Other Programs: EPSCoR
The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR) focuses on those states that have historically received lesser amounts of Federal research & development funding and have demonstrated a commitment to develop their research bases and to improve the quality of science and engineering research conducted at their universities and colleges.
EPA's EPSCoR uses the model developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) which provided a national leadership role for Federal agencies with EPSCoR programs. EPSCoR is a merit-based program where all awards are based on a competitive, peer-review process.
The EPA EPSCoR program funds proposals from EPSCoR states that are in response to EPA STAR solicitations (see http://www.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/), pass peer review, and fall near the cutoff for funding by the reviewing program. This mechanism operates internally within EPA and does not require any action on the part of the applicant.
The goal of the EPA EPSCoR program is to fund high quality research while allowing investigators to gain experience in the competitive grants process and to become familiar with the EPA STAR program. EPA plans to use its limited EPSCoR resources through this process and will no longer issue separate EPSCoR solicitations.
The program currently operates through 7 Federal Agencies in 22 states:
Alabama Alaska Arkansas Delaware Hawaii Idaho Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico North Dakota Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Vermont West Virginia Wyoming Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands
Further general information about EPSCoR and links to other Federal Agencies EPSCoR programs can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=EHR/.