EVALUATING NSF EPSCOR INITIATIVES: TRACKING AND ASSESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EPSCOR-SUPPORTED RESEARCH CAPACITY Julia Melkers, Associate Professor School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of.
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Transcript EVALUATING NSF EPSCOR INITIATIVES: TRACKING AND ASSESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EPSCOR-SUPPORTED RESEARCH CAPACITY Julia Melkers, Associate Professor School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of.
EVALUATING NSF EPSCOR INITIATIVES:
TRACKING AND ASSESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF
EPSCOR-SUPPORTED RESEARCH CAPACITY
Julia Melkers, Associate Professor
School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Eric Welch, Associate Professor
Department of Public Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago
Prepared for presentation at the National Research Council
Washington, DC
December 17, 2012
Evaluation frames are based on the
understanding that:
Building research capacity is a complex and continuous
process.
Tracking magnitude of changes over time is critical to capturing
effects (interim effects).
Given its mission and the structure of the awards, EPSCoR has
the potential to affect research capacity in range of ways.
Capacity is reflected in (and affected by):
State politics and science objectives
Institutions
Infrastructure
Human capital
Collaborative relationships
Resources
Among others....
Year 1
Year 2
Year 4
Year 5
Institutionalization
Year 1
Increased production
& other impacts
Year 2
Development of early
collaborative outputs
Year 4
Year 5
Movement toward
sustainability
Production
Collaboration
Interaction
Institutionalization
Year 1
Increased production
Year 2
Development of early
collaborative outputs
Year 4
Year 5
Movement toward
sustainability
Dimensions of Research Capacity
Capacity as infrastructure
Faculty
developme
nt
Institutions
Scientists
Postdocs
Graduate Students
Education
Workforce
/Students
Capacity as integration
Research
Capacity as human capital
Lab equipment
Cyberinfrastructure
Institutional processes and policy
External
ties/
community
Integrating different expertise and perspectives on the research
problem (disciplinary, translational, etc)
Capacity as productivity
Grant activity that extends and builds upon award work
Using Theories of Change in Evaluation:
Example Project Logic Model
Sample Guiding Evaluation Questions:
Collaboration
Collaboration: What are the barriers and facilitators to
collaboration in [state] EPSCoR?
within and between sites/groups?
interdisciplinary and cross institutional?
early career engagement?
mid career role?
Native and rural community partners?
private and non profit sector integration?
international partners?
Barriers to
success
critical success factors?
Opportunities
to enhance
success
Sample Guiding Evaluation Questions:
Impacts
Research Impacts: What are the knowledge impacts of
[EPSCoR] research and activities?
Stakeholder Impacts: How has [EPSCoR] developed interactions
/tangible relationships with external partners/stakeholders
over the course of the project?
Faculty and Staff Impacts: What research and management
capacity is increasing as a result of [EPSCoR] work?
Student Impacts: What benefits and capacities do students
accrue from [EPSCoR] ?
Institutional Impacts: How has the research capacity of [state]
institutions changed via [EPSCoR] ?
Data Sources
External
ties/
community
Institutions
Interviews/Focus Groups
Surveys (Quant & Qual)
Grant proposals
Publications (conf papers?)
Other data (data access?)
