Broadening Participation in Engineering through Center-based Research

研究生研究奖学金计划（GRFP）是美国国家科学基金会（NSF）最古老、最负盛名的奖学金计划之一。该项目的声誉源于获得奖学金的学生以及获得荣誉奖的学生取得的高水平成功。因此，重要的是要确保来自传统上代表性不足的工程群体的学生意识到申请研究生奖学金的价值和过程。解决获得高等学位的问题对于美国在STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）劳动力中招聘和留住高成就的工程师和科学家的能力至关重要。对于许多在工程领域代表性不足的GRFP申请人来说，形成性问题包括科学写作和交流方面的正式和非正式培训、专业发展培训以及获得从事创新研究的导师和榜样的机会。这个研讨会将来自弱势群体的工程和理科学生与目前资助的美国国家科学基金会工程研究中心联系起来。该项目建立在一个可行的假设之上，即受从事与社会相关、趋同研究的研究人员激励的代表性不足的女学生将建立开发竞争性奖学金申请的能力。这一假设通过研讨会的开发和交付得到验证，该研讨会包括对研究人员的介绍、专业发展和科学写作的非正式培训。这项活动由HBCU的首席研究员领导，直接支持NSF ERC发展多元化和包容性文化的目标。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is one of the oldest and most prestigious fellowship programs for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The program's reputation derives from the high level of success achieved by students receiving the fellowship as well as those receiving honorable mention. As such, it is important to ensure that students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering are aware of the value and process of applying for graduate fellowships. Addressing access to advanced degrees is critical to the nation's ability to recruit and retain high achieving engineers and scientists within the U.S. STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce. Formative issues for many GRFP applicants who are underrepresented in engineering include formal and informal training in scientific writing and communication, professional development training, and access to mentors and role models engaged in innovative research. This workshop connects engineering and science students from underrepresented populations to a currently funded NSF Engineering Research Center. This project builds on a working hypothesis that underrepresented and women students motivated by researchers working on socially relevant, convergent research will build capacity to develop competitive fellowship applications. This hypothesis is tested through the development and delivery of a workshop that incorporates introductions to researchers, professional development, and informal training in scientific writing. This activity, led by a principal investigator from an HBCU, directly supports the NSF ERC goal of developing a culture that is diverse and inclusive.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.