IGERT: Multinational Collaborations on Challenges to the Environment

我们项目的目标是为跨学科研究生教育和研究创建一个新的跨国合作模式。 在我们的方法中，一小批精心挑选的合作机构将共同努力：1）开发协作和可持续的跨学科研究生研究机会; 2）实施在多个地点合作提供的新的基于项目的课程; 3）为参与的研究生创造国际实习机会，4）实施跨国指导，咨询和沟通网络，5）为研究生发展教学和课程开发经验，为他们提供关于高等教育面临的挑战的丰富的国际视野，以及6）分享更有效地针对大学研究解决我们地区面临的实际问题的经验。 我们的合作大学是：东北大学（日本）、奥克兰大学（新西兰）、纳米比亚理工学院（纳米比亚）、纳塔尔大学（南非）、爱德华多·蒙德莱恩大学（莫桑比克）、坎托大学（越南）、四川大学和清华大学（均在中国）。 我们还将与太平洋西北国家实验室（PNNL）密切合作，该实验室是我们地区主要的政府研究实验室，为我们的学生设计研究和教育计划。我们专注于5个相互交织的环境相关主题，具体为1）水质和废水处理; 2）“生态材料”（或减少材料加工和使用的环境成本）; 3）生物多样性，重点是植物和水生系统; 4）森林生态系统的产品和服务;以及5）环境社会科学。 我们将共同为我们的学生提供一套连贯而强大的跨学科经验，使他们能够成为我们社区中富有想象力和有效的领导者。 同时，我们的计划将为所有合作伙伴提供关于加强跨学科研究生教育的新见解。 我们的教育计划包括：1）参与5个跨学科主题研究集群中的一个或多个，如上所述; 2）为期一年的基于项目的耦合人类，自然和材料系统课程，汇集了来自所有5个主题集群的教师和学生; 3）在其中一个合作机构进行必要的研究实习（6 - 12个月）在当地共同顾问的监督下; 4）在K-12或本科阶段的“教学”实习，参与与科学和工程领域国际教育改革相关的项目; 5）每周一次的IGERT研讨会; 6）两个“论文研讨会”（一个在研究的早期、问题界定阶段，另一个在写作阶段）;和7）侧重于职业意识、道德和专业发展的活动，特别强调这些问题的国际层面。它将促进高质量的科学研究;将研究与解决共同的实际区域问题联系起来的计划，以及将国际研究与研究生教育和培训相结合的创新战略。该计划的更广泛的影响包括：1）我们将为全球参与，多样化和技术敏锐的国际劳动力的产生做出贡献，以及2）我们将为更广泛的高等教育界提供关于这些基本问题的见解：如何为我们的研究生创造国际研究经验，有效地与他们的专业发展和研究的其他部分相结合;如何构建研究生教育中的机构间合作伙伴关系，使利益真正互惠和可持续;如何构建跨学科的国际课程，使其更有效地吸引和留住多样化的研究生。

The goal of our project is to create a new collaborative multinational model for interdisciplinary graduate education and research. In our approach, a small, dedicated, and carefully selected set of partner institutions will work in concert to: 1) develop collaborative and sustainable interdisciplinary graduate research opportunities; 2) implement new project-based courses which are offered cooperatively at multiple sites; 3) create international internship opportunities for participating graduate students, 4) implement a multinational mentoring, advising and communications network, 5) develop teaching and curriculum development experiences for graduate students which provide them with a rich international perspective on the challenges facing higher education, and 6) share experience in more effectively targeting university research to address practical problems facing our regions. Our partner universities are: Tohoku University (Japan), the University of Auckland (New Zealand), the Polytechnic of Namibia (Namibia), the University of Natal (South Africa), Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique), Can Tho University (Vietnam), Sichuan University and Tsinghua University (both in China). We will also work closely with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), our region's major governmental research lab, in the design of the research and educational programs for our students.Our focus on 5 interwoven environmentally-related themes, specifically 1) water quality and wastewater treatment; 2) "eco-materials" (or reducing the environmental cost of materials processing and use); 3) biodiversity, with a focus on botanical and aquatic systems; 4) goods and services from forest ecosystems; and 5) environmental social sciences. Together, we will implement a coherent and powerful set of interdisciplinary experiences for our students that will enable them to emerge as imaginative and effective leaders in our communities. Simultaneously, our program will offer new insight to all partners on the strengthening of graduate education across the disciplines. Our educational program incorporates: 1) participation in one or more of the 5 interdisciplinary thematic research clusters, as described above; 2) a year-long, project-based course on Coupled Human, Natural and Materials Systems, which brings together faculty and students from all of the 5 thematic clusters; 3) a required research internship at one of the partner institutions (6 - 12 months) under the supervision of a local co-advisor; 4) a "pedagogical" internship working either at the K-12 or undergraduate level on a project related to international educational reform in science and engineering; 5) an on-going weekly IGERT seminar; 6) two "dissertation workshops" (one in the early, problem-definition stage of their research, and another in the writing stage); and 7) activities focused on career awareness, ethics, and professional development, with a particular emphasis on the international dimensions of these issues.The Intellectual Merits of the proposal include: the high quality scientific research it will enable; the plans for linking the research to the solution of common, practical regional problems, and the innovative strategies for integrating international research and graduate education and training. The Broader Impacts of the program include 1) the contribution we will make to the generation of a globally-engaged, diverse and technically astute international workforce, and 2) the insight we will provide to the broader higher education community on such basic questions as: How to create international research experiences for our graduate students that are effectively integrated with the rest of their professional development and research; How to structure inter-institutional partnerships in graduate education such that the benefits are truly reciprocal and sustainable; How to structure interdisciplinary international programs so that they are more effective in attracting and retaining a diverse set of graduate students.