October 8, 2020
The Next Track-1 State Proposal Competition Starts Soon
The South Carolina State Committee has initiated the process for the selection of the next NSF Research Infrastructure Improvement Track 1 (RII-Track 1) project. The SC EPSCoR Program will release the Call for Letters of Intent and Pre-proposals during the third week of November 2020. Lead PIs must be from Clemson, MUSC or UofSC Columbia.

Faculty are encouraged to begin consultation to develop highly competitive ideas in anticipation of the release of the Call.  Only faculty from South Carolina can participate in Track-1 proposals and proposals must be aligned with South Carolina’s Vision 2025 - Advancing South Carolina Capacity and Expertise in Science and Technology.

The selected team will be required to submit a proposal for the NSF RII-Track 1 in July/August 2022. The most recent NSF RII-Track 1 Solicitation can serve as a general guide to the solicitation of the 2022 NSF RII-Track-1 competition.

Contact Dr. Nadim Aziz, Program Director, for more information.

Three Open Funding Opportunities

For more information, please contact april.heyward@scra.org.
The goal of the GEAR Program is to encourage faculty researchers at SC’s three comprehensive research universities to compete for research funding to support the MADE in SC research clusters. 

Max Funding Amount Per Award: $60,000
Duration: 18 months
 
Full Proposal due 
Mon, Nov 9, 5 pm
The goal of GEAR CRP is to encourage faculty researchers to build collaborative CRU/PUI academic research teams that will enhance the network of scientists conducting research related to MADE in SC.

Max Funding Amount Per Award: $60,000
Duration: 18 months
 
Full Proposal due 
Mon, Nov, 9 pm
The SAN Program aims to increase diversity in materials research and education with a goal of increasing diversity of the STEM pipeline of Under Represented Minority (URM), women, and persons with disabilities. 

Max Funding Amount Per Award: $10,000
Duration: 12 months
 
Full Proposal due 
Mon, Oct 26, 5 pm

Important Update
GEAR and GEAR-CRP

The Alignment with the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) section of GEAR Solicitation 9-GE2020 and GEAR CRP Solicitation 9-CRP2020 have been updated to reflect the following requirement:

"Describe the alignment of the proposed research with the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) and explicitly identify how the proposed research connects with the MGI approach, i.e., an iterative cycle for materials design. Proposals must follow the MGI Implementation Framework adopted by MADE in SC to demonstrate alignment with the MGI in an iterative loop to accelerate the materials research/development/discovery process. The implementation requires the integration of at least two of the following three elements:
  • Physical experiments (EXP)
  • Theory, modeling and/or numerical simulations (TMS)
  • Data science including databases (DS/DB)
Each proposal should clearly articulate how the iterative loop will be implemented and how this loop is closed to accelerate materials research. For more on the MGI Implementation Framework, click here. This link also includes an example of a graphical depiction of the MGI Framework iterative process between at least two of the three elements for a specific research project. A similar graphic that appropriately depicts how the proposed research plans to implement the MGI Framework can be included in this section of the proposal."
 
For more information on the GEAR and GEAR CRP programs, please contact april.heyward@scra.org.

Research Focus On:

Dr. Rajendra Bordia
George J. Bishop, III Professor at Clemson University

 
MADE in SC Scientific Director & Co-PI
Dr. Rajendra Bordia is a George J. Bishop, III Professor of Material Science and Engineering at Clemson University and the Scientific Director and Co-PI of the MADE in SC NSF Track-1 Project. His research is at the intersection of materials and mechanics and is focused on fundamental and applied studies in the processing and properties of complex ceramics and composite materials and systems for energy, environmental, and extreme environment applications. In a current project in collaboration with Dr. Steve Creager and Dr. Ulf Schiller, research is focused on the effect of electrode microstructure on accessible energy density, at high charge and discharge rates for Li-ion batteries.

Li‐ion batteries, as one of the most advanced rechargeable batteries, have attracted much attention in the past few decades. High specific energy (energy/mass), especially at high discharge rate, is nearly always desirable in battery systems, but it is especially important in batteries for electric vehicles. One approach to realizing high power density is to make thick electrodes. However, the thickness of current generation of electrodes, especially at high charge/discharge rates is limited by the transport of liquid electrolyte in the highly tortuous porous electrodes. In this project, they are developing an integrated experimental and simulation approach to understand the effect of microstructure on achievable energy density in Li-ion, liquid electrolyte batteries, especially at high charge, discharge rate; and to develop experimentally validated simulation approaches to design optimal microstructures. The focus is on engineered porous microstructures. Click here to read more about Dr. Bordia's research.

2021 Governor's Awards for Excellence in Science Nominations

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2021 Governor's Awards for Excellence in Science. The Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Science honors specifically an individual or team within the state whose achievements and contributions to science in South Carolina merit special recognition and promote wider awareness of the quality and extent of scientific activity in South Carolina. Candidates must currently be working in South Carolina or must have conducted a substantial portion of their work within the State.

Since 2010 four awards have been given annually:

  • Excellence in Scientific Research (ESR)
  • Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research (YESR)
  • Excellence in Scientific Awareness (ESA)
  • Excellence in Scientific Research at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution (PUI)
The deadline for receipt of nominations and supporting documentation is December 8, 2020. For more information or questions, contact Dr. William Pirkle or Dr. Donald Jordan

 Congratulations Dr. Rachel Getman 

Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Getman on becoming the first recipient of the Murdoch Family Endowed Professorship in Chemical and Engineering at Clemson University. Dr. Getman is also a Co-Leader of the Modeling and Computation Core (MCC) of the MADE in SC Project. Dr. Getman’s research is helping lay the groundwork to create more efficient, more effective and less expensive catalysts. Catalysts accelerate the rate of chemical reactions and are crucial to mass-producing a vast range of products from gasoline and diesel fuel to fertilizer and plastic. Her main contribution has been to develop a multiscale modeling method for quantifying thermodynamics and kinetics of aqueous phase reactions at solid interfaces. Click here to read more. 

 Resources

Check the SC NASA EPSCoR website for news and opportunities. Questions? Contact Tara Scozzaro, SC Space Grant and SC NASA EPSCoR Program Manager, (843) 953-5463, Email
 

Program Development Grants Questions? Contact Susannah Sheldon, SC Sea Grant Research and Fellowships Manager, (843) 953-2083, Email
 

Looking for collaborators?
 
• Research Expertise Profiles Database (faculty)
• Student Research Interests Profiles Database (students)

OCT 26
SC EPSCoR SAN Program
Nov 9
SC EPSCoR GEAR Program
Nov 9
SC EPSCoR GEAR CRP Program
Funding Opps: 

• SC EPSCoR  (3)
DoD EPSCoR (DEPSCoR)
• DOE
• NASA 
• NIH 
• NSF
• USDA
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Question? Input? Contact email SC EPSCoR.