Collaborative Research: A Partnership in Central Missouri in the Era of Multi-messenger Astrophysics

Lincoln University, Lincoln University

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). A new research and education partnership will be developed in central Missouri as a pilot program between Lincoln University of Missouri and the Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T). The core mission of this new partnership is to provide training and increase research opportunities in astronomy and astrophysics among underrepresented and underserved students in central Missouri, building on a nascent astrophysics program. This two-year project is a pilot program toward the creation of a longer-term partnership which leads eventually to a formal S&T PhD bridge program for students at Lincoln University and other surrounding minority-serving institutions, contributing to increasing Missouri’s diversity in astronomy. The team members will regularly participate in public lectures at the local library and high schools to promote the importance of fundamental science among the public. This program will offer student exchange visits, winter and summer workshops, and summer research internships to train underrepresented and underserved students, which will allow them to consider a STEM career or PhD program in astronomy. These activities will train young researchers at S&T to improve their presentation, mentoring, and management skills. The proposal team conducts complementary research covering cosmology and galaxy evolution, gravitational-wave physics, and the physics of the interstellar medium. Within the project duration, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment is expected to release the measurement of dark energy properties at high redshift. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory will detect more gravitational wave sources in the O4 Observing run and advance the knowledge of black holes and neutron stars. Machine learning applications will play significant roles in advancing these data analyses, which will be leveraged to train students as educational tools. 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.