About
Summary:
E-CORE RII: Strengthening Maine’s Research Ecosystem and Pathways Through Strategic Capacity Building (Maine-SMART) vision and goals emerged through a statewide needs assessment that included Maine’s Jurisdictional Steering Committee. Maine-SMART partners are united in their commitment to leveraging current and evolving infrastructure investments and overcoming systemic barriers that impede the growth of Maine’s R&D ecosystem.
Four synergistic cores are defined:
1: Administrative
2: Academic facilities/research infrastructure
3: K-16/workforce readiness
4: Economic development/use-inspired
Team science, led by a national expert, is built into the administrative core to support Maine-SMART leaders and program participants, including graduate students and postdocs. The administrative core will also advance diversity, coordination, evaluation, reporting, growth, and sustainability. The K-16/workforce readiness core will address STEM worker shortages and develop pathways to broaden the participation of institutions and individuals in the research ecosystem, focusing on PUIs, emerging research institutions, and Native American and BIPOC youth. Core partners include the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University of Maine, University of Southern Maine, University of Maine at Fort Kent, and Southern Maine Community College. The academic facilities and research infrastructure core will invest in early career faculty, incentivize collaboration across organizations and disciplines, and strengthen R&D through seed grants that align with Maine’s S&T plan. The economic development and use-inspired core will accelerate research translation and demonstrate the impact of specific investments in R&D, attracting additional funding and informing Maine’s S&T plan. The Maine-SMART ecosystem will be accountable for specific, measurable metrics and milestones. Core activities will be informed by powerful network analyses.
Cores:
Core 1: Administrative | Develop a strong network that is highly visible and accessible. Identify, understand and share research assets across Maine.
Core 2: Academic infrastructure and research facilities | Improve coordination and utilization of research assets. Improve jurisdiction-wide collaborative research and shared instrumentation.
Core 3: STEM Education (K-16) and workforce readiness | Increase number of students entering STEM fields. Broaden participation in STEM fields and careers.
Core 4: Economic development and use-inspired | Develop and assess key economic and workforce indicators. Drive more research translation progress and related outcomes (e.g. patents, start-ups).
