NSF Awards First Traineeships

The National Science Foundation has awarded the first eight grants in its new NSF Research Traineeship Program. The graduate education program, which replaces NSF’s Integrative Graduate Education & Research Traineeship Program, focuses on high-need research areas. It emphasizes interdisciplinary training that exposes students to careers outside academia and encourages the creation of new graduate training techniques.The traineeship grants are $3 million over five years, and nearly all of the first group emphasize data analytics. Three are chemistry related. In one, Kristen Fichthorn of Pennsylvania State University will lead a computational education program training students to develop new materials more quickly and cheaply. In another, Laura Lautz at Syracuse University will guide students studying hydrocarbons and their connection to water quality and availability. And in the third, Derek Patton at the University of Southern Mississippi will train students in the data-driven design of biolubrication materials, biomaterials, and renewable energy.