The West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) today announced it has awarded $38,000 in grants to eight researchers from five West Virginia colleges and universities.
The grants, which were awarded through WVEPSCoR's mini-grant program, are intended to assist faculty members with the preparation of research or research equipment proposals for submission to external funding agencies or foundations. The grant recipients will be applying for funding opportunities available later this year from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes for Health.
"These mini-grants help provide researchers with the resources they need to develop stronger, more competitive proposals for funding their work," said Paul L. Hill, Ph.D., WVEPSCoR executive director. "In the past, seed money from this program has enabled a number of West Virginia scientists to prepare grant applications that ultimately were funded for hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Hill added that the goal of the WVEPSCoR program is to increase West Virginia's competitive research infrastructure, and that a relatively modest investment of state funds can lead to large awards from federal or private sources.
"Everyone in West Virginia wins when we are able to increase the amount of research going on at our colleges and universities. Studies show that regions of the country with more research offer an overall better quality of life, including higher wages and more jobs," he said.
This year’s mini-grant recipients include the following researchers: Dr. Tesfaye Belay of Bluefield State College, $5,000; Dr. Xin Li of West Virginia University, $4,500; Dr. Huong Nguyen of Marshall University, $4,500; Dr. F. Robin O’Keefe of Marshall University, $5,000; Dr. William Price of Marshall University, $5,000; Dr. Guofen Yu, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, $5,000; and Dr. Guo-Zhang Zhu, Marshall University, $4,500.
For more information about WVEPSCoR’s programs or its Vision 2015 strategic plan for growing the state's research enterprise, call (304) 558-4128 or visit http://www.wvepscor.org/.
Monday, April 9, 2007
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