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NSF Awards Aim to Expand STEM Participation

SRI International will receive $4.4 million to establish the backbone organization of a national network striving toward inclusion.

A researcher from the American Chemical Society—an NSF INCLUDES award recipient—works at St. Jude’s Research Hospital. The society received a $400,000 alliance award. Credit: Biomedical Communications–St. Jude’s Research Hospital

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued new awards in its program called INCLUDES—Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science. The awards will support the program’s next step, which is to develop a national network that will enhance U.S. leadership in STEM by broadening participation in those disciplines.

Awards establish the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub and the first five alliances. These new entities will develop partnerships among stakeholders across the public, private and academic sectors and establish a framework for supporting communication and networking, among other goals. Alliances will provide support for partners, while the hub will function as the backbone organization for the NSF INCLUDES national network.

The recipient of the $4.4 million hub award is SRI International. Alliance recipients and award amounts can be found in this NSF statement.

The INCLUDES approach builds on a growing body of scientific research suggesting that problems such as overcoming the barriers some groups face in accessing STEM opportunities are best solved with structured, collaborative partnerships.

“NSF INCLUDES addresses populations largely missing in the current science and engineering enterprise,” says NSF director France Córdova. “Their inclusion is essential in helping the U.S. maintain its position as the world’s leader in innovation. Through NSF INCLUDES, we are funding researchers and others who have great proposals that would move the needle.”