This award supports U.S. participation in an international workshop to be held at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia from November 17?18, 2008. The workshop will address issues relating to the internationalization of research and higher education.
In an increasingly globalized economy, science careers are becoming more and more international, and the market place for talent in science and technology goes beyond national boundaries. Universities and research institutes worldwide are addressing these developments by setting-up exchange programs, double and/or joint degrees, as well as foreign campuses. Several European Union/United States (EU/US) cooperation schemes are already promoting the training and mobility of researchers and are likely to be further developed in the future. The proposed workshop will enable the determination and exchange of best practices in existing programs, identify barriers to increasing internationalization of graduate education and identify means of increasing the exchange of students in graduate programs in the EU and US.
The workshop planning and organization has been a collaborative effort during the French Presidency of the European Union and includes the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Education, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Delegation of the European Commission, the French, Czech, Slovenian and Swedish Embassy and the other 23 European Union Embassies in Washington, DC.
Intellectual Merit The intellectual merit of this proposal includes the advancement of best practices in international graduate education and research and the development of plans for increasing the number of US graduate students and researchers engaged in international graduate education. The workshop will bring together experts such as scientists and engineers with experience in conducting international research collaborations, graduate study abroad programs and graduate student exchange programs. Participants will also include policy-makers at universities, research institutes, companies, ministries, agencies and research promotion organizations concern with international exchange of researchers.
Broader Impacts The workshop will include approximately 200 participants from the European Union and from the United States. The workshop will impact the graduate education programs offered in the US and abroad. Participants will be chosen such that a diverse group will be attending the workshop. Particular attention will be given to include participants from groups underrepresented in science and engineering (e.g., underrepresented minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. The findings of the workshop will be presented in a final report. Workshop findings will also be presented at the NSF sponsored Women?s International Research Engineering Summit that will be held in Barcelona, Spain in April 2009.
