All eyes on research at Tech

The worlds of research and STEM education in the Mississippi Delta region and beyond are centered on Louisiana Tech University this week.

A grant development workshop backed by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), an advisory committee meeting of the NSF, and a Board of Regents LASTEM Council meeting have all been held or will be held on Tech campus this week.

The NSF is a federal agency that provides grant funding for research and education in science and engineering.

Beginning Tuesday and continuing today, Tech and the nonprofit Quality Education for Minorities, hosted a grantwriting workshop backed by NSF funding to work with more than 100 researchers from Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi — including Tech faculty — on how to develop proposals for NSF grants.

The NSF wants to get more involved in research and education going on in the rural areas of the country, said James L. Moore III, assistant director for the NSF Directorate for STEM Education (EDU).

“We know that talent exists everywhere, but opportunities do not always prevail,” Moore said. “The agency’s investment ensures that talented individuals who exist all throughout this region of the country are able to engage and thrive in STEM.”

At the same time, the NSF EDU’s Advisory Committee will also hold its fall meeting on campus today and Thursday.

It’s the first time this committee will meet outside of Washington, D.C. or Northern Virginia.

“It speaks volumes that NSF would come to a rural area and recognize the work that’s occurring here in our centers that are providing relevant research and advancing the human condition for more than just our regional economy, but for the nation as a whole,” Tech President Jim Henderson said.

Boosting Tech’s presence as a premiere research university was on Henderson’s priority list when he toured campus about a year ago and spoke with stakeholders ahead of being named the university’s 15th president.

He said this week’s slate of research- focused events, and bringing NSF to campus, goes a long way toward promoting awareness that there’s critical work going on in more places than just flagship universities.

“Your presence at a campus in rural north Louisiana speaks volumes to our leadership,” he said to NSF representatives. “It says we understand that the work that occurs at these institutions is valuable. The research that occurs at this institution is changing the world and changing the lives of so many.”

Moore said putting boots on the ground outside of D.C. and seeing the fruit of NSF’s investments firsthand at Tech has inspired the agency to continue holding such meetings around the country.

“We’ve met people that we’ve invested in early in their careers, whether they were a graduate student and now they’re a faculty member, and now they’re serving as investigators for projects, passing the torch and paying it forward,” he said. “It is quite inspiring.”

The NSF also heavily invests in STEM education. Between their presence and the Board of Regents’ LASTEM meeting being held on campus this week, College of Education and Human Sciences Dean Henrietta Pichon said it’s a big development for her college as well.

“The fact they’re here, learning about what it is we’re doing not only in the field of STEM, but also STEM education — how do we get people into that pipeline?” Pichon said. “The more we begin to think about the intersection of the sciences and education, I think the better we will be.”

The LASTEM meeting will take place Thursday and will highlight STEM advancements and highlight opportunities to improve STEM education in the state and region.