University of Maine Hosts DEPSCoR Day in Portland, Maine

This October, researchers and administrators from across the Northeast United States and beyond gathered in Portland, Maine for DEPSCoR Day to learn about Department of Defence (DOD) research opportunities available to their home jurisdictions. Organized by Maine EPSCoR and the Defence Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) brought in program officers and representatives together from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and DOD. 

The conference, opened by University of Maine Associate Vice President for Research Ali Abedi and Director of Basic Research at United States Department of Defense Bindu Nair, introduced attendees to the Pentagon’s approach to research and where attendees may find a place within that framework. DEPSCoR jurisdictions like Maine are positioned well to make real contributions to basic and applied basic research across DOD programs, which simultaneously keeps Maine at the forefront of research development.

DEPSCoR Day also introduced attendees to a plethora of education and outreach opportunities. Programs are available for established researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and even K-12 classrooms and offer in roads for further education and research experiences.

Most importantly, attendees were able to meet with program officers and DOD representatives to present their research during a poster session and then in one-on-one meetings. This gave early-career and established researchers alike an opportunity to discuss and receive feedback on their research and how it could fit into DOD’s research ecosystem.

Programs like DEPSCoR and these events are important to establishing and maintaining research capacity in jurisdictions like Maine. The University of Maine sees both a history of success and emerging opportunities in programs like DEPSCoR, and places an importance on developing strong ties to the program. 

DEPSCoR Day presentations are available for download at the event’s dedicated website: (https://umaine.edu/epscor/depscor-day-slide-decks/)