Dear Friends and Colleagues:
Research and creative activity at the University of North Dakota have entered a period of renewed opportunity. As the vice president for research and economic development (interim), I sincerely appreciate being a member of the team that works with our faculty and other senior administrators in the pursuit of these opportunities. As part of that team, I have the privilege of introducing this issue of UND Discovery.
Three things have contributed to this renewed opportunity. First, President Kelley is putting together his cabinet and setting a strategic vision encompassing traditional values and future possibilities. Second, the federal government, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, has made significant financial commitments to research and creative activity. I have recently heard from faculty members excited by the news that they would receive funding for projects through this source. Third, the state government has also committed significant resources to the University and its faculty. Together these factors have combined in a synergy of possibilities. There are challenges associated with these opportunities, but I am convinced our faculty will be able to meet them.
This issue of UND Discovery has stories that directly relate to some of these areas of opportunity. For example, there are stories concerning activities by current and former members of the Space Studies Department as astronauts, astronomers, and space suit designers. There is a story on UND’s contribution to the recovery of geothermal energy in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation. There are also stories spotlighting other aspects of research and creative activity throughout the University. I hope that you are as excited as I am about the activities described.
Sincerely,
Barry Milavetz
Interim Vice President for Research and Economic Development |
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
Let me begin by stating that I sincerely appreciate the opportunity of serving the UND community in the capacity of the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR) co-project director. Since accepting this charge in mid-October of last year, it is fair to say that there has never been a dull day. As many of you know, we are in the first year of a five-year renewal grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This grant, together with generous support from the State Legislature, strongly supports research at UND and NDSU, and provides educational opportunities in research across the state. One goal of this Research Infrastructure Improvement grant from NSF is to catapult two promising groups of investigators (or “clusters”) to intellectual and financial sustainability by the end of the five-year grant. These two clusters involve faculty researchers at both UND and NDSU. One of the clusters, SUNRISE (Sustainable Energy Research and Infrastructure and Supporting Education), is based at UND, while the other, FlexEM (Flexible Electronic Materials), is based at NDSU. Besides supporting the clusters, the NSF EPSCoR grant supports a number of projects designed to improve the overall scientific and engineering infrastructure at UND and NDSU.
One of the most successful programs from previous NSF EPSCoR grants that is being carried forward to this grant is the new faculty start-up program. Chairs (or deans, when a chair is being hired) are invited to submit proposals to supplement start-up packages assembled from internal sources. Because start-up packages for nationally sought-after faculty candidates can be sizable, this program allows us to attract the star researchers who are the future of the institution. Indeed, several of the recent faculty hires who have received EPSCoR start-up packages have gone on to receive NSF CAREER grants. These individuals have demonstrated themselves to be nationally competitive at the very highest level. With appropriate support by colleagues in and across disciplines, these researchers will nucleate new clusters for the continual growth of the research enterprise.
Space limitations to this letter preclude me from discussing other exciting programs. I hope to speak to these in subsequent issues of UND Discovery. I would like to finish by mentioning that EPSCoR supports outstanding individuals at all educational levels, with programs designed for undergraduates (AURA) and graduate students (DDA and GSRA), but those stories will wait for another day.
Sincerely,
Mark Hoffmann
Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Chemistry |
