

EPSCoR/OLPA PIO WORKSHOPS

PROJECT ADMINISTRATORS MEETING

NAT'L EPSCoR CONFERENCE