In the world of academia, the proof is in the publications, not the pudding – unless, of course, the publication is on pudding.
In the first year of New Mexico's last NSF EPSCoR project, the Energize New Mexico team produced 18 peer-reviewed publications. As time passed, these numbers predictably increased, with 27 in year three and 49 in year five. Now the grant is over, but papers are still being published.