The Presidents of the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical & Community College and Wesley College joined State officials on November 7, 2008 to announce that the National Science Foundation had awarded Delaware a Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) grant of $15 million as part of NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The State of Delaware provided $1 million in 2008 to help achieve EPSCoR objectives. The focus of the grant is to improve Delaware's natural environment through research and education and to promote economic development.

The grant will allow the State's institutions to expand their environmental research capacity, broaden educational opportunities, and build collaborations with government agencies, industry and nonprofit organizations. The partners in the grant include the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical & Community College and Wesley College. The Delaware Biotechnology Institute serves as the headquarters of the Delaware EPSCoR office.

With a focus on Delaware's goals to improve air and water quality, preserve its delicate coastal ecosystem and promote brownfield redevelopment, the grant will advance research in three areas: particle transport and release, metal-microbe-carbon interactions and environmental observation and sensing. Interdisciplinary collaboration among biologists, chemists, engineers, soil scientists, geoscientists, ethicists, and public policy experts will appeal to a wide array of students.

RII Program Summary

RII Program Description

AAAS External Review Panel

RII Partners

University of Delaware/ Delaware Biotechnology Institute

Delaware State University

Wesley College

Delaware Technical & Community College