NSF invests in geoscience education to broaden participation and support the future workforce
The U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Research, Innovation, Synergies and Education (NSF RISE) Division invests in programs focused on educating the next generation of geoscientists. These programs target specific educational objectives to broaden participation among institutions or groups historically underrepresented in geoscience.
RISE education and broadening participation core programs
Career preparation, leadership development and culture change are priority themes permeating current programs and responding to the scientific community's needs.
RISE programs focused on education include:
· Cultural Transformation in the Geosciences Community (CTGC).
· Focus on Recruiting Emerging Climate Adaptation Scientists and Transformers (FORECAST).
· Pathways into the Earth, Ocean, Polar and Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences (GEOPAths).
· Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD-EN).
Collectively, these programs address challenges at various stages in workforce development and build capacity for a more diverse, inclusive and equitable scientific enterprise.
NSF GEO opportunities
RISE also coordinates education and broadening participation activities across GEO and NSF. GEO activities include:
· Geoscience Research Experiences for Post-Baccalaureate Students (GEO-REPs).
· Veterans' education and training supplement (GEO-VETS).
· Research Experiences for Teachers (GEO-RETS).
· Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) provides graduate students with experiential learning opportunities through research internships in non-academic settings, connecting them to industry.
Additionally, RISE supports educational opportunities through collaborations with other NSF programs and federal agency initiatives like NASA's Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. The GLOBE program allows students, teachers, scientists and citizens worldwide to work collaboratively to better sustain Earth's environment at various scales. The NSF Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Excellence in Research (NSF HBCU-EiR) program supports such capacity building by funding research projects and establishing stronger connections between researchers at HBCUs and NSF's research programs.
Other educational programs in GEO are more specialized, like GEO postdoctoral fellowship programs, including the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (AGS-PRF), Earth Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (OCE-PRF) and Office of Polar Programs Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (OPP-PRF). Other GEO divisions run these programs.
Across NSF
NSF supports researchers across disciplines throughout their journey, from undergraduate education to mid-career advancement. Programs support undergraduate, postbaccalaureate and graduate students; postdoctoral researchers; early career investigators; Research Experiences for Teachers (RET); K-12 projects; veterans; graduate student internships; and principal investigators working on individual or collaborative projects.
This ecosystem includes broadening participation programs to support learning, research and professional development for undergraduate students, graduate students, post-docs and early career scholars, and beyond. For high school, undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students, visit this NSF 101 to learn about funding opportunities. Although many of these opportunities require a principal investigator to submit the grant proposal on behalf of the student, some programs allow students to submit proposals independently.
For graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, check out this NSF 101 on funding opportunities. It provides many research opportunities that include stipends. Some cover many disciplines, like the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).