The primary goal of the JAM 2010 is to develop collaborations among institutions involved in NSF HRD projects and develop relationships among underrepresented students and faculty with the National Science Foundation. Using the existing conference structure, underrepresented faculty, especially those at the assistant professor level, whose interest encompass research in the Biological Sciences Directorate of the NSF will participate in networking and professional development sessions during the conference. Any effort to strengthen faculty collaboration and research program development skills must begin with a strong foundation of understanding of the needs of the sponsor. This conference will attempt to achieve the following outcomes: (a) Provide underrepresented faculty with detailed information on the NSF Biological Sciences Directorate needs and programs. (b) Develop a strong network of underrepresented faculty who share a common interest in the Biological Sciences. (c) Promote broadening participation by underrepresented investigators in NSF's Biological Sciences submitted proposals. (d) Develop underrepresented faculty collaborative groups that will identify and work on research projects to promote the nation's biological sciences research agenda.
Broader Impact This professional development workshop within the Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) conference, although targeting the BIO Directorate can be adapted and adopted by other Science and Engineering Directorates at the National Science Foundation. Moreover, institutions hiring underrepresented faculty can encourage these new faculty to participate in the JAM meeting in order to develop a national network with their counterparts, NSF program officers, and NSF HRD principal investigator. The information gained could be used to encourage similar initiatives with other federal agencies to illustrate the value of engaging underrepresented investigators early in their careers through outreach workshops. This travel grant is likely to be the starting point of collaborations that focus on significant advancement in broadening participation in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.
The purpose of this grant was to provide funds to arrange the travel and reimburse the conference fees, travel, lodging and per diem participant support costs for a targeted group of investigators whose research area is in the biological sciences and are members of underrepresented groups (e.g., as defined by the NSF) to attend the NSF Human Resources Division (HRD) Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) 2010, attend the Professional Development Session (Funding Opportunities: Directorate for Biological Sciences) and the Collaboration and Networking Dialogues during the conference, and have opportunities to meet with program directors from the four divisions within the BIO Directorate. During the final one-year 2011-2012 no-cost extension period, NSF approved the additional purpose to provide funds to arrange the travel and reimburse the conference fees, travel, lodging and per diem participant support costs for a targeted group of investigators whose research area is in the biological sciences and are members of underrepresented groups (e.g., as defined by the NSF) in and near the South Texas area to attend a workshop held at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College campus on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 beginning at 8:30 AM for the purpose of describing NSF funding opportunities and to facilitating the submission of research proposals by the faculty participants. Program directors provided up-to-date information about specific programs and answered questions. Breakout sessions were scheduled for the afternoon for participants to discuss individual interests with program directors from all four divisions within the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Intellectual Merit The primary goal of the JAM 2010 was to develop collaborations among institutions involved in NSF HRD projects and develop relationships among underrepresented students and faculty with the National Science Foundation. Using this existing conference structure, underrepresented faculty, especially those at the assistant professor level, whose interest encompass research in the Biological Sciences Directorate of the NSF participated in networking and professional development sessions during the conference. Any effort to strengthen faculty collaboration and research program development skills must begin with a strong foundation of understanding of the needs of the sponsor. This conference attempted to achieve the following outcomes: • Provide underrepresented faculty with detailed information on the NSF Biological Sciences Directorate needs and programs. • Develop a strong network of underrepresented faculty who share a common interest in the Biological Sciences. • Promote broadening participation by underrepresented investigators in NSF’s Biological Sciences submitted proposals. • Develop underrepresented faculty collaborative groups that will identify and work on research projects to promote the nation’s biological sciences research agenda. Broader Impact This professional development workshop within the Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) conference, although targeting the BIO Directorate, nevertheless can be adapted and adopted by other Science and Engineering Directorates at the National Science Foundation. Moreover, institutions hiring underrepresented faculty can encourage these new faculty to participate in the JAM meeting in order to develop a national network with their counterparts, NSF program officers, and NSF HRD principal investigator. The information gained could be used to encourage similar initiatives with other federal agencies to illustrate the value of engaging underrepresented investigators early in their careers through outreach workshops. This travel grant has laid a second foundational piece that may help start collaborations that focus on significant advancement in broadening participation in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.
