The STE Lab conducts evaluation of R&D programs and projects funded primarily by NSF and NIH. Researchers associated with the lab are currently evaluating several NSF EPSCoR programs including those including programs in Alaska, Kansas, and Maine. Researchers also evaluate NSF IGERT and ERC programs as well as NIH INBRE and CCTS programs. Lab faculty and associated faculty involved in the evaluations include Eric Welch, Julia Melkers, Elizabeth Corley, Meg Haller and Mary Feeney.
The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) consortium is funded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The CTSA consortium aims to improve human health by transforming the research and training environment to enhance the efficiency and quality of clinical and translational research. This consortium includes 46 medical research institutions located throughout the nation. When fully implemented by 2012, about 60 institutions will be linked together to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science. UIC received a CTSA award in 2009 to establish Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS). The UIC CCTS has six research service cores: Biomedical Informatics; Clinical Interface (includes Clinical Research Center); Community Engagement and Research; Design and Analysis; Regulatory Support and Advocacy; and Translational Technologies and Resources. The Evaluation and Tracking program within CCTS is focused on the utilization, quality, and productivity of our activities. Feedback from CCTS investigators, along with long-term parameters of quality and productivity, such as the number of publications emanating from and the number of extramural grants awarded to CCTS supported projects, will be tracked. Data collection and analysis systems will be constructed so that the CCTS will be able to document success or failure of all programmatic activities, including the potential causes or reasons for success or failure. These will be used in shaping our internal processes as well as in continuous feedback to the CCTS Leadership and all Core Directors.
For more information, please see the following sites:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/CCTS/CCTS-home.html
http://www.ctsaweb.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showHome
Originally established by NSF in 1979, EPSCoR supports the development of scientific infrastructure that enhances in a state science and engineering (S&E) capacity. It was created in response to Congressional concerns about geographical concentration of Federal funding of academic research and development (R&D). Currently, there twenty-seven states along with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are EPSCoR states. Several other departments in the federal government have also established EPSCoR programs including: Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Science, Technology and Environment (STE) Policy Lab and affiliated faculty are conducting longitudinal evaluations NSF EPSCoR programs. Evaluations are both formative and summative in design and intent. Current projects include the evaluation of programs in Kansas, Maine and Alaska. More about these awards and the specific EPSCoR programs are available at the following sites:
Kansas’ Phase VI: Climate Change and Energy: Basic Science, Impacts, and Mitigation
Kansas EPSCoR Site
Kansas NSF Award
Maine’s Sustainability Science Initiative
Maine EPSCoR Site
Maine NSF Award
Alaska’s Resilience and Vulnerability in a Rapidly Changing North: The Integration of Physical, Biological and Social Processes
Alaska EPSCoR Site
Alaska NSF Award
The NSF’s IGERT program, is designed to develop university-based programs for graduate education and training that integrate collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. TheLandscape, Ecological and Anthropogenic Processes (LEAP) IGERT Program at UIC is a multidisciplinary program that focuses on understanding ecological processes in human-altered landscapes. The program provides fellowships to 25 Ph.D. candidates over a five-year period, as well as supporting a new curriculum and internship training for students. The STE Lab is currently conducting a three-year longitudinal evaluation for the LEAP IGERT Program that specifically examines interdisciplinary collaborative and learning outcomes.
For more information, please see the following sites:
http://www.igert.org/
http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/igert/intro.jsp
http://www.uic.edu/depts/bios/leap/
Funded by the National Science Foundation and based at the University of Washington and Stanford University, the mission of the LIFE (Learning in Informal and Formal Environments) Center is “to understand and advance human learning through a simultaneous focus on implicit, informal and formal learning, thus cultivating generalizable interdisciplinary theories that can guide the design of effective new technologies and learning environments”. STE Policy Lab faculty at UIC are helping to evaluate the research outcomes of the LIFE Center. The team is specifically interested in gains to research knowledge, preparation of new researchers, and research capacity building.
For more on the Science of Learning Centers and the LIFE Center please visit:
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5567
http://www.life-slc.org/