Graduate Opportunities at Fisk in Astronomy and Astrophysics Research (GO-FAAR)

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The underrepresentation of minorities in STEM fields is one of the major challenges facing the United States workforce. Although underrepresented minorities (URMs) make up approximately 30% of the U.S. population, this cohort accounts for only 4 percent of astronomy Ph.D.s awarded in the U.S., as well as just 3 percent of faculty members. Indeed, an average Ph.D. granting program in astronomy will graduate fewer than 1 URM Ph.D. recipient per decade. Recognizing this problem, the ?New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics? Decadal Survey, published by the National Academies, noted that a promising way to address this problem is to encourage strategic partnerships between minority-serving institutions and research universities, national centers, and national laboratories. This award will provide continued support of the GO-FAAR partnership between Fisk University and Vanderbilt University, which is a pathway to the Ph.D. that substantially broadens the participation of underrepresented minorities in astronomy. The principal component of GO-FAAR is the extraordinarily successful Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-Ph.D. Bridge program. Fisk students establish one-on-one relationships with faculty at Vanderbilt, engage in substantial astronomy research projects, and many ultimately end up pursuing Ph.D. programs at Vanderbilt. The program has been particularly effective to date, becoming the top producer of URM Ph.D.s in astronomy and astrophysics in the country.This renewal award will institutionalize the program at Fisk and Vanderbilt, and establish its methods as a national model. NSF funding will support the following key objectives:(1) To fully institutionalize the relationship between Fisk University, Vanderbilt University, and other research partners, and to firmly embed Fisk as a major contributor to the astronomical research community;(2) To increase by 75% the number of URMs earning astronomy and astrophysics Ph.D.s in the US, to sustain this level, and to diversify the U.S. astronomy and astrophysics workforce.(3) To offer the Bridge methodology to Affiliate institutions (to be recruited nationally) through a program components 'toolkit,' training workshops, and on-going consultation and supervision. The effect of NSF funding is therefore multiplicative, since it is expected that numerous other Bridge programs will result;(4) To launch a nationally competitive postdoctoral fellowship program at Fisk, which is designed to launch URMs into faculty careers.Other research partners involved in GO-FAAR include the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, National Solar Observatory, University of Chicago, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Lowell Observatory/Tennessee State University, National Academy of Sciences, American Physical Society, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Southeastern Universities Research Association, and South African Astronomical Observatory.Support for this award is provided by (1) the Division of Astronomical Sciences Partnerships in Astronomy & Astrophysics Research and Education (PAARE) program; (2) the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences; (3) the Division of Physics Education and Interdisciplinary Research (EIR) program; and (4) the Division of Human Resource Development Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP).