The VIGRE program of the Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University is a comprehensive educational program for statisticians that, by enlisting the participation of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior and senior faculty in interdisciplinary research teams, makes research and problem-solving activities central to the learning process. The program takes advantage of the department's existing interdisciplinary research groups in biomedical statistics, industrial and technology statistics, environmental statistics, and statistical genetics and bioinformatics. Early in their programs, trainees affiliate with one of the four groups as members of a vertically integrated team. As team members, trainees receive and provide mentorship, take part in interdisciplinary research projects, participate in team affairs, and develop a sense of belonging.
A goal for the undergraduate trainees is early in their education to expose them to and excite them about the research culture and relevant practical problems. For graduate trainees, the goals are to prepare them to be adaptable to the demands of a changing job market by providing a broad-based education, teaching experience, industrial training, and interdisciplinary research experience, and to shorten their time to degree. The goal for postdoctoral trainees is to assist them in establishing an independent research program and acquiring the skills necessary to succeed in an academic position.
All trainees participate in the VIGRE Contents Workshop designed to tie the research groups back together and provide communication between members of different groups. The Contents Workshop brings together researchers from different disciplinary areas and actively involves participants with diverse levels of training. Workshops strive to be engaging, supportive of both research and education, and to support the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. Trainees also attend the VIGRE Skills Workshop that focuses on such areas as professional and career development, oral and written communication, good mentoring practices, professional ethics, and entrepreneurship. Trainees receive a mentored teaching experience through their participation in the NCSU Preparing the Professoriate program.
Trainees have the opportunity to serve as interns with an on or off campus partner organization. In this capacity, trainees gain practical experience working closely with professionals from other fields to enhance their consulting, collaboration and communication skills, and to acquire understanding of the role of the statistician in the industrial or government setting. They may serve in live work environments on problems of substantial financial, practical or social significance. Trainees experience first hand the realities of the private sector and government.
Postdoctoral fellows are recruited for three years as participants in specific interdisciplinary research groups. In addition to their other activities, they receive training in grant writing and submit a grant during their third year.
Funding for this award is provided by the Division of Mathematical Sciences and the MPS Directorate's Office of Multidisciplinary Activities.
