SSTI Digest

The risks of identity theft, e-mail viruses, denial-of-service attacks, system glitches and other online hazards can make the average person's reliance on computer systems more of a leap of faith than a bond of trust. To promote research into more dependable, accountable and secure computer and network systems, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a solicitation for the Cyber Trust program, which expects to fund up to $30 million in awards.

The Cyber Trust program will support up to three research center-level efforts as well as single-investigator and team awards, subject to NSF's merit-review process and the availability of funds. NSF expects that Cyber Trust research centers will involve collaborations among academic, industry and other partners.

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced on Monday a new investment initiative to help close the capital gap for the state's early-stage technology businesses. CIT, a state-chartered nonprofit corporation, will launch the Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) on Dec. 15, 2003, to address the funding void created by a recent shortfall of angel capital.

CIT's GAP will invest up to $100,000 in early-stage technology companies that successfully complete a seven-step investment process. All GAP investments will take the form of convertible notes with outstanding principal and interest converting to a CIT equity position in the firm at the time of a qualifying financing event. CIT may attach warrants to GAP investments as a function of loan term, interest rate and payment schedule.

Virginia's Institute for Defense and Homeland Security recently named Henry Connors Jr. as its business development director.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a statistical report on Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2002. The data show trends in science and engineering (S&E) doctorate awards by S&E field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation plans of recipients.

The 18-page Table 6 of the report presents the distribution of doctorates awarded in 2002 by institution, by state and by major field. SSTI has prepared an abbreviated table providing a state-by-state ranking for doctorates awarded by major field. The SSTI table also includes the values and state rankings for the total S&E doctorates awarded per 100,000 residents within each state, using the 2002 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Eight of the nation's leading scientists and engineers were named on Oct. 22 recipients of the 2002 National Medal of Science — the nation's highest honor for researchers who make major impacts in fields of science and engineering. Administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the White House, the medal recognizes career-long, ground-breaking achievements and contributions to innovation, industry or education.

James Darnell of Rockefeller University and Evelyn Witkin of Rutgers University were among those who received the medal for their advances in scientific theory and developments. Darnell discovered RNA processing, while Witkin confirmed the notion of DNA repair.

Leo Beranek of Cambridge, Mass., a retired leader in acoustical science for the military and the arts, received the medal for engineering.

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology has promoted Dan Mills to vice president for regional operations.

Storm prediction, extreme ultraviolet light, clean chemical manufacturing, and implantable electronics for treating incurable diseases — all of the above will be tackled by four new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) created by the National Science Foundation (NSF) last week. The new centers will receive a $68 million from NSF over the next five years.

Each center, to be based at a university, will function as a collaborative partnership. The maximum possible duration of NSF support is 10 years, after which the ERCs are expected to become self-sufficient.

NSF will provide roughly $17 million to each center over the next five years, with each center focusing on a specific area:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has given us the first peek at the results of the 2001 survey of industrial research and development expenditures and, while the news is better than expected given the economy, the first figures provide further evidence of the struggles of the U.S. manufacturing base. Issue Brief 04-301, U.S. Industry Sustains R&D Expenditures During 2001 Despite Decline in Performers' Aggregate Sales, provides aggregate figures for industrial R&D by performer, size of company, and sector.

Overall, NSF found company funding of R&D totaled $181.6 billion in 2001. Before adjusting for inflation, the amount is up from the 2000 total of $180.4 billion. In constant dollars, industrial R&D expeditures declined less than one percent.

Two new grants, each greater than $1 million, have been awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the societal implications of nanotechnology — the emerging discipline that seeks to control and manipulate matter on a molecular scale. The grants are the largest awards the foundation has ever devoted exclusively to research in societal implications.

Nanotech has been considered by many in the tech-based economic development community to be a "transformative" technology, one that could change the way we live and work as profoundly as did the microchip or the automobile. To speed the development along, NSF and 16 other federal agencies are supporting a nearly $1 billion-a-year National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Seven grants totaling nearly $4.76 million will help Southwest Virginia achieve greater high-speed bandwidth access by enabling deployment of fiber optic cable throughout much of the region. The Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission awarded the grants, including $2.03 million via five grants to Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU). The balance of the funds was distributed between the Cumberland Plateau and Lenowisco planning district commissions.

The 31-member Virginia Tobacco Commission was created by the 1999 General Assembly to make payments to farmers to compensate for the decline of tobacco quotas and to promote economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published online the Science & Engineering State Profiles: 2000-2001, a set of 52 science and engineering (S&E) profiles summarizing state-specific data on personnel and finances. Rankings and totals are given for the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and the report includes a data source page. (For Puerto Rico, the data sources for some variables differ from those used to obtain state data; comparable data do not exist on total and industry R&D performance for Puerto Rico.)

The NSF databases used include doctoral scientists and engineers; S&E doctorates awarded, including by major S&E fields; S&E graduate students and postdoctorates; federal R&D obligations by agency and performer; total and industrial R&D expenditures; and academic R&D expenditures, including by major S&E fields.

The Virginia Institute for Defense and Homeland Security has named Hugh Montgomery, Jr. as the consortium's first director, effective July 1.