The Science Diversity Center http://ScienceDiversityCenter.org
The Science Diversity Center (SDC) is a web-based comprehensive one-stop science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research resource tool designed to: (1) assist federal agencies that fund STEM initiatives to obtain and share timely and accurate program and project information in a user-friendly format with stakeholders, researchers and others; (2) provide and expedite sharing of strategies that address the nation's critical STEM workforce capacity-building and competitiveness needs; (3) increase and broaden participation in STEM career fields for individuals from groups currently underrepresented in those fields of study, and for those who teach and otherwise support those efforts.
After eighteen months of strategic development, the SDC in partnership with Science.gov, was launched and featured on the latter's web site. During that period the SDC investigator(s) demonstrated the feasibility and utility of designing unique "software robots" that allow the SDC to "mine" data from other federal agencies; schedule automatic "imports" of data imports; provide automatic corrections in the data, as well as to verify and validate the data. Automatic email reminders were also developed.
During the course of its start-up, the principal investigator provided hands-on demonstrations with the Office of Science and Technology Policy's Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee; sister agencies; and, nonprofit STEM and workforce related stakeholders. It became apparent that the SDC tool, and its manifold and coordinated uses, could provide support and information also to and for majority institutions, as well as for intra-NSF Directorate research programs, NSF funded research centers, and to preliminarily for projects currently under development. The supplement is sought to further build, refine and enhance the Center's actual and potential technical applications and its conceptual reach, including immediate assistance to research center needs, and student-faculty research experiences.
