RII-BEC: Individual Based Talent Bridge from Minority-Serving Institutions to Graduate School and Energy Industry

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。这项研究基础设施改善弥合EPSCoR社区（RII BEC）项目，以阿拉巴马大学塔斯卡卢萨分校（UA）为中心，旨在通过创建一个模式，建立以白人为主的机构（pwi）和历史上的黑人学院和大学（HBCUs）之间的可持续伙伴关系，为国家利益服务。这种伙伴关系将有助于扩大历史上在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）研究生教育中代表性不足的学生的参与。UA将与三所hbcu合作，包括阿拉巴马州的斯蒂尔曼学院（SC）、密西西比州的杰克逊州立大学（JSU）和乔治亚州的福特谷州立大学（FVSU）。该项目将通过提供跨学科的能源教育和研究视角，帮助hbcu培养化学、物理和工程专业的学生。与此同时，合作伙伴关系将为HBCU本科生创造统一和个性化的途径，使他们能够在可再生能源领域攻读研究生、就业和创业机会。这将通过让学生参与不同的教育经历来实现。项目组成部分将包括UA的夏季新兵训练营，以帮助填补大流行造成的学生学习空白。此外，该项目将实施一项夏季研究与开发（R &amp； D）计划，以招募和准备HBCU参与者过渡到研究生课程。研发项目将包括每周的研究研讨会、创业研讨会、UA和hbcu的联合学术咨询、应对全球挑战的本科生研究经历、夏季研究会议、动手实验室经验以及伦理和实验室安全方面的专业培训。该项目的目标有几个方面，包括：(1)提高HBCU学生参与者申请研究生课程的竞争力；(2)为学生准备STEM劳动力；(3)为学生提供在STEM领域从事创业追求的内容知识、技能、经验和信心。该项目将让HBCU的学生参与STEM研究，这将有助于创建由先进材料和结构组成的设备，用于能量转换和存储应用。特别是，学生将开发分子和固体催化和固体薄膜材料及其异质结，用于有效的能量收集，转换和存储。学生将在化学、物理、工程和材料化学领域接受指导和最先进的培训，以解决与太阳能电池、电池、发光二极管和二氧化碳减排技术相关的能源研究和技术的挑战性问题。将实施严格的评估过程，以评估项目的进展，并向研究人员提供反馈，以实现短期和长期目标。教育和研究活动和成果将在指定的网站上以及通过期刊出版物、会议和各种社交媒体平台传播。该项目的研究、教育和专业发展活动将通过将重点和重新调整的教学内容和实验室技能融合到现实世界的经验中，共同增强学生的学习体验。这些活动将为学生提供暂时的知识，开始将研究概念的重要性与未来的学术和工业生涯联系起来。该项目将通过一所非hbcu大学和三所hbcu大学之间的本科生和研究生战略合作项目，培养有才能的下一代科学家和工程师，从而帮助经济发展和可再生能源产业。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过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，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This Research Infrastructure Improvement Bridging EPSCoR Communities (RII BEC) project, centered at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa (UA), aims to serve the national interest by creating a model for building sustainable partnerships between Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Such partnerships will help broaden the participation of students historically underrepresented in graduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). UA will partner with three HBCUs, including Stillman College (SC) in Alabama, Jackson State University (JSU) in Mississippi, and Fort Valley State University (FVSU) in the non-EPSCoR state of Georgia. This project will help grow chemistry, physics, and engineering majors within HBCUs by providing an interdisciplinary perspective of energy education and research. In concert with this, the partnerships will create a blend of uniform and individualized pathways for undergraduate HBCU students that lead to graduate studies, careers, and entrepreneurial opportunities in renewable energy. This will be accomplished by engaging student participants in diverse educational experiences. Project components will include a summer boot camp at UA to help fill gaps in students' learning caused by the pandemic. In addition, the project will implement a summer research and development (R & D) program to recruit and prepare HBCU participants to transition to graduate programs. The R & D program will include weekly research seminars, entrepreneurial workshops, joint academic advising via UA and the HBCUs, undergraduate research experiences that address global challenges, summer research conferences, hands-on laboratory experiences, and professional training in ethics and laboratory safety. Goals of the project are several fold and include: (1) enhancing the competitiveness of HBCU student participants as applicants to graduate programs; (2) preparing students for the STEM workforce; and (3) providing students with content knowledge, skills, experiences, and confidence to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits in the STEM arena. The project will engage HBCU students in STEM research that will help create devices comprised of advanced materials and structures for energy conversion and storage application. In particular, students will develop molecular and solid catalytic and solid thin film materials and their heterojunctions for efficient energy harvesting, conversion, and storage. Students will receive mentoring and state-of-the-art training in the fields of chemistry, physics, engineering, and materials chemistry to address challenging issues of energy research and technology relevant to solar cells, batteries, and light-emitting diodes and technologies for CO2 reduction. A rigorous assessment process will be implemented to evaluate the project’s progress and provide feedback to the investigators toward achieving both short and long-term goals. Education and research activities and results will be disseminated on a designated website as well as through journal publications, conferences, and various social media platforms. Research, education, and professional development activities of this project will collectively enhance students’ learning experiences by fusing focused and realigned pedagogical content and lab skills into real-world experiences. These activities will provide transitory knowledge for students to begin connecting the importance of research concepts for future academic and industrial careers. This project will help economic development and the renewable energy industry by producing talented next-generation scientists and engineers through a strategic undergraduate and graduate partnership program between a non-HBCU university and three HBCUs.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.