2021 - Vermont EPSCoR RII Track-1 Announcement & Solicitation

Subject:        Vermont EPSCoR RII Track-1
                     Call for White Papers (due January 15, 2021)

Date:             December 18, 2020

From:            David Bradbury
                     President, Vermont Technology Council
                     Kirk Dombrowski
                     Vice President for Research, University of Vermont

Dear Colleagues:

The Vermont Technology Council, the state's EPSCoR steering committee, and Vermont EPSCoR are soliciting White Papers to determine the research theme for the next National Science Foundation (NSF) EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 proposal. The NSF-RII Track-1 is a five-year, $20M award. RII Track-1 awards are intended to improve the research competitiveness of EPSCoR jurisdictions by improving their academic research infrastructure in areas of science and engineering supported by the National Science Foundation and critical to the jurisdiction's science and technology needs. These areas must align with research priorities identified by the jurisdiction's EPSCoR governing committee (i.e., Vermont Technology Council) and stated in the jurisdiction's approved Science and Technology (S&T) Plan.

Each EPSCoR jurisdiction may submit a single RII Track-1 proposal submission. Pending the outcome of the NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 proposal currently under review at NSF, we anticipate that Vermont may be eligible to submit a new proposal to the NSF-RII Track-1 competition in July 2021.[1]

Thus, the Vermont Technology Council is initiating the selection process described to identify Vermont's single applicant.

The proposed research theme/program is the centerpiece of the RII Track-1 project. It must be of national importance and have the potential to improve Vermont's future research and development competitiveness. Proposed research topics must:

Align with priorities of the current Vermont Science and Technology Plan;
Align with current scientific and engineering grand challenges, such as NSF's 10 Big Ideas,[ii] Research to Advance Industries of the Future,[iii] or other NSF-relevant grand challenges put forth by other agencies or entities;
Be in one of NSF's regular programmatic and cross-cutting areas of interest; and
Leverage the strengths of Vermont's research institution

The University of Vermont Office of Research Development will manage the submission and review process on behalf of the Vermont Tech Council. This call for white papers is open to all eligible researchers/research institutions in Vermont. The Vermont Technology Council will solicit reviews from relevant experts who have experience with the NSF EPSCoR program. White papers will be reviewed against NSF review criteria. The Vermont Technology Council will meet to review the proposals and the expert comments, and will make the final decision regarding the project that will be invited for full proposal development and submission to NSF.

The solicitation for white papers, which includes instructions for preparation and submission, is attached.

Solicitation for white papers

Thank you.

David Bradbury
Kirk Dombrowski

[1] Based on FY20 dates
[ii] https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/
[iii] https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/FY21-Fact-Sheet-IOTF.pdf