NSF/EPSCoR: Transforming Kentucky's New Economy with EPSCoR

This project will continue the strategy of investing in infrastructure to develop Kentucky's New Economy. It will involve investments in bio-, nano- and cyber-technologies, judged to be critical to the future of Kentucky's prosperity. In these areas, it will focus on the design and synthesis of advanced materials, research on ecological genomics and building expertise in the cyberinfrastructure of the state. It will develop new facilities and establish new faculty and staff positions in these areas. This is a coordinated plan involving multidisciplinary faculty and students at eight different colleges and universities in the state. The scientific merit of these projects is ensured by a rigorous review process that accepts only infrastructure that will lead to the most promising research. This strategy is consistent with the state's science and technology plan, and the associated higher education plan, which aims at making the University of Kentucky a top-20 university and the University of Louisville a major urban research institution. The institutions of higher education in the state of Kentucky have more than doubled their share of federal research funding in the past twenty years and aim to double it again in the next decade. This effort will be helped greatly by generous financial support from the state and also the involved institutions. In order to broaden its impact, the Kentucky NSF EPSCoR has developed a comprehensive plan for increasing diversity and evaluating its progress. Novel programs, such as a seed-funding program that supports research at regional institutions, and also a program to involve diverse populations of Kentucky students in research will be supported through EPSCoR. A special program for computer science graduate students at Kentucky State University will be introduced. KY NSF EPSCoR also describes the cyberinfrastructure plans for the state, and augments it with support for increasing the expertise and developing new sources of talent.