AstroCom NYC: A Partnership between Astronomers in New York City

AstroCom NYC旨在通过加强和巩固纽约市研究天文学家之间的伙伴关系，改善城市少数民族学生获得天体物理研究机会的机会。 合作伙伴是纽约为少数群体服务的机构、美国自然历史博物馆的天体物理学研究部门和熨斗研究所的计算天体物理学中心。所有纽约市立大学天文学家形成了一个支持和协作网络，并在AMNH担任常驻助理职位。 该团队将继续在NSF的天文学和天体物理学研究与教育伙伴关系（PAARE）计划的支持下开发的计划，并将过渡到一个可持续发展的企业，为纽约市立大学的本科生提供集中的，个性化的指导以及财务和学术支持。 这已被证明是一个有效的模式，以改善招聘，保留，和专业成功的学生群体，传统上代表性不足的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科。AstroCom NYC的合作伙伴是唯一有资格的任务，改善少数民族获得天体物理学研究，因为他们强大的工作关系，专业知识，指导学生的不同背景，以及纽约市立大学的候选人AstroCom NYC是拥有大量不同少数民族人口的城市地区的典范。 他们的具体目标是（1）创建一个包容性的计划，以促进学生的招聘和保留在天体物理学通过支持学生在他们的学习和研究与结构化的指导，奖学金，并为研究额外的学术准备;（2）提高学生的保留和毕业在干，特别是物理;（3）在纽约市建立一个由多样化的城市天体物理学家组成的创新社区，以集中和支持分散的纽约市立大学学生和教师;以及（4）通过为他们创造在这个独特的研究机构社区中工作的机会，建立纽约市立大学学生在天体物理学方面的归属感。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过以下方式获得支持：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。

AstroCom NYC is designed to improve access by urban minority students to opportunities in astrophysical research by enhancing and solidifying partnerships between research astronomers in New York City. The partners are minority-serving institutions of the City University of New York (CUNY), and the astrophysics research departments of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) at the Flatiron Institute. All CUNY astronomers form a supportive and collaborative network and hold resident associate positions at AMNH. Continuing a program developed with support from NSF's Partnerships in Astronomy and Astrophysics Research and Education (PAARE) program, the team will transition into a sustainable enterprise to provide centralized, personalized mentoring as well as financial and academic support to CUNY undergraduates. This has proven to be an effective model to improve recruitment, retention, and professional success for students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines.The partners in AstroCom NYC are uniquely qualified for the task of improving minority access to astrophysics research because of their strong working relationships, expertise in mentoring students with diverse backgrounds, and the ready pool of candidates from within CUNY. AstroCom NYC serves as a model to urban areas with large and diverse minority populations. Their specific objectives are to (1) create an inclusive program to promote student recruitment and retention in astrophysics by supporting students throughout their studies and research with structured mentoring, fellowships, and additional academic preparation for research; (2) improve student retention and graduation in STEM, particularly physics; (3) create an innovative community of diverse, urban astrophysicists in New York City to concentrate and support otherwise dispersed CUNY students and faculty; and(4) build CUNY students' sense of belonging in astrophysics by creating opportunities for them to work within this unique community of research institutions.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.