NSF CISE Research Expansion Investigators Conference on NSF Priorities Areas - Maine and Neighboring Jurisdictions

This project supports CISE research expansion in the areas of Computer Science and Engineering across Maine and Neighboring Regions (Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont). Maine EPSCoR will work with the NSF CISE Directorate to develop and produce virtual preconference activities, culminating in two in-person conferences. The conferences and related activities are designed to eliminate knowledge gaps about CISE funding opportunities for early career investigators, some of whom work in isolation due to their rural location or the absence of peers in their specific fields. NSF program personnel will update early career investigators on new NSF and CISE priorities (e.g., Quantum information science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cybersecurity), while also directing them to ongoing areas of importance, such as the NSF’s merit review process and criteria. Experienced investigators with significant NSF funding and ties to the CISE Directorate will mentor groups of early career investigators with the goal of producing white papers and full proposals to NSF from the region. In addition to impacting the productivity and retention of early-career investigators, the conferences and related activities will impact industry sectors that are of great importance to Maine and the nation. Given the extensive transdisciplinary and convergent research that occurs across and beyond the state, new knowledge generated from conference activities will impact adjacent areas such as material science, agriculture, and marine science. Workforce development will be strengthened through resulting funded proposals that impact undergraduate and graduate students, K-12 educators and students, and others in the STEM education pipeline. Start-up companies and intellectual property will also emerge from the investment in early career investigators. Funded proposals related to topics such as AI, Machine Learning and Data Analytics, Quantum Science, Semiconductors, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, and Cybersecurity will address concerns that impact virtually all Americans. 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.