NSF Funds Research Competitiveness

The National Science Foundation is putting $20 million over five years into growing research competitiveness in six U.S. states, which include Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, South Carolina and South Dakota.

An article on the NSF Web site details how awards "are intended to improve the research competitiveness of states by enhancing their academic research infrastructure in areas of science and engineering supported by NSF and critical to the jurisdiction's science and technology efforts."

Distributing the money is the NSF's Office of Integrative Activities.

The award to Hawaii looks at "the effect of invasive species, human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and ecosystem of the Hawaiian Islands."

The plains of Kansas work will include "scientists' evaluation of agricultural products closely tied to climate issues, biomass and its conversion to biofuels, and basic science fundamentals of solar energy conversion by photosynthesis and manmade technologies."

Money going to Maine will fund "a center for sustainability solutions where place-based systems research, a knowledge-to-action focus, and strong stakeholder partnerships will serve as a test bed for developing solutions to sustainable development challenges."

The Mississippi and South Carolina money will be invested largely in biomedical research into genetics.

"The funding will support faculty that will help us bring students into the STEM pipeline, particularly in computational science," said Sandra Harpole, principal investigator and associate vice president for research at Mississippi State University. (Note: "STEM" stands for "science, technology, engineering and mathematics.")

Renewable energy is South Dakota's area. Funding will pay for "development of low cost processes for solar cell production, such as printing or roll-to-roll painting focus on one of the most critical issues facing our country today: energy generation and conversion."

Photo courtesy of NSF/National Tropical Botanical Gardens and the Center for Conservation Research and Training, University of Hawaii