Workshops for Chemistry Faculty of the 21st Century

Quality Education For Minorities Network, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project will investigate new strategies to enhance the participation of chemistry faculty at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) in research supported by the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation. The primary activity of this award will be an annual workshop for faculty at these institutions to help them to develop competitive proposals for programs in the Chemistry Division. The overall goal is to cultivate research-active faculty at these institutions -- institutions that are responsible for the training of significant numbers of baccalaureate students from groups that have been underrepresented in the sciences. In order to maintain its global competitiveness, the United States must work vigorously to tap neglected pools of intellectual talent. Students from underrepresented groups are, by definition, represented at lower rates than their fraction of the population. In academia, large fractions of B.S. level chemists from underrepresented groups, receive their training in minority-serving institutions, yet the funding for research at these institutions is low. This award will support the efforts of QEM to help faculty at these institutions develop competitive proposals for submission. The hope is to create a critical mass of research-active faculty at these institutions to guarantee that graduates from these institutions receive excellent training in modern chemical research.