REU Site: Spatial Models and Electoral Districting

该项目由社会，行为和经济科学局（SBE）的本科生研究经验（REU）网站计划资助。它具有科学和社会效益，并整合了研究和教育。这个REU网站程序，“空间模型和选区”，由普吉湾大学和华盛顿塔科马大学的支持，产生尖端的研究和下一代的专家对选区的社会和政治紧迫的问题。REU网站汇集了地理，数学，数据科学和计算机科学方面的工作，既促进了科学知识，又促进了国家利益。该REU网站产生独特的，及时的，和重要的研究在几年前重新划分十年重新划分。它强调了传统上代表性不足的性别，经济和种族身份的学生在学术和STEM领域的参与。这REU通过研究驱动的方法，以公民参与这些学生参与，并产生跨学科的研究议程和政策相关的结果。此外，通过支持学生不太可能以其他方式参与研究的机会，REU的影响不仅是对那些参与，而且对学科和职业道路的参与者多样化，并在整个职业生涯中提高。 通过采取协同的方法来计算，地理和选举选区重划的政治方面，REU网站鼓励独特和新的想法出现在一个重要的，及时的社会问题的中心。每年夏天，该计划支持两个研究团队，每个团队由两名研究导师和六名学生组成，为期八周。培训将包括GIS、Python编程语言和其他技术技能。在前三周，REU参与者将与来自政治学和公共政策等领域的特邀专家互动，以帮助他们的项目在现有的奖学金和公众关注的基础上。REU网站的主要目标是：（1）为非传统的REU学生提供高质量的研究体验，特别关注代表性不足的性别，经济和种族身份，以及来自研究机会较少的较小学院的学生;（2）在具有广泛现实意义的跨学科方法方面培训学生和研究人员，为学生在围绕数据科学和地理空间技术的新兴领域的潜在研究生研究或职业生涯做好准备;（3）帮助研究人员获得与本科生进行协作，相关研究的经验。参与者使用一些高影响力的教学技术进行培训，帮助授权新一代从事社区知情研究和公共政策制定的多元化学者。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). It has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. This REU Site Program, "Spatial Models and Electoral Districting", supported by the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington Tacoma, produces cutting-edge research and the next generation of experts on the socially and politically urgent issue of electoral districting. Bringing together work in geography, mathematics, data science, and computer science, the REU Site both advances scientific knowledge and furthers the national interest. The REU Site produces unique, timely, and important research on redistricting in the years immediately prior to decennial redistricting. It emphasizes the participation of students from traditionally underrepresented gender, economic, and racial identities within the academy and STEM fields. This REU engages these students through research-driven approaches to civic participation and produces both an interdisciplinary research agenda and policy-relevant results. Further, through the support of students less likely to otherwise participate in research opportunities, the REU's impact is not simply on those who participate, but also on the disciplines and career paths the participants diversify and improve throughout their careers. By taking a synergistic approach to the computational, geographic, and political aspects of electoral redistricting, the REU Site encourages unique and new ideas to emerge at the center of an important, timely societal question. Each summer the program supports two research teams, each consisting of two research mentors and six students over an eight week program. Training will include GIS, the python programming language, and other technical skills. During the first three weeks, REU participants will interact with invited experts from political science and public policy, among other fields, to help ground their projects in existing scholarship and public concerns. The REU Site's primary goals are to: (1) provide a high-quality research experience to non-traditional REU students, specifically focusing on underrepresented gender, economic, and racial identities as well as students from smaller colleges with fewer research opportunities; (2) train students and researchers in interdisciplinary approaches with broad real-world implications, preparing students for potential graduate research or careers in the burgeoning fields surrounding data science and geospatial technologies; (3) help researchers gain experience in producing collaborative, pertinent research with undergraduate students. Participants are trained using a number of high-impact pedagogical techniques that help empower a new generation of diverse scholars engaged in community-informed research and public policy creation.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.