The Mississippi EPSCoR Program is a major initiative of the Mississippi Research Consortium (MRC). The Mississippi Research Consortium is a coalition of the state's four research institutions -Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, The University of Mississippi, and The University of Southern Mississippi - whose chief research officers make up the Board. The four EPSCoR infrastructure improvement goals are: (1) to develop research groups in Gene Regulation, Electrically Conducting Materials, Neuro-Endocrine-Immune Interactions, and Computational Chemistry into self-supporting nationally competitive units; (2) to strengthen university research capability in chemical sciences; material sciences; biological sciences; social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and computational sciences, including high-capacity networking; (3) to strengthen program development at the research institutions and the medical center through campus-based focused activities; and (4) to increase the role of university faculty in technology transfer/economic development activities. The four research groups: will build laboratories and programs around their research foci to enable them to pursue funding to replace EPSCoR funds. Their plans include graduate and undergraduate program development, curriculum development/enhancement, establishment of partnerships, purchase of equipment, faculty recruitment, and development of post-doctoral strength. The EPSCoR Committee will continue internal program monitoring and evaluation using established performance measures.
