| Welcome to EPA's National Center for
Environmental Research Homepage
This site has been designed to provide easy access to our research
funding opportunities and our past and present research projects
and programs. We opened our home page in October 1996 and are making
daily improvements. We would appreciate your feedback on the utility
of this homepage and whether it meets your needs in identifying
research opportunities and activities. Please use the communicate
button to convey your feedback.
Who Are We?
The National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) is one of
five research organizations that comprise EPA’s Office of Research
and Development (ORD). NCER’s mission is to support high-quality
research by the nation’s leading scientists that will improve
the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues
and help EPA achieve its goals . NCER is one of three national laboratories
and two national centers that mirror the National Academy of Sciences’
risk assessment paradigm by focusing on exposure (National Exposure
Research Lab), effects (National Health and Environmental Effects
Research Lab), risk assessment (National Center for Environmental
Assessment) and risk management (National Risk Management Research
Lab). NCER supports leading-edge, extramural research in each of
these areas of national environmental concern.
The technical staff who work for NCER have backgrounds in engineering,
ecological and health sciences, communication and information management.
NCER is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
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Science to Achieve Results: Building a Scientific Foundation
for Sound Environmental Decisions
NCER’s Science to Achieve Results or STAR program funds research
grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science
and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process
and independent peer review. The program engages the nation’s
best scientists and engineers in targeted research that complements
EPA’s own outstanding intramural research program and those
of our partners in other federal agencies. In addition, through
this same competitive process, NCER periodically establishes large
research centers in specific areas of national concern. At present,
these centers focus on children’s health, hazardous substances,
particulate matter, and estuarine and coastal monitoring.
STAR research is funded through Requests for Applications (RFAs)
that are derived from the ORD Strategic Plan and from research plans
for specific topics developed by ORD. RFAs are prepared in cooperation
with other parts of the Agency and concentrate on areas of special
significance to the EPA mission. At present, STAR is focusing on
the health effects of particulate matter, drinking water, water
quality, global change, ecosystem assessment and restoration, human
health risk assessment, endocrine disrupting chemicals, pollution
prevention and new technologies, children’s health, and socio-economic
research.
NCER receives approximately 3000-3500 proposals every year for
its STAR research and graduate fellowship programs. Each year, STAR
awards about 180 research grants, 40 research grants jointly with
other federal and private sector partners, and 125 graduate fellowships,
in approximately 280 universities and non-profit research institutions
in all states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
On an annual basis, NCER manages 650-750 active research grants
and 300 fellowships. About 10 percent of the applications submitted
to STAR are funded after peer review.
STAR partnerships have greatly increased since the program was
initiated in 1995. STAR leverages its resources through joint solicitations
with 12 federal and private sector research partners enhancing the
NCER research portfolio by about 30-50 additional grants.
Project abstracts as well as annual progress reports and final
summary reports for each STAR funded grant and fellowship are posted
on the NCER internet site. Other types of summary reports (topical
research summary reports and research “capsules”) and
workshop proceedings are also available on the internet site. Internet
site users may sign-up on line to receive emails describing updates
of research results and new grant announcements as they are posted.
More detailed results are available in published journals articles
that are identified in the summary reports.
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Applying for a STAR Research Grant or Fellowship
RFAs for STAR Grants or Fellowships are found on the announcements
page of the NCER web site. STAR has four formal solicitation periods
each year during January, April, August, and October and awards
approximately $100 million per year. Instructions and eligibility
requirements for applying for any of the STAR announcements are
detailed in each solicitation. In general, solicitations are open
for at least 90 days. A list of current and projected solicitations
is available on the internet site
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Other NCER Activities
NCER supports the development of innovative environmental technologies
and products through its Small Business Innovation Research program
(SBIR). Small firms are eligible to apply for annual solicitations
focused in areas of the Agency’s interest. SBIR solicitations,
awards, and research summaries are posted on the NCER internet site.
These SBIR solicitations, like the STAR grants, are targeted towards
areas of particular importance to EPA's mission.
Other NCER programs include: the Experimental Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research (EPSCoR), the Minority Academic Institution
Program for Graduate and Undergraduate Fellowships, the AAAS Science
and Engineering Fellowship Program, and the Resident Research Associateship
Program.
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Additional Information
ORD believes that communicating the results of its research is
extremely important for the Agency, the scientific community, and
the general public. STAR information readily available on this internet
site include research progress and results, grant and fellowship
solicitations, events, and other program summary information. Additional
information written by STAR grantees can be found published in peer
review journals. The bibliographies for these journals articles
are associated with grantee's annual and final reports found on
this web site.
If you have questions about the web site's content, or have a
general question, please use the Communicate function on this
homepage to
email your question to us. We will respond quickly to assist you.
If you have a specific question about the research and/or a solicitation,
please contact the NCER project officer noted in the solicitation
to directly speak to someone.
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