Faculty Research and Education Development Program

American Society For Cell Biology, Rockville MD

Investigators

Abstract

This project addresses the challenge of increasing diversity in the biological science academic workforce as well as amongst the recipients of grants from national agencies. The Faculty Research and Education Development Program to be implemented in this project focuses on promoting the competitive grant-writing skills of junior faculty at Minority Serving Institutions by matching junior faculty with experienced mentors who are successful senior faculty at research-intensive institutions. The year-long structured mentoring process will focus on the preparation and submission of a grant proposal. In addition to regular (at least monthly) communication between junior faculty and mentors, the program will include 1) Career Development Workshops for junior faculty and mentors, to be held each year 2) reciprocal visits by junior faculty and their mentors to each other's institution, at which they will present a seminar 3) meetings for junior faculty and mentors at the Annual Conference in December of the American Society for Cell Biology. A curated publicly accessible and searchable website will be developed to disseminate results of this program and to serve as a resource for junior faculty and mentors throughout the US. Summative and formative evaluation will be performed by a professional evaluation consultant. Broader Impacts: The goal of this project is to promote the skills in research and education of junior faculty at Minority Serving Institutions, and thereby to improve the educational environment for the undergraduates whom they teach and mentor. Web-based dissemination of the results of this program will make this model accessible to others, and will provide a resource for young scientists to assist them in their professional advancement.