A Flagstaff, Arizona, partnership in astronomy and astrophysics research and education to increase participation by underrepresented minority students

该奖项全部由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。亚利桑那州的弗拉格斯塔夫是世界上第一个国际黑暗天空之城，也是北亚利桑那大学（NAU）和科科尼诺社区学院（CCC）的所在地，北亚利桑那大学是一所四年制高研究型州立（公立）大学，科科尼诺社区学院是一所毗邻的两年制公立社区学院，这是一所少数民族学校。CCC2NAU合作伙伴关系是由NAU和CCC于2008年建立的，为学生提供了一种经济实惠的创新方式，通过前两年就读CCC（以较低的社区学院学费）和后两年就读NAU来完成学士学位。该项目资助的新伙伴关系将创造一条途径，将CCC学生纳入NAU的天文学相关研究实验室，NAU的天文学研究组合非常活跃，涵盖了广泛的主题。该项目的关键在于，研究是在天文学领域招募和留住代表性不足的少数民族（URM）学生的工具，更广泛地说，是在STEM领域。这一提议的智力价值在于，在一系列天文学和天文学相关领域，将推进10-20个研究项目。这将产生在各自领域具有影响力的会议演讲、出版物和数据产品。这项提议的工作有两个明显的更广泛的影响：个人和社会。对个人的影响是，该项目将在两年内为20名学生提供带薪实习机会。该项目的社会影响是增加URM学生在天文学和更广泛的STEM领域的参与。该项目的有效性将由专业专家进行评估。本项目预期成果为：(1)参与项目的学生开展一系列主题的天文学研究，并取得具有科学意义的成果；(2)参与者将获得技术技能和研究经验；(3)该计划将增加URM学生在天文学和更广泛的STEM领域的留用。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 award is funded in whole under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Flagstaff, Arizona, is the world’s first International Dark Sky City, and is home to both Northern Arizona University (NAU), a four-year high-research state (public) university, and Coconino Community College (CCC), an adjacent public two-year community college, which is a majority minority school. The CCC2NAU partnership was founded in 2008 between NAU and CCC, and provides an affordable and innovative way for students to complete a bachelor degree by attending CCC for their first two years (at the lower community college tuition rate) and NAU for their last two years. The new partnership funded in this project will create a pathway to include CCC students in the astronomy-related research labs at NAU, which has a very active astronomy research portfolio that spans a wide range of topics. The key to the project is that research is the tool with which under-represented minority (URM) students are recruited and retained in astronomy, and more broadly, in STEM fields.The intellectual merit of this proposal is that 10–20 research projects, in a range of astronomy and astronomy-related fields, will be advanced. These will result in conference presentations, publications, and data products that will be impactful in their fields. There are two clear broader impacts of this proposed work: individual and societal. The individual impact is that this program will provide paid internships for twenty students across two years. The societal impact of this project is to increase the participation of URM students in astronomy and, more broadly, STEM fields. The effectiveness of this project will be evaluated by professional experts. The expected outcomes of this project are: (1) astronomy research on a range of topics will be carried out by student participants in this program, with scientifically significant outcomes; (2) participants will gain technical skills and research experience; and (3) the program will increase the retention of URM students in astronomy and, more broadly, STEM fields.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.