IGE: Reimagining the STEM Doctorate: The Pathways to Entrepreneurship (PAtENT) program

IGE：重新构想 STEM 博士学位：创业之路 (PAtENT) 计划

• 批准号: 1954978
• 负责人: Praveen Ramaprabhu
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1954978&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IGE; Reimagining; STEM; Doctorate; Pathways

Doctoral programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are designed primarily to train candidates in conducting original research and to prepare them for careers as faculty members at institutions of higher education. In this model, the capstone requirement for the STEM PhD is satisfied through the publication of original research in academic journals, where the work must be evaluated favorably by experts through peer-review. In recent years, there has been an increasing participation of STEM PhDs in technology entrepreneurship, through the development of patentable technologies, and the formation of startup companies. The STEM PhD program, as it exists, does not adequately provide this growing proportion of the STEM workforce who are active in entrepreneurship with the necessary professional skills and preparation. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) will introduce a novel approach in which STEM PhD students will develop patentable technologies as the capstone requirement. These innovations will be implemented in a new program called Pathways to Entrepreneurship (PAtENT), which will provide an alternate pathway to earning a doctoral degree that has the potential to spur graduation rates, generate employment in the local communities in which it is deployed, and maintain the nation’s edge in technological innovation. The central goal of the project will be to develop an alternate roadmap for STEM PhD students that is scalable and reflects the rapidly evolving workforce needs. This goal will be achieved without sacrificing the technical rigor of the traditional PhD program, by subjecting the patent applications to external peer review. An independent evaluator will collect extensive data on the efficacy of the program, and address specific objectives such as the alignment of the roadmap with the core scientific and professional elements required for a PhD, assess the scalability potential of the pilot study, develop recommendations for STEM programs at other doctoral institutions across the country, and measure the participation rates and employment outcomes of under-represented minorities targeted by the program. The evaluation will consist of a mixed-methods design that will include surveys, polls and interviews developed for current students and faculty, and reflective questions for the project leadership. The project will emphasize the recruitment of female and veteran students, groups that are currently under-represented in the technology startup workforce. If successful, the project will help modernize STEM doctoral programs to suit the needs of the country’s future as a knowledge-based economy. The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.

科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)博士课程的主要目的是培训候选人进行原创性研究，并为他们成为高等教育机构的教员做好准备。在这种模式中，STEM博士学位的最高要求是通过在学术期刊上发表原创研究来满足的，在学术期刊上发表的原创研究必须由专家通过同行评议进行有利的评价。近年来，通过开发可专利技术和成立初创公司，STEM博士越来越多地参与技术创业。现有的STEM博士项目不足以为日益增长的STEM劳动力提供必要的专业技能和准备，这些劳动力积极从事创业。这项授予北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校(UNCC)的国家科学基金会研究生教育创新(IGE)奖将引入一种新的方法，在这种方法中，STEM博士生将开发可专利技术作为最高要求。这些创新将在一个名为创业之路(专利)的新项目中实施，该项目将提供另一条获得博士学位的途径，有可能提高毕业率，在部署该学位的当地社区创造就业机会，并保持国家在技术创新方面的优势。该项目的中心目标将是为STEM博士生制定一个可扩展并反映快速发展的劳动力需求的替代路线图。通过让专利申请接受外部同行审查，这一目标将在不牺牲传统博士项目的技术严格性的情况下实现。一名独立评估者将收集有关该项目有效性的广泛数据，并解决具体目标，如路线图与博士学位所需的核心科学和专业要素的一致性，评估试点研究的可扩展性潜力，为全国其他博士生机构的STEM项目制定建议，并衡量该项目目标群体的参与率和就业结果。评估将包括一种混合方法的设计，其中将包括为现有学生和教职员工开发的调查、民意调查和面试，以及针对项目领导层的反思性问题。该项目将重点招聘女性和资深学生，这些群体目前在科技初创企业的劳动力中所占比例较低。如果成功，该项目将有助于STEM博士课程的现代化，以适应该国未来作为知识经济的需要。研究生教育创新(IGE)项目专注于研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。