Provost Steve Goldstein '78 appointed Prof. Irving R. Epstein (CHEM) last week to be the senior adviser to the provost for research.

Epstein will manage and seek to expand an annual research portfolio of approximately $55 million in addition to implementing new methods of enhancing the research process at Brandeis, according to Goldstein.

Epstein, the Henry F. Fischbach professor of Chemistry, will continue teaching and conducting research. His research "focuses on patterns in time and space, primarily in chemical (reaction-diffusion) systems," according to his faculty page.

"My day will just become a little longer," Epstein said in a BrandeisNOW press release.

Epstein was also a founder of the Science Posse at Brandeis, a program that seeks to bring underrepresented groups in the sciences to Brandeis, and wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times about the need for more minority students in the sciences.

According to Goldstein, Epstein's job will be to represent the faculty as they reach out to foundations and granting agencies, assist the faculty with compliance issues so that they can focus more on research, synergize across programs and make it easier for both undergraduate and graduate students to do research work. He emphasized that "so much of what we do crosses boundaries," in an interview with the Justice.

Epstein said he also hopes to encourage departments to share proven methods. "I hope to get people talking to each other across departments, maybe in some cases through the various centers and institutes that we have, many of which are interdisciplinary in nature but maybe faculty as aware as they could be of what's available to them," Epstein said in an interview with the Justice.

Epstein cited the cooperation between the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and the science departments as an example of successful cross-department cooperation that he will try to encourage.

Brandeis currently receives a large proportion of its research grants from the National Institute of Heath and the National Science Foundation, according to Epstein. He stated that he would seek to raise additional funds from corporations and foundations and other government agencies, such as the Department of Energy.

Goldstein said that only internal candidates were considered for the position, because he wanted to fill the position quickly and wanted someone who knows Brandeis well.

He added that Epstein's work will be analogous to the work of a vice provost for research, but that he will have the title of adviser because he will continue with his academic work.

Epstein's appointment comes a month after Goldstein's appointment of Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) as senior adviser to the provost. Hill's portfolio includes coordinating academic initiatives, working with the Office of Communications and developing partnerships with local and national institutions, according to Goldstein.