NSF Award
2430211
This project is a collaborative effort across five Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The project aims to develop and pilot innovative tools and approaches to enhance the research capacity of these institutions and of HBCUs more broadly. The effort is a direct response to the broad interest in, and transformative opportunities for, building research capacity at HBCUs. These institutions play a vital role in scientific discovery, increase diversity in scientific research, and expand the STEM workforce. This project will bring together faculty, research administrators, and institutional leaders to develop a tool that will enable HBCUs to grow their research capacity and promote a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities in the scientific community. Research growth at HBCUs complements institutional commitments to student success and academic excellence, can lead to more equity in addressing health disparities and issues impacting communities, and promotes diversity in the STEM workforce. <br/><br/>The project goals are to: (1) develop a Playbook for HBCU leaders to help them assess strengths and weaknesses in the research capacity of their institution and integrate strengthening research capacity into strategic planning and (2) engage HBCU faculty with a framework to assess their skills and knowledge as researchers and create action plans to support their research career development. The team of HBCUs will conduct a meta-synthesis of literature on resources and best practices for a thriving research enterprise and develop a framework with rubrics for institutions to conduct a self-guided assessment of their research capacity to inform planning and growth strategies. Further, the team will create rubrics using a published framework of skills and capabilities for faculty investigators to assess their successful career development. Gains in research growth at HBCUs will complement their strong commitment to student success and academic excellence, lead to more equity in addressing health and societal disparities, promote a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities in the scientific community, and increase diversity in the STEM workforce. This project is co-funded by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), which provides awards to strengthen STEM undergraduate education and research at HBCUs, and by the Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity (GRANTED), which supports nationally transformative ideas and scalable models to strengthen the Nation’s research enterprise.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
