Interdisciplinary Consortium for Research and Educational Access in Science and Engineering (INCREASE) Workshop at the CHESS Facility

Hampton University, Hampton VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports Hampton University to host a workshop with the goal to increase the number of Minority Serving Institution users taking advantage of research opportunities at synchrotron x-ray facilities, and the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) in particular. The workshop is organized by the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Research and Educational Access in Science and Engineering (INCREASE) group in collaboration with CHESS. INCREASE is an organization that promotes research and education at minority-serving institutions (MSIs), to increase the utilization of national research facilities and for research education and training for members of groups underrepresented in science and engineering research, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, and women. The Workshop is integrated within the annual CHESS Users? Meeting and aims to connect MSI faculty to the CHESS facility users and in-house experts. Participants will also learn about NSF and DMR programs, particularly the Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program. CHESS is a NSF funded National User Facility located on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. With 11 experimental stations serving over 1,100 users each year, CHESS provides hard (10 keV) and high-energy (25 to 150 keV) synchrotron X-ray facilities for academic and industrial researchers from the physical, biological, engineering, and life sciences, as well as cultural specialists such anthropologists and art historians. PREM is a program to enhance diversity in materials research and education by stimulating the development of formal, long-term, collaborative materials research and education partnerships between minority-serving institutions and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Materials Research (DMR) supported groups, centers, and facilities. This award from the Division of Materials Research supports participation of Faculty from Minority Serving institutions at the Annual Users Meeting of the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source. The workshop will help faculty participants from MSIs and other strategic university partners to broaden the diversity of users at CHESS, and at synchrotron facilities across the US in general. Faculty from MSIs will explore research capabilities and modes of access to CHESS beamlines directly through their own user proposals, and/or collaborations with users or CHESS scientists, or through developing partnerships with NSF-supported centers and facilities through programs such as PREM. MSI users will bring their students, who will gain exposure to a broad range of science fields and scientists using synchrotrons, an opportunity not broadly available at MSIs. Synchrotron light sources are vital and state-of-the-art research facilities used in almost all science and engineering fields, so the proposed workshop will also emphasize multidisciplinary research teams. Since INCREASE participants work across a variety of science and engineering disciplines, and often do not have many collaborators on their campuses, this workshop may enable isolated researchers to form teams to carry out competitive research.