Excellence in Research: An HBCU Partnership to Leverage Resources and Increase Scientific Productivity in Observational Time Domain Astrophysics

South Carolina State University, Orangeburg SC

Investigators

Abstract

South Carolina State University (SCSU) and the University of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) will enhance their research capabilities in astrophysics by combining their astrophysical resources to form a Time Domain Astrophysical Collaboration (TDAC) which will significantly increase their scientific productivity and move them into the growing field of time domain astrophysics. The TDAC schools manage or partner in the management of two small aperture telescopes located in the United States Virgin Islands and at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This project will allow both institutions to build research capacity through the addition of personnel, faculty and student support, and improvements to their physical infrastructure. The project will add a Resident Observer to the UVI facility and SCSU will hire its first ever Postdoctoral Researcher in astronomy. These enhancements will allow them to participate in coordinated research with the greater astronomical community in multimessenger observations of the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves, monitoring Active Galactic Nuclei and contributing to Living with a Red Dwarf project on K and M dwarf stars through use their telescope facilities in Arizona (SCSU)and in the Virgin Islands (UVI). This grant will result in the enhanced research capabilities of the faculty and recruitment and retention of STEM undergraduate majors at SCSU and UVI through internships, campus research talks, and the incorporation of project results into the curriculum of both institutions, including physics and computer science. It will result in motivating minority students at both institutions to continue on to graduate school or enter the workforce in STEM fields. This project is jointly funded by the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and HBCU's Excellence in Research (EIR) Program and managed by MPS/AST. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.