Two students have received Graduate Student Research Assistantship awards from the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, known as ND EPSCoR. The awards total $70,243 for a period of 16 to 24 months.

Awardees, institutions and NDSU advisers are:

• Brian Chepulis; Valley City State University; Edward DeKeyser, associate professor and natural resource management program leader
• Sara Levadney Smith; Minot State University; Birgit Pruess, associate professor of veterinary and microbiological sciences, and Teresa Bergholz, assistant professor of veterinary and microbiological sciences.

The assistantship program provides North Dakota University System baccalaureate universities, tribal colleges and NATURE program graduates an opportunity to obtain masters’ or doctoral degrees in science, engineering and mathematics at North Dakota’s two large research universities – NDSU and the University of North Dakota.

ND EPSCoR is a federally and state funded program designed to improve the ability of university researchers to compete more effectively for federal, regional and private research grants in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. For more information on the assistantship program, visit www.ndepscor.nodak.edu/programs.