RII-BEC: Individual Based Talent Bridge from Minority-Serving Institutions to Graduate School and Energy Industry

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。这项研究基础设施改善桥接EPSCoR社区（RII BEC）项目以亚拉巴马塔斯卡卢萨大学（UA）为中心，旨在通过创建在以白色为主的机构之间建立可持续合作伙伴关系的模式来服务于国家利益（PWI）和历史上的黑人学院和大学（HBCU）。这种伙伴关系将有助于扩大历史上在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）研究生教育中代表性不足的学生的参与。UA将与三个HBCU合作，包括亚拉巴马的斯蒂尔曼学院（SC），密西西比州的杰克逊州立大学（JSU）和非EPSCoR州格鲁吉亚的福特瓦利州立大学（FVSU）。该项目将通过提供能源教育和研究的跨学科视角，帮助HBCU内的化学，物理和工程专业发展。与此同时，合作伙伴关系将为HBCU本科生创造统一和个性化的途径，从而获得可再生能源的研究生学习，职业和创业机会。这将通过让学生参与不同的教育经历来实现。项目的组成部分将包括在联合大学举办一个夏季靴子训练营，以帮助填补学生因疫情而出现的学习空白。此外，该项目将实施夏季研究和开发（R D）计划，以招募和准备HBCU参与者过渡到研究生课程。研发计划将包括每周的研究研讨会，创业研讨会，通过UA和HBCU的联合学术咨询，应对全球挑战的本科生研究经验，夏季研究会议，动手实验室经验以及道德和实验室安全方面的专业培训。该项目的目标有几个方面，包括：（1）提高HBCU学生参与者作为研究生课程申请人的竞争力;（2）为学生做好STEM劳动力的准备;（3）为学生提供内容知识，技能，经验和信心，以便在STEM竞技场从事创业活动。该项目将吸引HBCU学生参与STEM研究，这将有助于创建由先进材料和结构组成的设备，用于能量转换和存储应用。特别是，学生将开发分子和固体催化和固体薄膜材料及其异质结，用于有效的能量收集，转换和存储。学生将接受化学，物理，工程和材料化学领域的指导和最先进的培训，以解决与太阳能电池，电池和发光二极管以及二氧化碳减排技术相关的能源研究和技术的挑战性问题。将实施严格的评估程序，以评估项目的进展情况，并向调查人员提供反馈，以实现短期和长期目标。教育和研究活动及成果将在指定网站上以及通过期刊出版物、会议和各种社交媒体平台传播。该项目的研究，教育和专业发展活动将通过将重点和重新调整的教学内容和实验室技能融合到现实世界的经验中，共同增强学生的学习体验。这些活动将为学生提供短暂的知识，开始连接研究概念对未来学术和工业职业的重要性。该项目将通过一所非HBCU大学和三所HBCU之间的战略本科生和研究生合作计划，培养有才华的下一代科学家和工程师，帮助经济发展和可再生能源行业。该奖项反映了NSF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 or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This Research Infrastructure Improvement Bridging EPSCoR Communities (RII BEC) project, centered at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa (UA), aims to serve the national interest by creating a model for building sustainable partnerships between Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Such partnerships will help broaden the participation of students historically underrepresented in graduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). UA will partner with three HBCUs, including Stillman College (SC) in Alabama, Jackson State University (JSU) in Mississippi, and Fort Valley State University (FVSU) in the non-EPSCoR state of Georgia. This project will help grow chemistry, physics, and engineering majors within HBCUs by providing an interdisciplinary perspective of energy education and research. In concert with this, the partnerships will create a blend of uniform and individualized pathways for undergraduate HBCU students that lead to graduate studies, careers, and entrepreneurial opportunities in renewable energy. This will be accomplished by engaging student participants in diverse educational experiences. Project components will include a summer boot camp at UA to help fill gaps in students' learning caused by the pandemic. In addition, the project will implement a summer research and development (R & D) program to recruit and prepare HBCU participants to transition to graduate programs. The R & D program will include weekly research seminars, entrepreneurial workshops, joint academic advising via UA and the HBCUs, undergraduate research experiences that address global challenges, summer research conferences, hands-on laboratory experiences, and professional training in ethics and laboratory safety. Goals of the project are several fold and include: (1) enhancing the competitiveness of HBCU student participants as applicants to graduate programs; (2) preparing students for the STEM workforce; and (3) providing students with content knowledge, skills, experiences, and confidence to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits in the STEM arena. The project will engage HBCU students in STEM research that will help create devices comprised of advanced materials and structures for energy conversion and storage application. In particular, students will develop molecular and solid catalytic and solid thin film materials and their heterojunctions for efficient energy harvesting, conversion, and storage. Students will receive mentoring and state-of-the-art training in the fields of chemistry, physics, engineering, and materials chemistry to address challenging issues of energy research and technology relevant to solar cells, batteries, and light-emitting diodes and technologies for CO2 reduction. A rigorous assessment process will be implemented to evaluate the project’s progress and provide feedback to the investigators toward achieving both short and long-term goals. Education and research activities and results will be disseminated on a designated website as well as through journal publications, conferences, and various social media platforms. Research, education, and professional development activities of this project will collectively enhance students’ learning experiences by fusing focused and realigned pedagogical content and lab skills into real-world experiences. These activities will provide transitory knowledge for students to begin connecting the importance of research concepts for future academic and industrial careers. This project will help economic development and the renewable energy industry by producing talented next-generation scientists and engineers through a strategic undergraduate and graduate partnership program between a non-HBCU university and three HBCUs.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.