PIs will conduct a "Future Faculty Workshop: Diverse Leaders of Tomorrow" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This 3 day workshop aims to encourage and promote careers in academia of underrepresented minorities. The workshop differentiates itself from other such workshops by focusing on materials chemistry and engineering. The target participants are PhD students and Post-doctoral scholars from underrepresented minority (URMs) groups. It is anticipated that there will be at least 38 highly qualified participants.
Participants in the workshop will be introduced to faculty who will serve as mentors during the workshop and throughout their early career. These mentors will lead discussions on the benefits of academia, how to obtain positions in academia, and give intervention strategies on how to overcome barriers to retention and promotion. Workshop participants will receive feedback and coaching on their research proposal ideas which will serve as the basis for discussing how to form interdisciplinary research programs and seek appropriate funding for these programs.
Future Faculty Workshop: Diverse Leaders of Tomorrow June 19-21, 2011 MIT Endicott House Timothy M. Swager, PI and Organizer This workshop at MIT’s Endicott House was directed at assisting disadvantaged and underrepresented minority postdoctorates and graduate students who are interested in pursuing academic careers. The content of the workshop was focused on future careers at the interface of materials research and chemistry/chemical engineering. This topical theme is intended to facilitate future networking opportunities within a subfield and also allowed the attendees access to technical assessments/guidance on their chosen research areas from mentors. Having established interests in materials research was not a rigorous requirement for admission to the workshop, however, the vast majority of the attendees had research interests in the materials area. Several of these attendees expressed that the focus on materials research assisted them in broadening their research horizons. As a result, the thematic focus on materials research was well received by all as a means to enhance networking in the materials research community. Organization and Agenda The workshop format is intended to build throughout, with the culmination being that attendees presenting research proposals. The first evening and day are focused nearly exclusively on the nuts and bolts of the process of obtaining an academic position. Much of this discussion is general and is independent of the technical materials theme of the workshop. The interactions over this period are also intended to instill a sense of comfort to allow for less reserved technical discussions on the second day when the attendees present research proposals. To enforce the fact that they need to understand their proposed research at a higher level, we do not let the attendees use electronic resources. In the proposal discussions the group was broken into 4 different groups depending upon their interests. Every attendee presented on their research and received feedback from the mentors, as well as group discussions on their ideas.
