Contact: Jim Laird
Student researchers and faculty advisers from around the Magnolia State are gathering Thursday and Friday [April 14 and 15] at Mississippi State University for the Mississippi Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research annual conference.
Usually referred to by the acronym EPSCoR, the MSU-based initiative identifies, develops and deploys academic science and technology to increase the state's research and development competitiveness and foster economic growth. A new, high-speed Internet research ring is a component of EPSCoR's mission to help Mississippi's institutions remain competitive in a wide range of scientific disciplines.
In addition to presentations by students and faculty, highlights of program include:
--Thursday, 8:45 a.m. Keynote address by Mississippi Economic Council President Blake Wilson;
--Thursday, 12:15 p.m. Update from Washington by Jennifer Schopf, National Science Foundation EPSCoR program director;
--Thursday, 4:30 p.m. Career session for students featuring Arlene Garrison, vice president of university partnerships, Oak Ridge Associated Universities; geneticist Alessandra d'Azzo, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; and Derrick J. Savage, senior technical staff/program manager, Camgian Microsystems.
--Friday, 8:45 a.m. Keynote address by Whit Hughes, Mississippi Development Authority deputy director and a Mississippi State alumnus.
All events will take place in Colvard Student Union's Foster Ballroom. While the conference is not a public event, interested members of the news media are welcome. To facilitate coverage, reporters planning to attend should Katie Echols at 662-325-8904 or kechols@research.msstate.edu.
A complete conference agenda is available at www.msepscor.org
EPSCoR programs are funded by a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation grant that utilizes the resources of MSU, as well as the universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi and Jackson State University.
For additional information about MSU research, visit www.research.msstate.edu.