Projects
Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate
The main goal of this project is to increase the productivity of the University of Puerto Rico PhD programs in Biology, Chemistry, Chemical-Physics, Marine Sciences, and Civil Engineering. Minority enrollment in these programs will be increased by 30% . The main strategy is a continuum of support activities for the transition into, and completion of PhD studies, beginning with the recruitment of undergraduate students who are in research, and support during the first year of graduate studies through a bridging seminar and peer mentors. To increase candidates for academic careers and future role models for minority students, a Teaching Assistantship Training Program has been created. Students participate in the Increasing Scholarly Productivity Program to support their elaboration of dissertations, scientific publications and presentations.
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is a science and technology research and development program within seven federal agencies. The importance of EPSCoR lies in the distribution of R&D funds to talented researchers at universities and nonprofit organizations in areas that have historically not received significant Federal R&D funding. These areas include 18 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico .EPSCoR helps researchers, institutions and regions improve the quality and capability of their research in order to compete more effectively for non-EPSCoR research funds. EPSCoR promotes economic development within Puerto Rico by fostering collaborative agreements between industry and academia. By enhancing research capability, developing industry-university collaborations and improving the abilities of our human resources, EPSCoR funding allows students and residents of participating jurisdictions to enjoy access to high-quality education, frontline research and jobs that become available with an active and competitive R&D base. The PR-EPSCoR project, coupled with the development of Puerto Rico ’s scientific community, will enable the island to become an international center of research capable of stimulating its own socio-economic development and infrastructure. Since its inception in 1985 through 2002, PR-EPSCoR has received over $70 million.
Institute for Functional Nanomaterials
The Institute for Functional Nanomaterials is a research centre in the field of functional nanomaterials.
It is managed by the Resource Center for Science and Engineering and has active participants from four campuses of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR).
The institute was established in 2007 with a $9 USD million NSF grant over 3 years in the reserve round, and an institutional contribution from UPR in the amount of $3.9 USD million over the three-year duration of the grant.
PRAABRE - INBRE PUERTO RICO
The Bio-Island of Puerto Rico: Promoting and Advancing Basic and Translational Biomedical Research Excellence in Puerto Rico by Nurturing Network Development Among Academic and Industry Scientists.
The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) is a state-funded institution that was established in 1903 as Puerto Rico's first public institution of higher education, is host of the Puerto Rico Alliance for the Advancement of Biomedical Research Excellence (PRAABRE). PRAABRE is a program inspired by the National Institutes of Health Institutional Developmental Awards: IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE). Thus, PRAABRE is a program whose efforts are to promote the continued development of biomedical research infrastructure in Puerto Rico. Such continued development is achieved through the implementation of a strengthened and cohesive structure and integration of common scientific and educational interests, collaborations, and a newly created Mentoring Initiative.
Partnership for Innovation (PFI) to Enhance Puerto Rico's Economic Development
The University of Puerto Rico System leads this partnership which includes major pharmaceutical, biotechnology and electronic industries, universities, state government agencies and various private and entrepreneurial organizations including venture capitalists and incubator facilitators. The goals for this recently approved project: create curricular materials and programs that will nurture the development of young local entrepreneurs to help reduce PR Science and Technology brain drain and increase the number of high-tech start-ups in Puerto Rico; contribute to the implementation of PR’s Science and Technology Policy and its strategic plan by providing guidance to and forging partnerships between academic to accelerate innovation and technology transfer in PR; Enhance and promote communication and the transfer of knowledge and know-how between the academic and industrial sector needed for successful innovation, and develop the infrastructure necessary to accelerate the conversion of innovation into economic development.
Puerto Rico Advanced Technological Education
The central goal of this project is to strengthen the preparation of Hispanics, both in Puerto Rico and the mainland, in the field of electronics at the secondary, associate degree and baccalaureate levels to meet the national standards in electronics education, through curricular enhancement, teacher and faculty development and experiences in industry. This goal will be achieved by: (1) the development of Web-based interactive curricular modules to promote higher level learning in areas of electronics content to ensure mastery of key knowledge and skills in electronics; (2) the development of a faculty enhancement program that prepares educators in the field of electronics in effective (cognitive) teaching strategies, integration of Web-based modules in the curriculum, and key areas of content in advanced electronics; (3) offering field opportunities in the electronics industry to students and faculty to gain first hand knowledge and skills of key applications and specialized techniques through hands-on learning experiences, to reinforce mastery of national skill standards; (4) strengthening collaborative ties among secondary schools, two- and four-year colleges, and industry to ensure a smooth transition among educational levels. This project will directly benefit over 3,000 students from secondary to undergraduate level, and over 100 faculty members from participating academic institutions.
Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation
The Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PR-LSAMP) Phase IV, is a collaborative between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) system and two private universities -- Inter-American University System (IAU)b and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (PCUPR). Created in 1991, PR-LSAMP aims at increasing the number of students who successfully complete a baccalaureate degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and pursue and complete a graduate degree in a STEM-related field. During the first three Phases of PR-LSAMP (1991 to 2006), undergraduate STEM enrollment at participating institutions increased from 12,572 to 27,993 in 2005. During this same period of time, institutions awarded 42,073 BS degrees, and the annual degree production increased from 1,709 in 1991 to 3,124 in 2006, placing PR-LSAMP institutions as the Nation’s leading producer of Hispanic STEM BS degree recipients. This accomplishment was stimulated by a two-prong approach: (1) increasing enrollment in STEM disciplines, and (2) improving retention and graduation rates by implementing a series of strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of STEM programs.
Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium
The Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium (PRSGC) was established in 1993, in conjunction with the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with the MISSION to enhance local research and education capabilities in aerospace-related fields and to contribute to the nation's science and technology enterprise by capitalizing on the wealth of institutional and human potential resident on the Island through a multifaceted and balanced approach bolstered by an expanded and diversified system of fifteen affiliates (Ana G. Mendez University System, Puerto Rico Astronomical Society, UPR/Carolina, Arecibo Observatory, Education Department of PR, UPR/Cayey, Interamerican University/Bayamón, Univisión Puerto Rico,UPR/ Humacao, Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, UPR/Arecibo, UPR/– Mayagüez, Pontifical Catholic University, UPR/Bayamón and UPR/Rio Piedras) that constitute a virtual organization of scientists, educators and public servants throughout the Island, with the University of Puerto Rico-Central Administration as the lead institution with headquarters at the Resource Center for Science and Engineering. PRSGC contributes to NASA mission, with special emphasis on its third component: “to inspire the next generation of explorers … as only NASA can.”
Established in 1994 by the Resource Center for Science and Engineering (RCSE) of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the PR NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (PR NASA EPSCoR) has been implementing strategic tasks to enhance Puerto Rico’s research competitiveness and infrastructure, in alignment with the NASA mission and vision, advancing and supporting activities that lead to collaborative research with NASA Field Centers and Directorates, expand PR’s capabilities in NASA-related sciences at the higher education level, attract students into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and support new and ongoing NASA exploration mission-related research and students.
The Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12)
The Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Project, “From Hectares to Nanometers: GK-12 Multidisciplinary Explorations of Tropical Ecosystems and Functional Nanoscience” builds a strategic interdisciplinary partnership between the two largest and most developed research institutes of the University of Puerto Rico System: the Institute of Tropical Ecosystem Studies (ITES) and the Institute for Functional Nanomaterials (IFN). The subject matter of these diverse fields spans 1011orders of magnitude and to the untrained minds there seems to be no relation between them. This Program exploits this huge difference to introduce to teachers and students “that the universe is a unified system” and that knowledge gained from studying one part can be applied to other scales and help understand what apparently seems to be very diverse worlds. It also increases the knowledge through multidisciplinary explorations of tropical ecosystems and functional nanoscience while improving fellows’ abilities to communicate and teach science. Each year, eight doctoral students in STEM fields will perfect their communication, teaching, team building, and collaboration skills as well as to improve in eight intermediate and superior level public schools teachers’ and students’ knowledge of and excitement about the multidisciplinary fields of nano and environmental sciences. The kernel of the project is the Fellow-Teacher Teams who will jointly participate in professional development activities to design, develop and implement the science instruction activities, creating inquiry-based educational materials in nano and environmental sciences and incorporating them into the middle and high school science curriculum.