Arkansas Research Alliance launches AR-NETWORK program with $8 million grant

The Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) announced Monday (July 21) it has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for $8 million to launch a new statewide, cross-sector program called AR-NETWORK.

The program is designed to amplify Arkansas’ research capacity, accelerate commercialization, and expand STEM career pathways.

AR-NETWORK (Arkansas Nexus for Excellence in Technology, Workforce, Outreach, and Research Knowledge) is being funded through a new initiative at NSF called E-CORE. ARA is the first organization in Arkansas to receive an award from the program. This grant award is significant to the Arkansas research community because of the new program’s structure. The $8 million funding will be distributed over a four-year period.

“Our overarching vision is to expand, connect, and make sustainable the state’s use inspired research ecosystem,” said Bryan Barnhouse, ARA president and CEO. “Driving economic growth, delivering societal impact, and developing our STEM workforce are the primary goals.”

AR-NETWORK is led by principal investigator Sarah Burnett Smith who recently joined ARA as a program director.

Smith will be supported by ARA employee Dr. Doug Hutchings and a team of co-principal investigators representing the project’s key partners: Dr. David Hinton, University of Arkansas; Tiffany Henry, ACC Capital Foundation; Dr. Julie Mikles-Schluterman, Arkansas Tech University; and Dr. Emad Badradeen, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

“With this E-CORE award, we can weave together Arkansas’s extraordinary research talent and industry know-how into one cohesive innovation engine,” Smith said. “The result will be new jobs, new companies, and new opportunities for Arkansans across the state.”

The award assembles a statewide network of partners from academic and non-profit sectors with strong expertise and deep understanding of Arkansas’ economic and educational strengths and challenges. AR-NETWORK will comprise more than a dozen private-sector collaborators spanning advanced materials, ag-tech, logistics, and digital health.

In 2023, NSF retired a large, comprehensive funding initiative that had served as a primary source of research funding for more than 30 states since 1979. That program had strict guidelines including a limit of one active award per state and integrated support for research, education, and administrative activities.

The new initiative and funding programs that were introduced have revised eligibility guidelines and a modular structure. Applicants can now choose to either request funding for administrative activities or funding for research activities, as separate but complementary funding streams.

Goals for the AR-NETWORK program include offering additional funding to jump-start new research, hosting statewide workshops that pair scientists with entrepreneurs to form new startups, and creating student internships and teacher externships with Arkansas companies to strengthen the talent pipeline.

“Arkansas is on an upward trajectory,” Barnhouse said. “Our state has shown time and again that if you can bring the right people and resources to bear, like AR-NETWORK, you can supercharge that trajectory.”

Barnhouse was a guest on this week’s Talk Business & Politics TV program. You can watch his full interview in the video below.