The goal of this 5-year Faculty Development in the Space Sciences (FDSS) project is to enable a new faculty hire in the space sciences at the Department of Physics at the Montana State University (MSU). The space sciences group at the MSU routinely attract large numbers of high-quality undergraduates and a growing number of graduate students to their groups, providing hands-on hardware development, data analysis, modeling and testing research experiences. The Physics Department at the MSU has a strong track record of integrating new faculty into its fertile environment for involving students in research, teaching effectively and outreach to the broad community. Collaborations between MSU's engineering programs and the Department of Physics occur organically and are common. The MSU has a strong commitment to involving diverse and under-represented communities in STEM fields, at the student and faculty level. This new faculty hire allows the MSU to significantly expand its course offerings and research in the space sciences. The new hire is expected to be academically excellent, with strong prospects for developing a self-sustaining, long-term research group within the Physics Department. The call for candidates will be broadly worded to accept a wide range of experimental space scientists consistent with the goals of the NSF's FDSS program.
Through this 5-year FDSS project, the new faculty hire in the space sciences will expand the space sciences curriculum at the MSU. The hire will involve undergraduate and graduate students in their research. Every effort will be made that is consistent with University Policy to expand the participation of under-represented groups in STEM fields at both the faculty and student level of the hire. The hire will participate in established outreach programs, and with outreach mentoring, build their own program of outreach. The research and EPO agenda of this 5-year FDSS project supports the Strategic Goals of the AGS Division in discovery, learning, diversity, and interdisciplinary research.
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.
