Planning: PREC: Developing an Underrepresented Research Student Pipeline Between CSUF and C-CAS

规划：PREC：在 CSUF 和 C-CAS 之间开发代表性不足的研究生管道

• 批准号: 2334294
• 负责人: Michael Groves
• 金额: $ 19.87万
• 依托单位: CSU Fullerton Auxiliary Services Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-11-15 至 2025-10-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2334294&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Planning; PREC; Developing; Underrepresented; Research

In this planning grant, funded by the Chemistry Division at NSF, Professors Michael Groves and Ryan Cammarota of California State University-Fullerton (CSUF), a Hispanic-serving and primarily undergraduate institution (PUI), are working with the Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis (C-CAS) to develop a partnership that could form the basis of a future submission to the Partnerships for Research and Education in Chemistry (PREC) program. A comprehensive research ecosystem will be built that encourages CSUF students, especially those from underrepresented groups (URG), to attain graduate degrees in the chemical sciences, expanding the pool of talent in STEM and addressing the “Missing Millions” problem. This is accomplished by enhancing the capstone projects all chemistry majors at CSUF must complete and encouraging students to complete it earlier in their career. Continuous mentoring by CSUF and C-CAS faculty will highlight the value of graduate research as it relates to the students’ career plans. Interdisciplinary research is proposed, particularly remediation of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” The combination of experimental/computational/data science projects will enable CSUF students to participate in paid summer research experiences at C-CAS sites, be peer-mentored by C-CAS students and faculty, and be trained and supported as they apply for graduate school. Expected outcomes from this project: (i) CSUF students from URGs will be recruited earlier in their education to meaningfully participate in research; (ii) support from C-CAS personnel will enhance the research conducted by CSUF faculty members and build research capacity by enabling them to pursue more ambitious projects and better compete for funding; (iii) the expertise of CSUF PIs will enhance C-CAS projects and strengthen efforts at C-CAS institutions to increase diversity by improving recruitment of URG students; and (iv) C-CAS trainees will mentor CSUF students and meaningfully interact with a PUI, thus preparing the C-CAS trainees for future careers at PUIs. Progress toward these outcomes will be quantified by the assessment infrastructure established within C-CAS, allowing the CSUF PIs and C-CAS to formulate a plan for scaling up the most effective interventions as part of a future PREC proposal. This planning grant will form strategic relationships with C-CAS as part of building a comprehensive research ecosystem that encourages CSUF students from underrepresented groups to pursue graduate degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Using experimental catalyst evaluation guided by computational chemistry and machine learning, students will study how an NHC (N-heterocyclic carbene) ligand and the directing groups within perfluoroalkyl substances enable a metal to break C–F bonds, remediating these “forever chemicals”. Representative ligands will be selected for experimental evaluation by using unsupervised learning tools to map and cluster computed chemical property space. Reaction condition optimization using a Bayesian algorithm will be used to identify an ideal solvent/base/directing group combination for evaluating the full set of representative ligands. Finally, the experimental outputs and the computed properties will be integrated to build a catalyst fitness function for the hydrodefluorination (HDF) reaction. The education goal is to pilot methods for encouraging CSUF students to enter the mandatory capstone research project in their sophomore or junior year, thus maximizing the benefits of an extended research experience. Initiatives that will be piloted at CSUF include: (1) building a database for earlier recruitment of research students; (2) establishing a guided process for helping students identify and apply for summer research opportunities; (3) standing up workshops on applying to graduate school; and (4) instituting a peer-mentorship system with C-CAS graduate student mentors. The project will build research capacity at CSUF and enable C-CAS institutions to strengthen efforts to increase diversity in chemistry research.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.

在NSF化学部门资助的这项计划赠款中，迈克尔·格罗夫斯（Michael Groves）和加利福尼亚州立大学 - 富勒顿（CSUF）的迈克尔·格罗夫斯（Michael Groves）和瑞安·卡马罗塔（Ryan Cammarota）是西班牙裔服务和初级本科机构（PUI），正在与计算机辅助（C-CAS）中心进行征用，以开发一个未来的综合企业中心，以发展未来的伙伴关系。 程序。将建立一个全面的研究生态系统，以鼓励CSUF学生，尤其是来自代表性不足的团体（URG）的学生，以获得化学科学的研究生学位，扩大STEM的人才库并解决“失踪的数百万”问题。这是通过增强CSUF的所有化学专业大满贯必须完成并鼓励学生在职业生涯的早期完成的化学专业大满贯来完成的。 CSUF和C-CAS教师的持续心理将突出研究生研究的价值，因为它与学生的职业计划有关。提出了跨学科研究，特别是对全氟烷基物质（PFA）的修复，也称为“永远的化学物质”。实验/计算/数据科学项目的结合将使CSUF学生能够参加C-CAS网站的有偿夏季研究经验，由C-CAS学生和教职员工进行同行，并在申请研究生院时接受培训和支持。该项目的预期结果：（i）来自URGS的CSUF学生将在教育中较早招募，以有意义地参与研究； （ii）C-CAS人员的支持将增强CSUF教职员工进行的研究，并通过使他们能够从事更多雄心勃勃的项目并更好地争夺资金来增强研究能力； （iii）CSUF PI的专业知识将增强C-CAS项目，并通过改善URG学生的招聘来加强CAS机构的努力，以提高多样性； （iv）C-CAS学员将精神CSUF学生并有意义地与PUI互动，从而为PUIS的未来职业做好准备。 CS-CAS内建立的评估基础设施将量化这些结果的进展，从而允许CSUF PIS和C-CAS制定计划，以扩大最有效的干预措施，作为未来预先提议的一部分。该计划赠款将与C-CA建立战略关系，作为建立全面研究生态系统的一部分，该研究鼓励来自代表性不足的团体的CSUF学生购买STEM（科学，技术，工程和数学）领域的研究生学位。使用计算化学和机器学习指导的实验催化剂评估，学生将研究NHC（N-杂环卡宾）配体如何以及全氟烷基物质中的指导组如何使金属破坏C – F键，从而修复这些“永远的化学物质”。通过使用无监督的学习工具来绘制和群集计算的化学性质空间，将选择代表性配体进行实验评估。使用贝叶斯算法优化反应条件将用于识别理想的解决方案/碱/指导组组合，以评估整个代表配体。最后，将集成实验输出和计算的特性，以构建水力发流反应（HDF）反应的催化剂健身函数。教育目标是试点方法，以鼓励CSUF学生在大二或大三的时候进入强制性的顶石研究项目，从而最大程度地提高扩展研究经验的好处。将在CSUF进行试验的计划包括：（1）建立一个数据库，以提前招募研究学生； （2）建立一个指导过程，以帮助学生识别并申请夏季研究机会； （3）站在申请研究生院的讲习班； （4）与C-CAS研究生导师建立同行系统。该项目将在CSUF建立研究能力，并使C-CAS机构能够加强增加化学研究多样性的努力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估我们被认为是诚实的支持。