South Dakota is in year four of a $20 million five-year NSF EPSCoR Track-1 grant titled “Beyond the 2020 Vision: Building Research, Education and Innovation Partnerships for South Dakota.”

The project involves eight public and private universities, three tribal colleges, and the SD Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) working to support research related to “biofilms,” STEM education and technology-based economic development.

Seed Grants have been awarded to researchers at these NSF EPSCoR Track-1 partner institutions supporting NSF EPSCoR Track-1 goals and objectives.

The South Dakota 2-Dimensional Materials for Biofilm Engineering, Science and Technology (2D BEST) Center’s mission is to build competitive, collaborative research and education capacity focused on nanoscale, conformal, two-dimensional coatings that both promote and inhibit biofilm growth on materials with agricultural, biomedical and industrial applications.

Three thrust areas focus on:

1. Stress-Resistant Biofilms: Rationally designed 2D coatings to protect metal surfaces from biocorrosion and …
2. Microbial Resistance: Modification of soybean roots with designer attachment proteins to enhance colonization by desirable bacteria will be pursued
3. Modeling and Computational Core: The third research thrust of the 2D BEST project aims to provide researchers in South Dakota with the resources to mine available data for useful biofilm-material relationships