Supporting Professional Development of Undergraduate Researchers

一支有能力的STEM(科学、技术、工程师和数学)劳动力对于国家保持创新的能力至关重要，这些创新推动了经济增长，并使国家保持高质量的生活。因此，打造一支具有STEM能力的多元化劳动力队伍是NSF的战略优先事项。大多数计划获得STEM学位的学生在上大学时都未能完成学业，来自弱势背景的学生的流失率尤其高。事实证明，参与本科生的研究，部分是通过提高学生的自我效能感，并使学生自我认同为科学家，可以增加学生的留存。当接触到所有背景的学生时，这提高了STEM职业生涯的多样性。为了进一步促进不同学生留在STEM职业生涯中，该计划将提供职业发展机会，包括支持一批学生在专业会议上展示他们的研究成果。拟议的计划将为生物、计算机科学、海洋科学和地质专业的本科生提供职业发展机会，目标是不同背景的学生，包括来自少数族裔服务机构的学生和NSF本科生研究体验计划的参与者。已发现专业发展机会(例如，在会议上展示结果)的学生将提交在线申请，这些申请将经过审查，以确保学生符合基本资格(例如，进行了高质量的本科研究，正在协调他们的研究导师)，并确定该经历是否会对其职业发展产生有意义的影响，包括评估学生获得其他专业发展机会的有限程度。学生将提供基本的跟踪数据，以评估该计划在多大程度上接触到不同的参与者，并确定在专业协会发表演讲的影响。该奖项由生物科学局的生物基础设施部(DBI)、计算机和信息科学与工程局的计算机和网络系统部(CNS)以及地球科学局的海洋科学(OCE)和地球科学部(EAR)支持。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。

A capable STEM (Science Technology Engineer and Math) workforce is critical to the nation’s ability to sustain the innovations that fuel economic growth and allow the country to maintain a high quality of life. Consequently, creating a diverse STEM-capable workforce is a strategic priority for NSF. Most students who start college with plans to obtain a STEM degree fail to finish, with students from disadvantaged backgrounds having particularly high attrition rates. Participation in undergraduate research, in part by improving the self-efficacy of students and leading to self-identification of students as scientists, has been shown to increase retention of students. When students of all backgrounds are reached, this has improved diversity in STEM careers. To further promote retention of diverse students in STEM careers this program will offer professional development opportunities, including support for cohorts of students to present results of their research at professional conferences.The proposed program will provide professional development opportunities for biology, computer science, ocean sciences and geology students conducting undergraduate research, targeting students of diverse backgrounds including from minority-serving institutions and participants in NSF’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Students who have identified a professional development opportunity (e.g., presenting results at a conference) will submit online applications which will be vetted to ensure students meet basic qualifications (e.g., have conducted high quality undergraduate research, are coordinating their research mentors) and to determine whether the experience will have a meaningful impact on their career development, including evaluating the extent to which students have had limited access to other professional development opportunities. Students will provide basic tracking data to allow assessment of the extent to which the program reaches diverse participants and to determine the impact of making presentations at professional societies. This award is supported by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) in the Directorate for Biosciences, the Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, and the Divisions of Ocean Sciences (OCE) and Earth Sciences (EAR) within the Directorate for Geosciences.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.