Joint ND/SD EPSCoR conference set for Sept. 7 The sixth biennial joint conference of North Dakota/South Dakota EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) will be held Friday, Sept. 7, at the NDSU Memorial Union. The theme of the conference is “Achieving Success in the Competitive Research Environment.” Conference and poster presentation registration is now available on the web at www.ndepscor.nodak.edu. There is no cost to register and lunch is provided. The conference is open to all, but faculty and students who receive support from ND EPSCoR are especially urged to attend and participate in this conference as a condition of their EPSCoR awards. Several NSF program officers have accepted invitations to speak, and the North Dakota Congressional delegation have been invited to address the conference because of their key roles in supporting ND EPSCoR and increased federal research funding across the state. An added feature of the program will be a session on cyber infrastructure (CI). Teragrid/Internet2 team members have been invited to address this NSF designated enabling technology which is expected to advance the frontiers of science. CI has become a priority area at NSF and the university research enterprise must become more connected regionally, nationally and internationally to remain competitive. EPSCoR programs across NSF, NIH, DOE and NASA are all well positioned for budget increases, and the ND EPSCoR program, supported by NSF and the State of North Dakota, is up for recompetition in 2008. You are encouraged to attend the 2007 biennial joint conference to learn what your peers and their students are accomplishing in advancing North Dakota’s research agenda. Updated conference information and the agenda will soon be available on the web at www.ndepscor.nodak.edu. -- Gary Johnson, Interim Vice President for Research, Office of the Vice President for Research, garyejohnson@mail.und.nodak.edu, 701-777-2492