NEW MEXICO: NM NSF EPSCoR Director presents to State Legislature
Earlier in July, New Mexico EPSCoR Director Gunny Balakrishnan presented to the New Mexico State Legislature Science, Technology & Telecommunications Committee at an interim committee meeting held July 7-8. Committee members were visibly impressed as Director Balakrishnan rattled off the laundry list of positive impacts NM EPSCoR has had on building New Mexico’s research capacity since 2000 when the program was established. After the presentation, Committee Vice Chair Debra M. Sariñana, told Director Balakrishnan, "Senator Soules told us about how wonderful this organization is...so to hear exactly what you are doing is great!"
Why is this important?
When NM EPSCoR submits large $20M funding proposals to NSF, state support is a requirement. In fact, any proposal that does not align with the state's science and technology objectives (here is a link to New Mexico's: https://eddstateplan.com/) is immediately disqualified from consideration.