NSF Award
2233329
This award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports the 350 students/year to attend the next two (2) Annual Conferences of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) themed “Grand Unification II – Emerging from the Event Horizon and Beaming to the Future.” The primary goal of the NSBP is to address the perennial problem of lack of diversity in physics, astronomy, condensed matter and materials research, and related fields such as geophysics. The NSBP Conference aims to provide mentorship opportunities, increase participant access to recruiters, offer networking opportunities and inform the broader physics community on best practices. Also, the NSBP Conferences directly address (1) the NSF’s 10 Big Ideas, including Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, Windows on the Universe, and the objectives of NSF INCLUDES and (2) the AIP TEAM-UP report recommendation that professional societies work with funding agencies like NSF to commit to achieving the goal of doubling the number of bachelor’s degrees in physics and astronomy awarded to African Americans by 2030. The award is enabled by cross-directorate funds from the Directorate for the Mathematical Sciences, the Directorate for Geosciences, and the Directorate Human Resource Development (HBCU-up program). <br/><br/>The mission of the NSBP is to promote the professional well-being of African American physicists and physics students within society at large. The NSBP will build on the experience of the 2020 and 2021 conferences which, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had to be completely virtual meetings. The opportunity to make comparisons between face-to-face (2018-2019), online (2020-2021), and hybrid (2022-2023) NSBP conferences will be serendipitous, the silver lining to the onset of a global pandemic. The Conference allows students to have close interactions with professional physicists and gain exposure to high-quality scientific researchers and presentations. NSBP 2022 and 2023 conferences will include a “Big Science Hour” emphasis on the science and technology of Quantum Information Systems (QIS). In addition to being a meeting that promotes the persistence of underrepresented physics students in the academic-workforce pipeline, the NSBP Conferences will inspire the next generation of physics professionals through near-peer role modeling by supporting the virtual attendance of high school students and their teachers. These activities, including year-round mentoring programs, will provide an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to experience being a near-peer mentor and will allow the high school students to interact with someone they can aspire to become. Thus, the NSBP annual scientific conferences are part of its plan to increase the pool of African American physicists available in the academic pipeline and STEM workforce. NSBP will hold its 2022 (November 6-9) and 2023 conferences in hybrid format (primarily in-person with a virtual component). The award also supports conference evaluation and the impact of the new and expanding virtual format of conferences on increasing participation.<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.
