NSF Grant Enables Innovative Research Opportunities

As part of the $373,360 grant, SUNY Brockport will join NSF’s Enabling Partnership to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) program as part of the Supporting Partnership for Advancement, Research, and Knowledge (SPARK) cohort. SUNY Brockport worked alongside the other three members of the SPARK cohort Guilford College, Rhode Island School of Design, and Southern Arkansas University, to submit the proposal to the NSF.

“The NSF recognizes that a majority of the research they fund goes to highly resourced institutions, which can leave others behind in federal funding,” said Associate Professor Dr. Jose Maliekal. “Institutions like Brockport have capacity to innovate, but our faculty don’t always have the time or resources to dedicate to projects.”

The grant’s aim is to create a collaborative environment that supports scholarship through community partnerships and that allows innovative work to take shape. Maliekal will serve as the principal investigator (PI) and lead the initiative at SUNY Brockport alongside Co-PIs Dr. Martin Abraham, Dr. Laurie Cook, and Dr. Michael Coleman.

“Writing a grant is labor-intensive, so fewer faculty are writing them, which reduces our institution’s capacity for research opportunities,” Maliekal said. “There are faculty who might be interested but believe that they don’t have the time to dedicate it. We want to create an environment in which faculty feel supported as they seek collaboration and funding to advance their career goals.”

In short, the EPIIC-SPARK grant will create conditions for more Brockport faculty to compete for external funding, allowing more students to participate in applied research and community-based projects.

As part of the funding, the University has engaged an external consultant to conduct a gap analysis that will help identify institutional and structural issues that may impede faculty members’ ability to engage in innovative research. Funding will also lead to a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) starting on February 5, 2026, to spark conversations and foster collaboration among faculty.

“The FLC is looking for faculty who have a desire to seek external funding around collaborative projects,” Cook said. “Members of the FLC will focus on early-stage ideation, grant proposal development, peer support, and shared learning.”

Two Faculty Fellows, who will receive a course release alongside professional development and training, will be recruited to join each year. Each Fellow will recruit two to three colleagues to work alongside as a team to develop a project and prepare a grant proposal.

“The more faculty learn about opportunities like this, the better positioned they will be to take advantage of them,” Maliekal said.

A central component of the initiative is collaboration with regional industry and community partners whose needs coincide with our faculty’s expertise

“External partners are not always aware of what we have to offer them,” Cook said. “Faculty sometimes struggle with making those connections. EPIIC is essentially trying to bridge that gap between needs of institutions and regional partners.”

As part of this initiative and community collaboration, more experiential learning opportunities will be available for our students to take part in engaging research, internships, and shadowing/mentoring with regional partners.

“When faculty scholarship connects with regional partners, long-term connections are made and pipelines open up for our students,” Cook said. “Ultimately, that is where the NSF is going. They want to better prepare our students to enter the modern workforce.”