The Mississippi Research Alliance was formed in 2024 as a statewide alliance to connect critical elements across the research ecosystem with the mission to catalyze sustainable growth of a knowledge-based economy through strategic partnerships and investment in university-driven research and development (R&D). With the vision to see Mississippi positioned as a national frontrunner in science and technology, the MRA will be a transformative force; leveraging existing strengths, expanding networks, and creating new opportunities to advance Mississippi led R&D.
The goals of the MRA include:
- Support a governance framework able to deliver strategic direction throughout the ecosystem’s diverse sectors.
- Strengthen physical and human infrastructure that underpins academic-led R&D.
- Foster collaborations to build strategic alliances that bridge comprehensive research universities, emerging research institutions, state agencies, and public and private organizations in Mississippi.
- Provide appropriate administrative support in key areas that will propel growth of the state’s science and technology priority areas.
Through funding from The National Science Foundation (NSF), the MRA will leverage new and existing networks across MS to cultivate sustainable capacity in essential components of a healthy and robust R&D ecosystem. This initial funding will provide support for the following activities:
- Realign the structure of a MRA steering committee to serve as an essential entity for coordinating statewide resources, recruiting top research talent, engaging industry, and supporting education and workforce development needs across the state. Engaging members from a wide variety of industries, and public and private organizations will be essential for breaking down silos, coordinating investments, and growing public-private partnerships across Mississippi.
- Improve the impact and sustainability of core facilities within the state. This will be achieved by addressing existing barriers to access, identifying areas for resource improvements, and assembling resources to support facilities and users. A new Shared Resource Exchange Portal will serve as a comprehensive repository of available shared instrumentation and the Shared Resource Director’s Toolbox will provide support for managing shared research facilities. A comprehensive awareness campaign will be deployed to promote the work carried out by the state’s core facilities
- Cultivate and expand interdisciplinary team networks by providing opportunities for collaboration across institutions and disciplines. These efforts will include hosting annual interdisciplinary research symposia and creating the MRA Research Network Directory, which will serve as a companion to the Exchange Portal and serve as a resource to connect researchers with industry, government, or even the public.
- Mitigate financial barriers that hinder research and the development of strong funding portfolios. The MRA will provide funding for talent recruitment, acquiring important instrumentation, gaining access to existing instrumentation, participating in conferences and meetings, and travel to receive training on instrumentation not currently available in Mississippi. Seed funding will also be available.
- Strengthen the R&D engagement of emerging research institutions (ERI) across Mississippi. The establishment of the ERI Council, comprised of representatives from each of the state’s 11 public and private ERI institutions, will be an important partner in this effort.
By strengthening the state’s strategic governance, improving sustainable access to instrumentation, and fostering cross-institutional collaborations, MRA will boost cutting-edge research carried out by interdisciplinary teams, resulting in exponential gains to Mississippi’s knowledge-based economy. These efforts will lay a solid foundation by which other investments can securely build on. As a nexus for the state’s research and innovation ecosystem, the MRA will create a pathway towards a more equitable, prosperous, and intellectually vibrant future for the state of Mississippi and its citizens.
MRA was initially funded through The NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which is a science and technology (S&T) research and development program that seeks to enhance research competitiveness in Mississippi. The program’s goals focus on strengthening STEM capacity through increased research capabilities, pathways for the development of STEM professionals, broadened participation of diverse groups and institutions in STEM, and jurisdictional economic development. All of this is achieved through talented researchers at universities across our state.
How It Began: The MRC
Collaboration among the institutions in Mississippi on research efforts was increased and strengthened in 1986 when the Mississippi Research Consortium (MRC), a coalition of Mississippi's four research universities, Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Southern Mississippi, was formed. The mission of the MRC includes developing research infrastructure to support education and extend technology development in the state and to enhance economic opportunities for the state of Mississippi.
The four Chief Research Officers constitute the Board of Directors, which serves as the driving force for collaborative university-based research. The MRC Board also serves as the Science and Technology Research Advisors to both the Governor and the Legislature with the responsibility for integrating science and technology initiatives with economic development plans in Mississippi. The Board links the physical and intellectual resources of the universities to identify needs and opportunities for the state and to address appropriate responses to those needs and opportunities. The goals of the MRC include to develop, support, and sustain basic and applied research that is nationally competitive; to increase public awareness of science, engineering, and mathematics at every educational level in order to develop a scientifically literate citizenry who will fuel the science and engineering pipeline with the state's own human resources and who will attract external scientific expertise; to establish and maintain a solid scientific infrastructure, including equipment, collaboration, facilities, private sector linkages, and federal laboratory partnerships; and to expand the economic opportunities of the state though technology/knowledge transfer activities that include commercialization, technical assistance, and education of a workforce that can support technology-based industries. NSF EPSCoR has played a major role in supporting the mission of MRC through building of infrastructure and supporting collaborative research.
How It Began: The US National Science Foundation (NSF)
The NSF EPSCoR program began in Mississippi in 1988, when the governor named the MRC as the State EPSCoR Committee. The state was awarded an NSF EPSCoR grant in 1989, a joint effort of the MRC with Mississippi State University serving as the fiscal agent. Since that time, the program has had an enormous impact within the state and at the four research institutions and their affiliates. Utilizing the multi-institutional framework of the EPSCoR project along with the commitment to creating a critical mass of scientists and engineers, Mississippi EPSCoR has produced a stronger and more competitive research community in the state.
Other federal agencies have adopted EPSCoR and EPSCoR-like programs, such as the US Department of Defense EPSCoR (DEPSCoR), NASA EPSCoR, USDA EPSCoR, US Department of Energy EPSCoR, and The National Institutes of Health IDeA program.