University of Minnesota receives materials science partnership award to broaden participation, strengthen research
Award is part of National Science Foundation's goal to invest in diversity
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (12/22/2015)—With an eye toward improving material science through increased diverse perspectives, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded the University of Minnesota Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley one of six Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) awards.
The University of Minnesota will receive a portion of the $3 million award over the next five years to continue the partnership's research and student success initiatives with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. This is a renewal of a previous NSF award that began the partnership in 2009.
PREM awards couple the expertise of NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) with minority-serving colleges and universities to involve those students in some of the nation's preeminent materials research.
Details of the University of Minnesota partnership include:
- University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (formerly UT Pan American)/University of MinnesotaWith a strong focus on nanofibers, this partnership (which began with UT Pan American) has provided research opportunities for 135 students that included incorporating them as scientific presenters and paper collaborators—and also as partners in submitting 12 patent applications (some licensed). While a high percentage of students come to the partnership without the advantage of strong scientific backgrounds, the program has seen a 100 percent retention and graduation rate among its undergraduates. The partnership's research has important applications for areas of study such as sensor development, novel lithium-ion batteries and spintronics.
PREM aims to broaden participation and enhance diversity in materials research and education by stimulating formal, long-term, multi-investigator, collaborative research and education partnerships. While there is an increasing emphasis on STEM education, it still remains a challenge to involve many underrepresented groups of students in these fields.
"The PREM program is first and foremost a competitive research award that also has elements of a mentoring venture, a capacity-building program and a fairly clever support network all wrapped up together," said Linda Sapochak, acting director for NSF's Division of Materials Research. "Since we started making these awards formally in 2004, we've seen groups make important discoveries, apply for patents—even start up a company."
Other partnerships include:
- California State University, Los Angeles/Penn State University
- Hampton University/Brandeis University
- New Mexico Highlands University/Ohio State University
- North Carolina Central University/Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science
- University of Puerto Rico Humacao/University of Pennsylvania
These awards were made possible through partnership between NSF's Division for Materials Research and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program in NSF's Education and Human Resources directorate.
For more information, visit the PREM website at http://prem-mrsec.org/