Collaborative Research: Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence: Broadening Participation of Underrepresented Students in STEM Education Using Nanotechnology

Louis Stokes少数民族参与联盟(LSAMP)计划帮助大学和学院使科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)劳动力多样化，努力显著增加来自历史上代表性较低的少数群体(非洲裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人、美国印第安人或阿拉斯加原住民、夏威夷原住民或其他太平洋岛民)的学生数量，成功完成STEM的高质量学位课程。路易·斯托克斯扩大参与地区英才中心(LSRCEs)旨在为拓展、知识创造和传播活动或其他有助于STEM教育成功实践的活动提供区域试验台。LSRCE的活动也可能集中在学科研究机构的发展上。诺福克州立大学、潮水社区学院和宾夕法尼亚州立大学(主要合作者)和其他伙伴组织，包括美国国家航空航天局兰利研究中心(NASA-LARC)、杰斐逊国家研究实验室应用研究中心(JLab-ARC)和东弗吉尼亚医学院(EVMS)，都是更广泛的纳米科学和工程研究社区的活跃成员，将作为东南纳米技术教育参与和交流联盟(SICENT)的一部分进行合作，这是一个地区性的路易斯斯托克斯卓越中心，在扩大参与方面。Scene利用纳米技术及其许多应用作为一种渠道，吸引和激励来自传统上未被充分代表的少数族裔群体的有才华的学生。通过指导、研究机会和实践培训经验，学生将(1)将学生参与者与有经验的研究专业人员配对，以启动和激励持续的研究活动；(2)赞助以学生为中心的研究和培训活动，以培养一批准备好在先进的STEM环境中竞争机会的学生；以及(3)利用其独特的资源和建立的协作联系，向用户提供和传播一套数字准备的产品和服务。该计划的设计增加了广泛的暑期培训和实习部分，采用积极的战略，准备和指导有才华的学生，因为他们在国家实验室和联邦研究机构(例如，NSF GRFP和NASA研究生奖学金计划(GSFP)申请)产生研究机会并产生有竞争力的简介。该中心将由多种类型的机构领导，包括一所历史悠久的黑人大学、一所社区学院和一家研究I机构，该机构除联邦和私营部门组织外，还包括纳米技术教育和利用中心。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。

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce through their efforts at significantly increasing the numbers of students from historically underrepresented minority populations (African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders) to successfully complete high quality degree programs in STEM. Louis Stokes Regional Centers of Excellence in Broadening Participation (LSRCEs) are designed to serve as regional testbeds for outreach, knowledge-generating and diffusion activities or other activities that contribute to successful practices in STEM education. LSRCE activities may also be concentrated in the development of disciplinary research institutes.Norfolk State University, Tidewater Community College and Pennsylvania State University (lead collaborators) and other partner organizations that include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center (NASA-LaRC), Jefferson National Research Laboratory Applied Research Center (JLab-ARC), and Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), all active members of the broader nanoscience and engineering research community, will collaborate as part of the Southeastern Coalition for Engagement and Exchange in Nanotechnology Education (SCENE), a regional Louis Stokes Center for Excellence in Broadening Participation. SCENE utilizes nanotechnology and its many applications as a conduit for engaging and inspiring talented students from traditionally underrepresented minority populations. Through guided mentoring and opportunities for research and hands-on training experiences, students will (1) pair student participants with accomplished research professionals to seed and motivate continuing research activities; (2) sponsor student-centered research and training activities to achieve cohorts of students who are prepared and competitive for opportunities in advanced STEM environments; and, (3) utilize its unique resources and established collaborative connections to deliver and disseminate a suite of digitally prepared products and services to users. The program design augments an extensive summer training and internship component, with an aggressive strategy to prepare and mentor talented students as they generate portfolios and generate competitive profiles for research opportunities at national labs and federal research agencies (e.g. NSF GRFP and NASA Graduate Student Fellowship Program (GSFP) applications). The center will be led by multiple institution types including a historically black university, a community college, and a research I institution that houses the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization in addition to federal and private sector organizations.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.