Louisiana Board of Regents Research Programs
Article VII, Section 10.1 of the Louisiana a Constitution established two
funds in the State treasury: The Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund
and the Board of Regents Support Fund. The Trust Fund was established with
approximately $550 million received from settlement of disputed oil and
gas revenues generated in the so-called 8(g) stipulation of the Federal
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Twenty-five percent of the interest earned
from investment of 8(g) oil and gas revenues, will continue to be returned
to the Trust Fund, until it reaches a cap of $2 billion. As of July 1, 2000,
the Trust Fund has risen to approximately $898 million. Each fiscal year
the remaining 75% of the interest earned and 75% of the recurring oil and
gas revenues are placed in the Support Fund for appropriation by the Legislature.
The Louisiana Board of Regents also co-sponsors with Federal agencies such
as NSF, DoD, DoE, EPA, NASA, and NIH, several statewide programs under the
aegis of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitiveness Research
(EPSCoR) . The goal of the Board of Regents EPSCoR programs is to strengthen
targeted R&D areas relevant to the State and mission of each agency
and, in the process, develop Louisiana’s research capacity, infrastructure,
and science and engineering personnel.
Programs:
Research and Development Program
The Board of Regents Support Fund R & D Program includes two components:
the Research Competitiveness Subprogram (RCS) and the Industrial
Ties Research Subprogram (ITRS).
The RCS funds proposals that strengthen the fundamental research base and
competitiveness of Louisiana's public and private universities. Research
proposed under this subprogram should make fundamental and basic contributions
to knowledge in the eligible scientific and engineering disciplines rather
than simply seek to apply existing knowledge. The RCS is a stimulus program
directed only toward those researchers who are at the threshold of becoming
consistently competitive for funding in the Federal R & D marketplace
and who show strong potential for achieving national research competitiveness
within a limited time span. Established or heavily funded researchers and
research groups, unless moving into a new field of research, are unlikely
to be competitive in this subprogram. Junior researchers at the threshold
of national research competitiveness will be given preference over senior
researchers who are changing fields.
The ITRS funds research proposals that show significant near-term potential
for contributing to the development and diversification of Louisiana's economy.
The ITRS is also a stimulus program. Accordingly, all proposals should (a)
involve significant private sector or Federal funding or, at a minimum,
include a plan to leverage substantial Federal or private sector funding
in the near future; and (b) demonstrate how the proposed research will result
in the establishment of a new or the enhancement of an existing Louisiana
business or industry.
Enhancement Programs
The Enhancement Program consists of three components: the Endowed
Professorships Program; the Traditional Enhancement Program;
and the Undergraduate Enhancement Program.
The objectives of the Traditional and Undergraduate Enhancement Programs
are to enhance the infrastructure of academic, research, or agricultural
departments or units and to promote the State's economic development. All
institutions are eligible to compete in the Traditional Enhancement component,
while participation in the Undergraduate Enhancement component is limited
to campuses with two or fewer doctoral programs.The impact of the proposed
project on the enhancement of departments and units -- and on the State's
economy-- may be subtle, indirect, and delayed, or pronounced, direct, and
immediate. While the emphasis traditionally has been on the purchase of
instructional and/or research equipment, other types of Enhancements are
permitted--and encouraged--including curriculum revision projects, colloquia,
and interinstitutional/multidisciplinary projects that share scare State
resources. Special consideration will be given to:
- Imaginative projects which seek opportunities not otherwise available;
- Projects which will be funded in part by an external agency; and
- Projects which have a broad impact, strengthening the infrastructure
of departments and units.
The Endowed Professorships Program is designed to help campuses recruit
or retain faculty whose research, teaching, and/or public service uniquely
contribute to the mission of their departments and institutions. Participation
in the programs requires a contribution of at least $60k from an external
source, to be matched with $40k from the Support Fund. Professorships may
be combined into multiples at the same 60:40 ratio. Each campus is guaranteed
at least two professorships per year, providing that the required external
contributions are raised and documented.
Graduate Fellows Program
The primary objectives in recruiting superior graduate students under the
Support Fund Graduate Fellows Program are: (1) to elevate to higher levels
of performance departments or units which have attained--or show clear promise
of attaining--regional, national, or international standards of eminence
commensurate with the degree offerings and/or functions of the submitting
department or unit; and (2) to elevate to higher levels of performance departments
or units which have promoted--or show clear promise of promoting--economic
development in the State. To ensure that students may concentrate on completing
degree requirements, only graduate fellowships will be awarded under this
Program. Recipients of Support Fund graduate fellowships shall not be assigned
duties not required as part of their programs.
