The environment facing today's graduate students in STEM fields is changing rapidly. The number of STEM PhD students obtaining tenure-track jobs in academia is decreasing, and consequently, STEM graduate degree holders are increasingly finding jobs in non-academic fields. This means that the model for training STEM graduate students needs to change to accommodate the potential career paths that current and future generations of these students may enter. These include training in topics such as science policy, project management, finance, entrepreneurship, understanding intellectual property rights and technology transfer, and how to work in interdisciplinary teams. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of South Dakota will develop a training plan that incorporates a truly interdisciplinary vision of research with the development of professional skills to enhance students' preparation for and success in careers inside and outside of academia. The project anticipates training forty (40) MS and PhD graduate students, including twenty (20) funded trainees, from the departments of Chemistry and Basic Biomedical Sciences.
Students will receive interdisciplinary research training that will focus on the development and application of nanotechnology-based tools to better understand brain function and develop treatments for brain disorders. Graduate students engaged in these projects will receive both classroom and laboratory training in nanotechnology-based chemistry and neuroscience research skills. What is novel about the STEM training in this program is that the student trainees will themselves be developing interdisciplinary expertise as part of their training, as opposed to the traditional, discipline-specific approach. The research will be complemented by the development of professional skills that include training to improve communication to both scientific and general audiences, sessions with scientists representing non-academic careers, and a series of classes (microtracks) from the University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business. These microtrack courses will be in themes such as finance, product development, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property rights. Finally, students will have the opportunity to participate in internships with both regional and national companies that utilize STEM expertise. This training program will develop a cadre of STEM graduate students with both the research and professional skills to better address current and future STEM workforce requirements.
The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The Traineeship Track is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas, through the comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.
