Annual Updates

As in prior meetings, we encourage each jurisdiction's program office to create an “annual update” for their EPSCoR or IDeA program to use during the annual meetings with your congressional delegation (in-person, virtually, or in Members’ district offices). As you know, these summaries will also be posted on the EIF website, so please exclude any information you wouldn’t want shared publicly. Alternatively, you can provide a “public view” version. To review the agency summaries your state has created previously, visit this page.

We recommend these updates be vetted by your institution’s communications departments, science writers, etc. since these summaries will be shared with Members of Congress and Hill staff who have little to no scientific background.

Submission Guidelines

In contrast with meetings in previous years, the annual update template is no longer required for submission, however, we are providing the template (click to download) as an option for those who choose to use it. Annual updates may be submitted in a stylistic format of the submitting program's choosing, provided the annual update is submitted in a .pdf format and does not exceed two pages in length. A few items we strongly encourage you emphasize in your update include:

• Return on Investment: Your state has received [$] from [federal agency/NIH, NSF, etc.] which has been leveraged into [x, y, z].
• Economic Impact in your state: Related to the first item but this can be broad/global (e.g., the IDeA Program has had a [$] million economic impact in [jurisdiction] since 2000*) whereas you may have several different, more specific examples of ROI you may want to highlight.
• Workforce Development is of keen interest to Members of Congress. How has EPSCoR/IDeA funding contributed?

You should plan to bring these updates with you to your meetings with Members/staff. You can also email these updates to the appropriate congressional staff after any in-person or virtual meetings you may have throughout the year.

As always, we greatly appreciate your help with this request. These summaries are a valuable tool that both the Coalition and Foundation rely on throughout the year. Please submit completed summaries (PDF format, 2 page limit) at the link below by Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Miss the February 18 deadline to submit your Annual Update? Your update can still be included in the next edition. Submit your Annual Update at the link below once ready for upload.