E-CORE RII: Mississippi Research Alliance

This project establishes the Mississippi Research Alliance (MRA) as a nexus for the state’s research ecosystem, leveraging existing strengths, expanding networks, and creating new opportunities to enhance Mississippi’s research and development (R&D) competitiveness. With a focus on overcoming barriers to access and sustainability, MRA will mobilize the entire jurisdiction to bridge critical gaps, enhance physical infrastructure essential for academic-led R&D, and encourage partnerships that connect comprehensive research universities with Emerging Research Institutions, state agencies, and public and private organizations. MRA creates an inclusive R&D ecosystem by broadening opportunities, lowering entry barriers and ensuring a diverse group of researchers can contribute to scientific progress. The project bolsters the state’s technology-driven research enterprise by fostering a collaborative, multidisciplinary R&D ecosystem that can attract top scientific talent. Ultimately, this project will drive economic growth through scientific and technological advancements, making significant strides towards a knowledge-based economy that will improve the quality of life for Mississippi residents. This project, led by Mississippi State University in partnership with Mississippi Valley State University, The University of Mississippi, and The University of Southern Mississippi, is overseen by the Mississippi EPSCoR jurisdictional steering committee (JSC). MRA’s vision is to be a transformative force in the Mississippi research and innovation ecosystem. MRA will forge strategic partnerships that harness and enhance existing human and physical assets and coordinate new investments to position Mississippi as a leader in science and technology, fostering an ecosystem where innovation thrives through collaboration. MRA efforts are divided into three cores: Strategic Governance, Sustainable Shared Instrumentation, and Administrative. The Strategic Governance Core will expand the JSC to enhance statewide resource coordination, accelerating economic growth grounded in scientific research and development. The Sustainable Shared Instrumentation Core will improve the impact and longevity of core facilities within the state by addressing existing barriers to access and sustainability and promoting the use of these facilities across Mississippi. The Administrative Core will cultivate and expand interdisciplinary team networks that foster effective collaboration and resource sharing to facilitate seamless knowledge exchange throughout the R&D ecosystem. This core will also use an expanded networking strategy to engage key individuals, groups, and organizations to amplify collaborative efforts supporting the MRA’s mission. These distinct but highly integrated cores will collectively address infrastructure gaps and integrate essential components to foster a thriving ecosystem. This will ensure Mississippi’s continued progress, competitiveness, and capacity to tackle the complex challenges facing our state and Nation. This project is funded by the NSF EPSCoR Collaborations for Optimizing Research Ecosystems (E-CORE) RII Program. The E-CORE RII program supports jurisdictions in building capacity in one or more targeted research infrastructure cores that underlie the jurisdiction’s research ecosystem. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.