Joseph G. Danek, executive director of the Epscor/Idea Foundation, the nonprofit branch of a federal program supporting states that receive comparatively low federal funds for research, has stepped down from that position. Mr. Danek, who has served as executive director since 1996, will continue work at the foundation as its senior adviser. He will also remain senior vice president of the Implementation Group, a Washington consulting firm.

The Epscor/Idea Foundation emerged from Epscor, a federal program that Mr. Danek developed at the National Science Foundation in 1979. Epscor, or the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, was created to improve the ability of states and institutions with relatively little research activity to compete for federal research grants. The program has expanded from the NSF to include six other federal agencies and the participating states have made some gains, but geographical disparities in federal financing for research persist.

The foundation supports the Epscor effort through lobbying, counseling, and other programs. James B. Hoehn, who was previously a senior associate at the foundation, became its executive director on August 1. —Allie Grasgreen