MOSCOW, ID – Four University of Idaho early-career researchers will conduct research at other prestigious institutions in high-impact fields such as microchip development and water security thanks in large part to a new research development initiative titled Fostering Opportunities through Collaborative University Synergies (FOCUS), a multi-university project created by U of I’s Research and Faculty Development (RFD) office.

The FOCUS group is aimed at enhancing competitiveness in research proposals. Each academic year, the group identifies key funding opportunities that hold great potential for advancing knowledge and research capacity, as well as improving infrastructure while aligning with U of I’s strategic goals. Over the past year, the initiative targeted several key funding opportunities, leading to significant achievements.

One such success was the NSF EPSCoR Research Fellows program. This program allows early- and mid-career researchers to develop collaborations at the nation’s top private, government or academic research institutions. Awardees receive access to state-of-the-art equipment and work side by side with experts in their fields at these institutions. Awardees then bring their newly acquired skills and expertise back to their home institutions to build their own research capacity.

Prior to the FOCUS initiative, U of I had received just one NSF EPSCoR Research Fellows award in the past five years. This year, for the first time, U of I had four researchers accepted as NSF EPSCoR fellows with awards totaling nearly $1 million. FOCUS strategically targeted this opportunity and others by engaging with program officers and providing tailored proposal development support to applicants.

“These research opportunities engage early-career researchers and accelerate their path to successful grant applications, funding the research that drives Idaho industry,” said Chris Nomura, vice president for research and economic development at U of I.

The NSF EPSCoR Research Fellows awardees are:

• Tianfang Han, assistant professor, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences — At The Ohio State University, Han will work with Roger Ratcliff and build skills in modeling human’s cognitive reaction to sudden events. The project will improve future designs of choice reaction experiments.
• Feng Li, Micron Endowed Chair in Microelectronics, College of Engineering — This research studies materials for building semiconductor chips that can tolerate high heat, expanding their use and longevity. Li will conduct research at Carnegie Institution for Science.
• Xiaogang “Marshall” Ma, associate professor, College of Engineering — Ma will travel to the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., to learn specific computing techniques to better use data visualization specifically for mineral exploration.
• Meng Zhao, assistant professor, College of Science — Zhao will study at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and research the often-overlooked water stored in bedrock to refine simulations of water budgets.

Each of the facility visits will position the researchers to bring back knowledge and new research projects in which U of I students can engage.

FOCUS is a partnership among U of I, Montana State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nevada, Reno and Utah State University. For more information on FOCUS and future programs, contact the RFD team.