Conference: Building HSI Research Capacity in NSF CISE Core Research Areas

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The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI), an NSF National INCLUDES alliance, is focused on increasing competitive research efforts at HSIs. One such effort was a 2019 NSF-funded community workshop that brought together Hispanic and other researchers from HSIs to make recommendations on how to increase representation of Hispanics and HSIs in the NSF Computer and Information Science & Engineering (CISE) directorate’s portfolio. Another effort was the American Society of Engineering Education’s (ASEE) NSF MSI CISE conference in early February 2020 that involved researchers and representatives from CAHSI, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), and other organizations. They participated in panel discussions and presentations centered on research-capacity building and met with NSF program officers to learn about research funding opportunities. These efforts correlate to a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that calls for increased investment in Hispanic-Serving Institutions. The CAHSI Backbone will organize facilitated, virtual meetings that aim to build collaborations around critical areas of research and to strengthen research capacity. With researchers from HSIs, other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and Primarily White Institutions (PWIs), the initial convening will be a two-day event. The convening will model an Ideas Lab and will build upon the aforementioned CAHSI and ASEE efforts that laid a foundation for capacity building among MSIs. Researchers will have an opportunity to identify specific problems, advance ideas, and begin planning research projects. The CAHSI Backbone will organize follow-up meetings to provide feedback to the collaborative teams on their research plans with the intent of teams iteratively refining and improving their research ideas. The purpose is to ensure the projects are competitive, transformative and, representative of the investment priorities for the NSF CISE core research areas. The expected outcome is a set of research plans developed and refined over six months to a year that will be presented to NSF program officers at a 2021 ASEE workshop for critical feedback and that will lead to submissions of competitive proposals for funding. Building a community of HSIs committed to improving research capacity and building infrastructure translates into more opportunities nationally for faculty to gain knowledge of how best to collaborate and seek funding opportunities, especially for faculty who typically have not been engaged. It is expected that the convenings will lead to collective efforts that will be immense and far-reaching and can serve as a model for other minoritized institutions. The transformational change that can result from strategic actions and support has the potential to meet the demand for diverse researchers who can contribute solutions to society’s pressing problems.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.