Education
Research
Faculty
developme
nt
Workforce
/Students
Example: Some Observable Outcomes
Science
Knowledge advancement
and integration
Research productivity
Research impacts
Increased know-how
Faculty/Researchers
Production
Advancement
Enhanced or new
collaborative ties
Student engagement
Leadership
Visibility
“Next generation”
Student learning and
other impacts
STEM interests and
advancement
Institutional capacity
New programs,
processes
Systems
Support staff
Culture
Measuring Research Activities & Outcomes
Collaborative
Development
•
•
•
•
•
Knowledge networks
Co-authorship ties and affiliation
Co-PI/grant team ties
Integration scores
E-I Index
Knowledge
Impacts
•
•
•
•
•
•
Publication activity
Journal subject categories
Journal Impact rates
Citation rates
Citation rapidity
Citation location
Collaborative Development
Intermediate outcomes that
precede academic production
Emerging collaborative
relationships
Integration of students in
research
Knowledge transfer and
Impacts
Research-relevant behavioral
changes
Nature of linkages and
Measurable
interactions
through
network
analysis
Operationalized through
Network Analysis
Pre-publication interaction
Faculty-faculty & faculty-student
collaboration
Changed conceptual/ theoretical/
methodological approaches
Changed research outlets and
communities
Mechanisms/modes for boundaryspanning linkages and outcomes
Example: Student Interaction
All Collaborative Ties – Graduate Students Only
Statistics – All Ties
Number of nodes
Number of ties
Average degree centrality
E-I Discipline
48
77
.42
-.299
Legend
Square = Core institution
Circle = Other institutions
Green = environmental science
Blue = computer science/engineering
Collaboration Ties
Worked with on a grant proposal
Presented research to external stakeholders or external partners
Presented research to an academic audience
Presented research to a nonacademic audience
Co-authored a working paper
Co-authored an academic paper that has been published or is under review
Orange = social science
Black lines = within discipline
Red lines = between disciplines
Node size = larger nodes reflect more
semesters supported by EPSCoR
# ties
14
20
69
29
20
5
Knowledge Impacts
25,000
Publications
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
-
Citing articles
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
-
Publications
Citing articles
Alaska-Based Orgs (Federal, State, Private, NGO)
International
Other States
Other EPSCoR States
Top Ten Subject Categories
(2007-12 EPSCoR Publications
#
Subject Category
Rec
ords
1
37 Environmental
Sciences & Ecology
2
27 Ecology
3
18 Geology
4
17 Environmental
Sciences
5
12 Environmental
Studies
6
12 Zoology
7
11 Physical
Geography
8
10 Geosciences,
Multidisciplinary
9
8 Evolutionary
Biology
10
7 Biochemistry &
Molecular Biology
Knowledge Impacts: Disciplinary Placement
& Knowledge Sources
Agri Sci
Env Sci & Tech
Ecol Sci
Infectious
Diseases
Geosciences
Clinical Med
Chemistry
Matls Sci
Engineering
Biomed Sci
Cognitive Sci.
Health & Social
Issues
Psychology
Physics
Business &
MGT
Computer
Sci.
Social
Studies
Econ. Polit. &
Geography
Global Map of Science, 2007
221 SCI-SSCI Subject Categories
Rafols, Porter and Leydesdorff (2009)
Reflections on EPSCoR Outcomes
Research
STEM workforce
Early career affiliates – early grants, network reach, production, time to tenure, mobility and
competitiveness, mentoring and advice relationships
Students – research networks, apprenticeship structures, mentoring relationships, production,
next career step
Research – related support staff, sustained research relationships, new grant awards
Institutions
Integration across disciplines – new questions, approaches
Added value of collaborative engagement -- generation of new ideas and new collaborative
relationships
Knowledge impacts -- National and global visibility and impacts
EPSCoR offices – communication, administrative structures, management
Smaller institutions – research activity, developed capacity and integration, statewide
representation in decision making (eg. state S&T plan)
Curricular issues – new courses, content
Social Impacts
engaged stakeholder organizations – economic development, social and economic objectives,
support for education and research by stakeholders
Issues Relevant to Evaluation of EPSCoR
EPSCoR projects and settings vary.
Disciplinary variance
Partner relationships
Under-represented populations
Changes over time (historically)
Multiple and competing programmatic goals
Lack of clarity/changing evaluation needs from EPSCoR
Data consistency, across states and over time.
Increased attention to strategic plans
Unpacking role/impacts of senior leads vs other faculty/researchers
Institutional variation in data availability (esp. small schools).
Institutional effects not always evident
Futures are unclear -- difficulty/lack of support to track students and
faculty post-award.
Issue of relationships across awards and cumulative effects on a state are
not captured.