On fostering a culture of research cyberinfrastructure grant proposals within a community of service providers in an EPSCoR state

Abstract

Prior to the early 2000s, Oklahoma institutions had a very limited history of submitting research Cyberinfrastructure (CI) grant proposals. But over the past decade, this trend has dramatically reversed: since 2003, Oklahoma institutions have submitted 15 research CI proposals, including 8 National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation Proposals, an NSF Experimental Program for the Stimulation of Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-2 proposal with a strong CI focus (jointly with Kansas), an NSF EPSCoR RII Cyber Connectivity (C2) proposal, and five NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure proposals (one in 2013, two in 2014, two in 2015). Of these 15 proposals, 10 have been awarded, 2 have been declined and 3 are pending, a record that far outstrips the state's Fiscal Year 2014 NSF average of 20%. The evolution of Oklahoma's approach, and the growth of the community of CI service providers in the state, are the focus of this paper.