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Grant gives MU research big boost
By Eric Fossell
Marshall actually will receive about $1.7 million of the overall federal money distributed to the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR), according to Charles Somerville, associate professor of biological science at Marshall. He said Marshall will match the grant with $3.4 million, with an additional $1.4 million invested by the state to benefit Marshall. In addition to Marshall, the prime beneficiaries of the nearly $9 million of federal money are West Virginia State University and, most notably, West Virginia University because it already has advanced engineering research in place, Somerville said. "Right now, WVU is the leader in nano-engineering," he said. "What we do really well (at Marshall) is work at the biological end of the molecular scale. This grant is all about the interface of biology at the molecular scale with engineering at the molecular scale." Furthermore, the funding generated by the federal grant will facilitate the hiring of additional science faculty at Marshall, Somerville said. David Ice, manager of grants and contract development at Marshall, said at least two more science professors will be hired at Marshall to participate in research funded by the federal grant and matching money. Gov. Joe Manchin said the funding is vitally important, considering statistics that show that 75 percent of all new companies launched through university research start in the state where the research was done. Statewide, West Virginia will match the federal grant with an additional $4.5 million, bringing the total funds available to $13.5 million, according to a news release from Rockefeller's office. The $9 million award represents the largest science and technology research grant ever awarded to West Virginia by the National Science Foundation, and brings the total amount of federal funding WV EPSCoR has secured during the past four years to nearly $20 million. "This large grant shows that we can achieve great things by working together," Manchin said in a prepared release. "WVU, Marshall, and WVSU have collaborated on this effort to win the award and will continue to reinforce collaboration as they make new discoveries in science that benefit our state. I am extremely proud of our faculty who not only seek new knowledge but are attempting to turn their ideas into high-tech jobs here in West Virginia." EPSCoR was created in 1979 to build research capacity in states that historically received a small amount of National Science Foundation funding. The 27 EPSCoR states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands represent nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population and have 20 percent of all doctoral and research universities, yet receive just 10 percent of National Science Foundation funding, according to the release from Rockefeller's office.
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Marshall
University will generate nearly $6.5 million in science and research
funding during the next three years, thanks in part to the almost $9
million federal      |