The Graduate Fellows component has two subprograms, including:
1. The Traditional Graduate Fellows Program, in which
both doctoral and master's-level students are eligible; and
2. The Graduate Fellowships for Teachers (GFT) Program,
through which one-year stipends are provided to secondary and below math
and science teachers--who pledge to remain and teach in the State--for the
express purpose of finishing their master's degrees in content areas.
Endowed Chairs Program
Modeled after the Louisiana Endowment Trust Fund for Eminent Scholars which
was created by statute during the 1983 regular session of the Louisiana
Legislature, the Board of Regents Support Fund Endowed Chairs for Eminent
Scholars Program first awarded chairs under the aegis of the Support Fund
in the spring of 1987. All chairs were endowed at $1 million: $600,000 in
private funds, with a $400,000 match from the Support Fund. Between FY 1986-87
and FY 1990-91 the amount of Support Fund money devoted to the program was
increased commensurate with rising demand. During FY 1990-91, the Regents
acted to eliminate all but restricted bequests from the “first-come,
first-served” basis upon which the program had previously been conducted.
The “Guidelines for the Submission of Proposals for the Competitive
Program for Matching Funds to Endow Chairs” were first issued in the
fall of 1990, and have governed administration of the Competitive Program
since that time.
In 1993 the Regents engaged the services of a distinguished team of out-of-state
consultants to conduct a comprehensive review of the overall Endowed Chairs
Program, focusing upon the 42 chairs which had been endowed as of June,
1992. The ensuing consultants' report contained recommendations which the
Board ultimately adopted requiring a national search prior to the filling
of subsequent chairs (as well as on occasions when previously-funded chairs
become vacant) and inclusion on the said national search committee of at
least one scholar external to the campus, in the field of the prospective
chair, with no affiliation to the Board of Regents or the donor. Universities
are permitted to submit proposals for chairs to be endowed at the $2 million
level, with the 40:60 ratio of Support Fund to private donations maintained.
A second comprehensive review of the overall Endowed Chairs Program was
conducted during the summer and fall of 1998. The recommendations which
emanated there from, designed to take a program which had already amassed
an impressive and well-documented record of accomplishment and move it to
a still higher level of achievement, were incorporated into the BoR Endowed
Chairs Policy, adopted by the Board in March, 1999.
Federal Programs
The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is
a federal-state partnership of competitive merit-based programs at seven
federal research and development (R&D) agencies (NSF, DOD, DOE, EPA,
NASA, NIH; Note: Louisiana is currently not eligible to participate in the
DOD or USDA EPSCoR programs). The EPSCoR program was initiated by the National
Science Foundation in an effort to enhance the science and engineering research,
education and technology capabilities of states that historically have not
received significant R&D funding.
As the U.S. moves toward a science and technology (S&T) policy increasingly
aimed at global competitiveness, it is imperative that all states have a
sufficient base to participate and contribute. Through EPSCoR the participating
21 states and Puerto Rico are building high-quality academic research bases
that serve as the backbone of S&T enterprises capable of contributing
to the sound knowledge and economic infrastructure required to carry the
U.S. into the next century.
The nation's most populous EPSCoR state, Louisiana doesn't have a national
laboratory upon which to build a R&D/S&T infrastructure. Even the
R&D laboratories of its major chemical industries are located outside
its borders. The good news is that Louisiana has a large pool of higher
education science and engineering personnel. The bad news is that Louisiana
is a consumer - not an efficient producer of such talent. LA EPSCoR exists
to turn that around.
The Louisiana Board of Regents co-sponsors several statewide EPSCoR programs
with Federal agencies. The goal of the Board of Regents is to strengthen
targeted R&D areas relevant to the State and mission of each agency
and, in the process, develop Louisiana’s research capacity, infrastructure,
and S&E personnel.
Downloads (Current RFPs, etc)
Note that not all programs will have new RFPs posted in these directories.
For more information, visit the Board
of Regents web site or the Sponsored
Programs web site.
Last updated April 23, 2008
