BISMARCK – The National Science Foundation has awarded $8.16 million across two projects to 10 North Dakota colleges and universities, according to U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND.

Minot State University will receive $480,144 as part of the state’s total of $7.96 million to establish a comprehensive, self-sustaining and long-lasting STEM ecosystem in North Dakota. The project will focus on connecting researchers across North Dakota, improving science, technology, engineering and math opportunities in rural areas and facilitating STEM education for students at tribal colleges.

Also receiving a share in those funds are Turtle Mountain College, $480,000, and Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, $479,993.

In addition to the grant shared by the 10 schools, a second award of $199,993 went to the University of North Dakota to create a staleness-resilient, privacy-aware data synthesis framework for Edge AI-based network measurement.