ND EPSCoR conference sees record attendance
With record attendance of researchers, students and other interested parties, this year’s North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) was, by all accounts, a big success.
“The turnout for this conference surprised us, but it’s also true that interest in this conference has been growing a lot over the years,” said Mark Hoffmann, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and associate vice president for research capacity building (which encompasses ND EPSCoR at UND). Hoffmann also is ND EPSCoR associate project director.
Hoffmann, whose office organized this year’s conference—which alternates between Grand Forks and Fargo—said about 430 people registered for the conference, up more than 100 from the conference in Grand Forks two years ago. Likewise, there was a significant expansion in the number of student research posters, a key feature of the conference—250 this year, up more than 50 from the previous conference.
“This conference is all about collaboration,” said President Ed Schafer in his opening remarks at the conference. Schafer—who was governor of North Dakota during EPSCoR’s initial years—also told the early morning audience of several hundred people that North Dakota is the only state, so far, since the inception of the EPSCoR program in the mid-1980s, to receive continuous funding.
“EPSCoR has made a big difference in North Dakota,” Schafer said in an interview following the conference. “Prior to EPSCoR, federal research dollars went to some elite schools on both coasts—in other words, the money was doled out to a limited set of institutions. Our students are now competitive with the Harvards of the world.”
Vice President for Research and Economic Development Grant McGimpsey noted during the introduction that North Dakota’s congressional delegation was vital to the success of EPSCoR in terms of research funding flowing into the state. North Dakota U.S. Sens John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp addressed the gathering’s morning introductions with prepared video presentations. Randy Richards, a district representative of U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer’s Office, read a letter from the congressman.
“I’ve learned that our delegation is and has been tremendously supportive of EPSCoR,” said McGimpsey, a Ph.D. chemist who joined UND earlier this year from a similar position at Kent State University.
UND Chemistry alum and Grand Forks native Kathryn Uhrich, now dean of the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences at the University of California-Riverside, noted the enthusiastic participation of so many people, especially the high level of student engagement with the conference with their 250 research posters. Uhrich, who spent 20 years at Rutgers, was the luncheon keynote speaker; she described her innovative research into new forms of aspirin and her entrepreneurial endeavors related to that product.
The overall goal of ND EPSCoR is to increase the competitiveness of North Dakota for merit-based grants and contracts in support of science and technology research from federal funding agencies. Funded through federal-state-private sector partnerships, ND EPSCoR manages a comprehensive research development plan that involves the following:
- Infrastructure Improvement Programs
- Science Outreach and Recruitment Programs
- Technology Transfer and Commercialization Programs
- Tribal Colleges Programs.
