A Flagstaff, Arizona, partnership in astronomy and astrophysics research and education to increase participation by underrepresented minority students

该奖项由《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)提供全部资金。亚利桑那州的弗拉格斯塔夫是世界上第一座国际黑暗天空城市，同时也是北亚利桑那大学(NAU)和科科尼诺社区学院(CCC)的所在地，前者是一所四年制的高研究州立(公立)大学，后者是一所毗邻的公立两年制社区学院，后者是一所少数族裔学校。CCC2NAU合作伙伴关系于2008年由NAU和CCC建立，为学生提供了一种负担得起的创新方式，通过在他们的头两年上CCC(以较低的社区大学学费)和在他们的最后两年上NAU来完成学士学位。由该项目资助的新的合作伙伴关系将创造一条途径，将CCC的学生纳入NAU与天文学相关的研究实验室，该实验室拥有非常活跃的天文学研究组合，涵盖了广泛的主题。该项目的关键是，研究是在天文学以及更广泛的STEM领域招募和留住未被充分代表的少数族裔(URM)学生的工具。这项提议的智力价值在于，在一系列天文学和天文学相关领域，将推进10-20个研究项目。这些将导致在各自领域产生影响的会议演讲、出版物和数据产品。这项拟议的工作有两个明显的更广泛的影响：个人和社会。个人影响是，该计划将在两年内为20名学生提供带薪实习机会。这个项目的社会影响是增加URM学生对天文学以及更广泛的STEM领域的参与。该项目的成效将由专业专家进行评估。这个项目的预期结果是：(1)该项目的学生参与者将在一系列主题上进行天文学研究，具有重要的科学意义；(2)参与者将获得技术技能和研究经验；(3)该项目将增加URM学生在天文学以及更广泛的STEM领域的留存。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。

This award is funded in whole under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Flagstaff, Arizona, is the world’s first International Dark Sky City, and is home to both Northern Arizona University (NAU), a four-year high-research state (public) university, and Coconino Community College (CCC), an adjacent public two-year community college, which is a majority minority school. The CCC2NAU partnership was founded in 2008 between NAU and CCC, and provides an affordable and innovative way for students to complete a bachelor degree by attending CCC for their first two years (at the lower community college tuition rate) and NAU for their last two years. The new partnership funded in this project will create a pathway to include CCC students in the astronomy-related research labs at NAU, which has a very active astronomy research portfolio that spans a wide range of topics. The key to the project is that research is the tool with which under-represented minority (URM) students are recruited and retained in astronomy, and more broadly, in STEM fields.The intellectual merit of this proposal is that 10–20 research projects, in a range of astronomy and astronomy-related fields, will be advanced. These will result in conference presentations, publications, and data products that will be impactful in their fields. There are two clear broader impacts of this proposed work: individual and societal. The individual impact is that this program will provide paid internships for twenty students across two years. The societal impact of this project is to increase the participation of URM students in astronomy and, more broadly, STEM fields. The effectiveness of this project will be evaluated by professional experts. The expected outcomes of this project are: (1) astronomy research on a range of topics will be carried out by student participants in this program, with scientifically significant outcomes; (2) participants will gain technical skills and research experience; and (3) the program will increase the retention of URM students in astronomy and, more broadly, STEM fields.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.