A two-page Microsoft Word document (38KB) describing the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research's (EPSCoR) mission and goals is available for download. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, you may download a free Word reader from the Microsoft Web site at http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/wd97vwr32.aspx.

EPSCoR identifies, develops, and uses a state's academic science and technology (S&T;) resources to support its economic growth and a more productive and fulfilling way of life for its citizens. EPSCoR acts on the premise that universities, their science and engineering faculty, and their students are valuable resources that can influence a state's development in the 21st century. To achieve this goal, NSF collaborates with state leaders in government, higher education, and business to create partnerships that can bring lasting improvements to the state's academic research infrastructure and increase its national research and development (R&D;) competitiveness.

EPSCoR increases the R&D; competitiveness of an eligible state by developing and using the S&T; resources in its major research universities (institutions that grant significant numbers of the state's Ph.D. degrees in science and engineering disciplines). EPSCoR achieves this by:

• Stimulating sustainable S&T; infrastructure improvements at the state and institutional levels to increase the ability of EPSCoR researchers to compete for Federal and private sector R&D; funding

• Accelerating the movement of EPSCoR researchers and institutions into the mainstream of Federal and private sector R&D; support