Community of Neighboring and National Entrepreneurial Centers and Trainees (CONNECT) Network

该项目旨在通过建立一个充满活力和多样化的教育工作者、创新者、企业家和其他利益相关者的网络，将生物科学创业纳入本科生物学课程，从而为国家利益服务。特别关注女性和有色人种企业家的参与，因为这些专业群体在创业活动的投入和产出方面仍然不足，特别是在生物科学领域，尽管在科学和工程学士学位方面已经达到了平等。通过三个项目目标，每个目标都有特定的活动，CONNECT网络创造了一个充满活力、包容的社区空间，教育者、学生和有色人种的企业家在这里合作，分享资源和最佳实践，将新兴的生物科学创业领域纳入本科生物教育。首先，该网络将通过提供多种面对面和虚拟聚会的机会来建立，例如CONNECT （CONNECT -创新在线网络），以及专注于生物科学创业的跨机构和多学科期刊俱乐部。其次，通过对CONNECT参与者进行基于调查的需求评估，将建立一个可共享的数据库，为强有力的数据驱动的后续项目奠定基础。这将形成与生物科学创业相关的本科生物教育理想未来状态的初步指导。第三，该项目将举办首届名为CONNECT- ed的年度研讨会，这将使CONNECT参与者能够积极分享数据和见解。孵化器网络将在未来几年合作推出生物科学创业课程，以填补这一空白。通过教导STEM本科学生将自己的想法视为创新，并为他们提供将其想法商业化的工具，我们不仅将培养未来的生物科学企业家，还将培养战略思想家。预计那些对自己的职业道路进行更战略性思考的学生将更有可能提出关键问题，对失败、迭代和课程修正感到舒适，并且更有可能通过提高导航技能而坚持STEM管道。在我们能够改变目前不利于BIPOC女性在STEM领域的宏观体系并贬低她们的创新之前，我们的目标是建立微观系统和实践社区，提升并向这些领导者学习。该项目由生物基础设施司生物科学理事会和本科教育司教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，作为其应对《本科生物学教育的愿景与变革：行动呼吁》（http://visionandchange/finalreport/）所提出的挑战的努力的一部分。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by building a vibrant and diverse network of educators, innovators, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders to incorporate biosciences entrepreneurship into undergraduate biology curricula. There is a special focus on the inclusion of women and entrepreneurs of color, as these groups of professionals are still underrepresented in both input and outcomes of entrepreneurial activities in general and in the biosciences in particular, despite having reached parity in science and engineering bachelor’s degrees. Through three project objectives, each with objective-specific activities, the CONNECT network creates its vibrant, inclusive community space where educators, students, and entrepreneurs of color collaborate, and share resources and best practices for incorporating the emerging field of biosciences entrepreneurship into undergraduate biology education. First the network will be established by offering multiple opportunities for in-person and virtual gatherings, such as CONNECTions (CONNECT - Innovation Online Networks), and cross-institutional and multidisciplinary journal clubs focused on bioscientific entrepreneurship. Second, a sharable database, and the foundation for a strong data-driven follow-up project, will be established by performing a survey-based needs assessment among the CONNECT participants. This will form the initial directive for the ideal future state of undergraduate biology education in relation to biosciences entrepreneurship. And thirdly, the project will host the first annual workshop called CONNECT-ED, which will allow the CONNECT participants to actively share data and insights. The incubator network will collaborate in future years to launch a biosciences entrepreneurship curriculum to fill this gap. By teaching undergraduate STEM students to see their ideas as innovations and giving them the tools to commercialize their ideas, we will not only train future biosciences entrepreneurs but also develop strategic thinkers. It is expected that students who think more strategically about their career paths will be more likely to ask critical questions, be comfortable with failures, iterations, and course-corrections, and more likely to persist in the STEM pipeline through their improved navigation skills. Until we can change the current macro-systems that disadvantage BIPOC women in STEM and devalue their innovations, we aim to build micro-systems and communities of practice that lift up and learn from these leaders. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).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.