REU Site: Quantitative Research in the Life and Social Sciences: an interdisciplinary and intergenerational REU experience

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。在一个高度由数据驱动的现代世界，量化推理和量化素养变得越来越重要。生命与社会科学定量研究计划(QRLSSP)是一个为期8周的本科生研究体验计划(REU)，每年夏天将接待12名学生。这个暑期项目将为本科生提供研究机会，包括使用数学、统计学和数据分析中的量化工具解决生命科学和社会科学中的问题。该课程的结构独特，将学生选择的关于应用数学和统计问题的研究项目与生命科学和社会科学的应用相结合。该计划将招收、培训和指导未被充分代表的少数族裔学生、第一代学生以及在小型非授予博士学位的机构和社区学院注册的学生，这将有助于扩大攻读研究生学位和STEM职业的学生的参与。学生将参与专业发展活动，该计划旨在跟踪和支持学生参与者在毕业后长达6年的时间，学生将接受培训，提出他们感兴趣的研究问题，目的是自然增加参与度。该计划将使学生接触到具有广泛专业知识的导师，以更好地理解生物和社会科学中的普遍问题。学生还将接受使用数学建模软件的培训，以增强他们的计算工具包，供他们未来使用和研究。将鼓励与会者在各种会议上发表演讲，以提高演讲技巧，建立信心，并向更广泛的受众传播他们的工作。该计划将使参与者接触到一批不同的成功教师和研究人员，他们将充当榜样，并将提供建立网络、社区建设和同行支持的机会。为新教师和寻求加入学术界的研究生提供导师培训和机会，将有助于改善STEM教育和教育者发展。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。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). In a modern world highly driven by data, quantitative reasoning and quantitative literacy has become increasingly important. The Quantitative Research for the Life and Social Sciences Program (QRLSSP) is an 8-week Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program that will host 12 students each summer. This summer program will offer undergraduate research opportunities that involve solving problems in the life sciences and social sciences using quantitative tools from mathematics, statistics, and data analysis. The program is uniquely structured to incorporate student-selected research projects on problems that lie in applied mathematics and statistics, with applications to the life and social sciences. The program will recruit, train, and mentor underrepresented minority students, first generation students, and students enrolled at small, non-PhD-granting institutions and community colleges, which will help broaden the participation of students pursuing graduate degrees and STEM careers. The students will participate in professional development activities, and the program is structured to follow and support student participants for up to 6 years post-REU.Students will be trained to propose research questions that interest them, with the intention of naturally increasing engagement. The program will expose the students to mentors with a wide variety of expertise to develop a greater understanding of universal issues in the biological and social sciences. Students will also be trained to use software for mathematical modeling to enhance their computing toolkit for their future use and research. Participants will be encouraged to give presentations at a variety of conferences to improve presentation skills, build confidence, and disseminate their work to a broader audience. The program will expose participants to a diverse set of successful faculty and researchers who will serve as role models, and will provide opportunities for networking, community building, and peer support. Mentorship training and opportunities for new faculty and for graduate students seeking to join academia as a profession will help improve STEM education and educator development as well.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.