ERVA: Engineering Research Visioning Alliance

ERVA organizational framework

America’s economic competitiveness is tied directly to the pace of scientific and technological discovery, which requires sustained, long-term support as well as agility. To help the United States stay at the forefront of research and innovation — and maintain its leadership in the global economy — in 2021 the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering launched the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA), the first organization of its kind.

Engineering Professor Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, interim vice president for Knowledge Enterprise at Ohio State, is the organization’s principal investigator and played a key role in assembling its collaborators.

ERVA was created to provide the engineering community with a process for identifying bold and societally impactful engineering research directions that will place the U.S. in a leading position to realize a better future for all. It is an engaged, inclusive, multilayered partnership, providing a truly diverse array of voices with the opportunity to impact national research priorities.

Funded with a five-year, $8 million award from the NSF, the initiative convenes, catalyzes and enables the engineering community to identify nascent opportunities and priorities for engineering-led innovative, high-impact, cross-domain, fundamental research that addresses national, global and societal needs.

ERVA builds connectivity among government, academic, industry, community, professional society and public sector stakeholders, empowering the engineering research community to speak with a unified voice.

ERVA’s structure is designed to coalesce the engineering stakeholder community to identify and develop bold new fundamental research directions. Its founding partners are members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)/Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Foundation (EIF), and the University Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP).

Ohio State Office of Research Associate Vice Presidents Deborah Hernandez and Mary Juhas also played key roles in ERVA’s formation. According to Grejner-Brzezinksa, Hernandez and Research Development Office colleagues were essential in proposal writing and preparing the entire team for an NSF visit. Juhas serves as co-chair of the ERVA working group on government relations. Additionally, Ohio State Executive Vice President Grace Wang serves on ERVA’s Advisory Board, while Spine Research Institute Executive Director is a member of ERVA’s Standing Council.

For more information, visit the EVRA community website.

“ERVA is an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of something truly transformative. The solutions to the most complex research, technological and societal challenges cannot be accomplished entirely within one academic discipline; they require contributions from neighboring disciplines as well.”

Prof. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska,
ERVA Principal Investigator

Dorota Brzezinska and ERVA logo