i-REU Site: The UF/France Research Exchange in Chemistry: Advancing Diversity Through International Engagement

位于佛罗里达州盖恩斯维尔的佛罗里达大学的本科生研究体验(REU)站点奖，支持在2023-2025年夏季对12名学生进行为期11周的培训。该项目由化学部资助，旨在通过国际参与促进多样性。参与者前往法国，在四个合作伙伴网站之一参与协作密集研究项目：索邦大学(巴黎)、斯特拉斯堡大学、巴黎农业技术大学(兰斯)和图卢兹-保罗·萨巴蒂埃大学。参与者还参加了整个暑期的辅导和职业发展活动，重点是科学交流，开发突出他们的实验室技能的投资组合，以及申请研究生项目和国家奖学金。通过沉浸在国际研究环境中，该网站培养了学生的自信和对化学全球方面的认识。该计划面向STEM中代表性不足群体的本科生，对他们来说，海外暑期研究将帮助他们进入研究生学习和STEM职业生涯，从而扩大对STEM的参与，并增加STEM熟练工人的多样性，以应对未来30-40年的全球科学挑战。这一国际REU项目是一个双向交流网站，国内学生与每个合作网站的寄宿群体相匹配，法国机构资助的学生被送往佛罗里达大学进行暑期研究。学生参加出发前的指导研讨会，然后每个学生与一个积极的研究小组相匹配，在化学的所有领域进行个人指导的研究项目。辅导和专业发展活动包括在每周虚拟会议中，并增加了一份在线期刊，以指导科学自我认识，并帮助制定突出其实验室技能的文件夹。为期3天的研讨会让所有参与者齐聚一堂，参观位于Pomacle-Bazancourt的一家生物炼油厂，重点介绍绿色化学应用。回到美国后，学生们在美国学生协会全国会议上展示他们的研究成果，在那里他们与私人投资机构会面，就奖学金申请进行最后的指导会议。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 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, FL, supports the training of 12 students for 11 weeks during the summers of 2023-2025. This program, funded by the Division of Chemistry, seeks to advance diversity through international engagement. Participants travel to France to engage in collaborative intensive research projects at one of four partner sites: Sorbonne University (Paris), University of Strasbourg, AgroParis Tech (Reims), and University of Toulouse – Paul Sabatier. Participants also take part in mentoring and professional development activities throughout the summer that focus on science communication, developing a portfolio to highlight their laboratory skills, and applying for graduate programs and national fellowships. Through immersion in an international research environment, this site develops students’ self-confidence and awareness of the global aspects of chemistry. The program targets undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in STEM, and for whom summer research abroad will help steer them towards graduate school and a career in STEM, thereby broadening participation in STEM and increasing the diversity of STEM skilled workers to match the global scientific challenges for the next 30-40 years. This international REU program is run as a bidirectional exchange site where domestic students are matched with host groups at each of the partner sites and French institution-funded students are sent to the University of Florida for summer research. Students participate in a pre-departure orientation workshop, then each student is matched with an active research group to conduct individually mentored research projects across all areas of chemistry. Mentoring and professional development activities are included in weekly virtual meetings with the addition of an online journal, introduced to guide scientific self-awareness and to help develop a portfolio highlighting their laboratory skills. A 3-day workshop brings all participants together for a visit to a biorefinery in Pomacle-Bazancourt highlighting green chemistry applications. Upon return to the US, students present their research outcomes at an ACS National Meeting, where they meet with the PIs for a final mentoring session on fellowship applications.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.