NSF SUPER Program
NSF-SUPER Partnerships Program
Research Partnerships
What is the EPIIC Program?
Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) is a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) program designed to strengthen innovation and partnership capacity at U.S. institutions of higher education. Through a national investment of nearly $19 million across 48 institutions in 2024, EPIIC supports emerging research institutions (ERIs) in developing institutional infrastructure and regional innovation ecosystems.
How to Get Involved
SUPER Partnership Academy
The SUPER Partnership Academy is a training program aimed at enhancing the skills of WWU faculty and staff in creating, managing, and sustaining successful, high-value external partnerships with regional industries.
Faculty and staff in all STEM disciplines at WWU are invited to apply.
SUPER Partnership Fellows will be expected to:
- Complete a series of in-person workshops
- Be willing to serve as a Partnership Liaison for your department and mentor other faculty interested in developing external partnerships
- Conduct outreach to potential industry partners
Applications are closed for 2025-2026; Applications for the next cohort will open in Fall 2026.
Apply for Outreach Support
The SUPER program can support efforts aimed at increasing engagement with regional industry or encouraging technology translation.
Supported activities include, but are not limited to: site visits, hosting on-campus events for industry, developing new workshops to address regional industry needs, inviting seminar speakers from industry or entrepreneurs from successful start-ups, attending relevant professional development opportunities, etc.
Requests should typically be below $1000, although higher requests may be considered with sufficient justification and on a funding-available basis. Partnership Fellows receive priority for funding.
Requests are accepted anytime.
Upcoming Events
The following events & workshops are hosted by WWU and our SUPER partners.
Wood Vault: Burying Woody Biomass to Fight Climate Change - A Simple Idea That Actually Works
Dr. Ning Zeng
Founder & Head of Science at Carbon Lockdown
Professor, Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science, University of Maryland
Affiliate Professor, Department of Geology and the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute
From Startup Operator to Ecosystem Builder: How to Scale Companies by Building the Right Environment
Ulysis Rivera, CoLabs Executive Director
This talk examines how the surrounding ecosystem—labs, capital, partnerships, and community—shapes startup success. It traces a path from Western Washington University into the Seattle startup ecosystem, highlighting transferable lessons from working across industries and managing over 75 startups. Key themes include patterns that distinguish companies that scale from those that stall, the role and common shortcomings of incubators, and how CoLabs was built into a differentiated, community-first platform in 16 months. The discussion also emphasizes how strategic partnerships with vendors, institutions, and operators accelerate early-stage growth.
Past Events
April 24th, 2026: Applying for SBIR/STTR Grants
- Panel discussion hosted by collaborating institution University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.
April 7th, 2026: Industry Engagement Workshop
- Guidance and outreach tools for engaging with industry
April 3, 2026: Dr. Lewis E. Johnson, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, NLM Photonics
- Dr. Johnson will give a seminar titled: “Hybrid Organic Electro-Optic Modulation: Chemistry to Commercialization”
March 17, 2026: Industry Agreements 101
- Overview of policies and procedures for negotiating and drafting agreements with an industry sponsor
February 25, 2026: Intro to University-Industry Partnerships
- Overview of the benefits, challenges, and mechanisms to engage with industry.
WWU's SUPER Grant
As part of the EPIIC initiative, Western Washington University received NSF award #2432510 to develop “Strategic University Practices to Expand Research (SUPER) Partnerships”. This is a collaborative effort between the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez, and West Texas A&M University.
The SUPER Partnership Project focuses on enhancing institutional capacity for external partnerships through three overarching objectives:
- Streamlining and strengthening institutional processes for building and sustaining partnerships.
- Establishing a SUPER Partnership Training Program to prepare faculty and staff for effective collaboration.
- Enriching and diversifying networks of external partners across academia, industry, and nonprofit sectors.
Academic partnerships are vital for advancing innovation, applied research, student opportunities, and workforce development, benefiting both universities and external stakeholders.
Through its geographically, culturally, and disciplinarily diverse cohort, the SUPER initiative addresses these challenges by implementing standardized processes, improving institutional coordination, and expanding engagement in regional innovation ecosystems. These efforts aim to strengthen partnership sustainability, expand R&D collaboration opportunities, and create lasting positive outcomes for faculty, students, and surrounding communities.
Questions?
Contact the SUPER Partnerships Director Amanda Murphy at murphya5@wwu.edu.