Building Research Capacity at ERIs

ARIS works with Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) to grow research capacity, strengthen infrastructure, and increase real-world impact of their work. We connect ERIs with training, partners, and tools to help support their workforce development and translate research into practice.

Specifically, ARIS offers:

Partner Programs that Build Research Capacity

NSF EPIIC: Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity

One example of our work is with the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) program. This initiative helps ERIs build the infrastructure and external partnerships needed to contribute to the broader U.S. research ecosystem.

ARIS and the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) have partnered with the U.S. National Science Foundation on EPIIC since its founding in 2023. The EPIIC Program includes

  • In-person workshops and mentoring to help ERIs grow their research capacity.
  • Connections for ERIs to experts in research development and Broader Impacts to identify resources and prepare grant applications.
  • Support for institutions as they build collaborations, develop external partnerships, and submit research capacity-building proposals.
Visit NSF EPIIC Program

From EPIIC to IHE APPLI: A New Guide for Building ERI Capacity

Building on ARIS’s work with NSF’s EPIIC program, this guidebook shares promising practices and a customizable model that other grant programs can use to strengthen institutional capacity.

The NSF’s Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) program tested a new approach to strengthening research competitiveness. Through a live, high-support grant process, participants received intensive guidance in challenge identification, solution design, and proposal preparation. Across three iterative cycles, the program refined a model for helping build institutional capacity and compete more effectively for federal funding. Those lessons informed IHE APPLI, a customizable framework for future grant-making programs.

This guidebook shares the core practices, promising enhancements, and implementation advice needed to support broader participation, innovation capacity, and research leadership across U.S. higher education.

Read the Guidebook

Additional Resources for Emerging Research Institutions

We also highlight resources from partner organizations that support ERIs.

  • Emory’s EMERGE Library: Emory’s EMERGE (Equipping Minoritized and Emerging Research Institutions to Grow their Enterprises) Library is the first national, peer-reviewed collection of plain-language research enterprise resources centered on the voices and expertise of minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and emerging research institutions (ERIs). Developed with partner institutions, it shares proven strategies and practical, context-specific guidance for faculty, staff, and leaders building research capacity.

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